Hey everyone,

I am a NICU RN and have been for a year and 8 months, I worked as a tech in the same unit for 2 years prior. Nursing is a second career for me and I was also in healthcare (dental) before that, so I'm not completely green! I have been asked to precept a new grad for the first three weeks of her orientation. I feel as though I am more than capable of doing this (and obviously management does as well) however, I have several nurses that I work with that I don't think will feel the same way! Mainly because I'm still "new" and they weren't asked! I haven't told anyone that I will be doing this but she starts on Thursday night with me. I'm really unsure of how to handle the criticism that I know is coming!

The other thing is I've already had to deal with a little of the what I call jealousy since I did a shorter orientation that my fellow grads due to what management thought was my skill level and the fact that I had already been in the unit as a tech! UGH!! I enjoy the opportunities but I also feel as though I am being put in some difficult situations with my coworkers!

Any words of advise or "nursing wisdom"???

you coworkers probably don't care as much as you think they do. i'd be more worried about being the best preceptor i could be than about what others might think.

It's possible your co-workers weren't asked to precept this individual because they have already oriented several new hires, and now it's your turn to share the responsibility. They might surprise you and actually be grateful that they have placed the new hire with someone else. Management obviously saw something in your level of practice as well as your ability to teach or they would not have asked you to precept. Use this opportunity to be the best preceptor that you can, and forget about what anyone else thinks about it. If anyone is upset, it's their problem, not yours. If you encounter criticism just say, "I had a great orientation here and I'm excited about the opportunity to welcome a new hire the way that I was welcomed." That's a compliment to the nurses that have been there longer than you, so it's hard to argue with.

Ok so you think the others might be a bit jealous and if they are they will get over it. Remember....you nervous about this, imagine how nervous the person you are going to precepting is!! You might have to put up with some criticism from your collegues, but at least you know them and you know where everything is and you know that management think you are good enough to be a preceptor and have a high skill level. The new grad doesn't know any of this yet. Try to put your energy into making them feel welcome and a part of the team. I know I would like a preceptor that is friendly and kind and supportive and caring. At the end of the day it comes down to standing up for what you believe is the right thing to do :) best of luck :)

I fully support asking fully competent "newer" nurses to serve as preceptors for new grads. They remember what it was like to be the new kid so they are more able to identify problems and issues stemming from new grad anxiety. They serve as an attainable model of success..... "if she/he can do it, so can I" ... that seems much more achievable than comparing oneself to a nurse with decades of experience.

Finally, from an educational standpoint, highly expert people are usually NOT very good at helping beginners develop basic skills because they have such highly developed competencies. They no longer think in terms of "step 1, step 2, step 3". Instead, they just naturally jump from step 1 to step 5 and find it difficult to break everything down into meaningful (and learnable) pieces.

It's also possible that the more experienced nurses were seen as not being the best person to precept a newbie. There are plenty of folks who are great at "doing", yet incapable of "teaching."

If your coworkers want to fret about why they weren't chosen, you might just refer them to your manager, rather than try to explain why you were chosen to precept a new grad.