[Tweety]

Thanks for the responses. This thread is almost five years old. The guy wound up staying a year and doing really well despite the unrealistic expectations. He only worked part time and took another job somewhere else.

I have long since left this unit myself.

[Roy Fokker]

I was pushed. And pushed. And pushed. During my orientation. My preceptor was an awesome task master.

But she'd constantly tell me "I don't want you to think I'm being a nag". Or "I don't want it to appear like I'm just riding you. But you have to learn to do things more efficiently. It's a delicate job and you're making great progress. You'll get there. I know it seems like it is impossible now but trust me, I know you're getting there".

Or she'd say "We need to work on the issue of you checking for new orders and signing off. How about we try this? Why don't we...."

And the thing that I liked the best - was that she'd stay over late whenever I got delayed. She'd stay over to help with my charting and to go over my charting. She insisted that I get my breaks - even when I was behind on some work.

She was always open to questions - her motto being "Better to ask me the same question a 1000 times than not ask me and end up making a mistake".

She told me on Day 1 - "You're a new grad nurse. I don't expect you to have the knowledge and proficiency of an experienced nurse. However, I DO expect you to try your best and work hard. I'm hard, but I am also fair. This isn't an easy job but it can be a very rewarding one. It's all in your hands and in the attitude you bring to work every day."

She never let me slack off, even for one single day. On days when our census was low, she'd make me pick up extra patients from other nurses - or have charge nurse reassign patients so that we were up to full load.

And to this day, I credit her for doing what she did to whip me into some shape so that I could face loads of up to 8 patients and not break.

Realistic goals are important. Any new grad is going to feel horridly overwhelmed - and it's important to recognize that. The whole "Everything must be done by 1000 hrs" is absurd and wholly unrealistic - especially when you point out that many times experienced nurses themselves have difficulty meeting that goal!

cheers,