Is this new grad a nut or what? Opinions please !

[DutchgirlRN]

We have a new grad on our floor. We kept hearing that she was going to be so good. She graduated with a 4.0 and her parents are both physicians. Well, she is far from good.

She turns off her pager to chart. In the meantime her patients are asking for pain meds and she is ignoring them.

Third, she is sooo very slow. She has been on orientation for a month and this week they have started letting her take her own patients. She says she knows how to do everything but you check on her and she's got the PB plugged in under the pump. I can take alot, I've been a preceptor for years and with some real challenges who have turned out to be very good nurses but I don't know about her.

The thing that really blows my mind is the fact that she has picked up a British accent from one of the preceptors. She has been told her numerous times to cut it out and speak normally. I mean is she immature or what? Any opinions? Suggestions? Thanks!

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

:yeahthat: What has her preceptor said to her. After the first time she turned off her pager, she should have been told and that should have been her last time. Two pts shouldn't take long to chart on either.

The accent thing is a bit rude or mocking of her preceptor. I think she is aware of it and just thinks she is being cute.

[opalmRN]

WOW, what facility is this I want to come work there when I graduate! 2 patients after a month of orientation???? That would be a nice break for me considering I typically have had 6 pts and I'm only a student.

Seriously, this could turn into a bad habit unless it is nipped now. I voice the same concern as several OP on this thread. Turning off pagers is not acceptable while this nurse is on assignment and must be addressed. I too think her preceptor is the first person to address this and then up the chain of command if it's not corrected. Turning off the pager is not an option.

As for the accent issue, well it may be as some suggested from being around the preceptor or just a childish mimic. Either way, ignore it (as irritating as it may be) and it will go away from lack of attention or everyone will get used to it. I digress.

It's difficult enough for new grads to "blend in" their new environment without setting up obstacles. I promise, not all new grads are this difficult to work around but then some of us are old enough to be this nurses mother!

[BabyRN2Be]

I can understand picking up various US accents or areas that are "native" to us. We have several people who have the distinct Texas accent, or that hick accent common around here, to people who are from up north (I'm originally from Chicago, never lost the accent despite living in CA and the midwest/southwest). That's the majority of the accents around here and they are the norm, but picking up or affecting a British accent? That's not the norm around here.

She must A) like her preceptor so much that she figures in order to be a good nurse she must speak like her or B) find the accent "cool" and want to affect it.

The problem comes in when the preceptor tells her to "knock it off" and she doesn't do so.

And the problem of ignoring pts needs while she goes to chart, and she only has 2 pts to begin with??? I won't even get into that.

As someone said, maybe her orientation needs to be speed up and she'll either mature and forget the British accent or she'll pick up other behaviors and continue her immature decline. I'm hoping for everyone it's the former.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

I don't know where her parents are doctors. I would agree that if she has been called on the "accent" and asked to stop that should be sufficent. I understand picking up on phrases, my SIL is British and the phrases are different and cute and easy to pick up but vocalizing your words in a completely different accent is not believeable to me.

Ignoring patients needs for pain meds is definately abandonment. She doesn't seem to mind being precepted. I don't quite know how to explain her she's just really different. All book sense no common sense and immature.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

I'm glad this thread was moved to this forum because now I can respond to it. It sounds like this young lady may be bipolar. Perhaps the stress of the new job is exacerbating her mania. I was thinking that she may have hid her behavioral condition from the people who hired her. I do feel that the person(s) in charge of the new grad orientation program need to sit her down, point out her faults, draw up an action plan in writing, and let her know she's going to be evaluated at regular weekly intervals (if that is what it is going to take). If she is unable to improve then the hospital has the documentation it needs to terminate her. And, regarding this English accent business, someone needs to sit down with her and discuss this. I'm going to stand my ground and still hold out that there is some bipolar disorder going on. I also PMd the OP about this last evening and suggested that her former nursing instructors be re-contacted about this young lady. Either something was withheld from the people who hired her, or she is having a crisis of a personality disorder. It doesn't happen very often that a person who is performing so poorly makes it all the way through nursing school, but it does happen occassionally.

[curlyfries]

Picture this.....

Two new teachers in public school.....

One teacher were told that he'll be teaching a class of gifted students when in fact the students are anything but gifted. This teacher goes in and taught the students as if they were gifted. The result? The students got away with everything from missing class, being late and so on. But the teacher wouldn't dear punish them because they were "gifted!"

The other teacher were told she'll be teaching a class of troubled students when in fact, they're gifted. So the teacher goes in and treats all the students as though they're trouble makers. For every little thing like having one wrong on the test would come with harsh punishment. She must be on top of everything just to keep these students in line!

those who can hear, hear!

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Does the British nurse feel like she's being mocked by the new nurse?

[BamaBound2bRN]

we have a new grad (23 y/o, single wf) on our floor.

question, who cares that she is 23 yoa, single, white, or female? sounds like she is just immature which is not always indicative of ones age. also labeling someone as white and female is border line discrimination. :angryfire

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

I seriously doubt she gave those specifics to discriminate! :uhoh3:

[Town & Country]

I really can't believe this thread.

People are diagnosing this new nurse as bipolar on a message board?

You gotta be kidding!

It IS possible to graduate with a nursing degree and know next-to-nothing about nursing unless you have previously worked as a nurse aide or an LPN. The fact that she had a 4.0 GPA is a dead giveaway. She probably studied like a fiend when what she really should have done is work as an aide.

She needs to learn just basic nursing care and the routine of the floor. Brainstorm with your NM about the best way to do that.

Also, IMO a month is not terribly long orientation for a new grad - ESPECIALLY one who has never worked in a hospital before. Even if her parents are physicians, that doesn't mean she comes with any sortof inbred knowledge.

I imagine, if she has never worked in a hospital before, she will need at least 3 months of solid orientation.

Also, if you think she is strange and not going to be a good nurse, why don't YOU volunteer to precept her?

It sounds like she could benefit from your experience.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

The fact that she had a 4.0 GPA is a dead giveaway.

A dead giveaway to what?

[Town & Country]

A dead giveway that she studied like a fiend, when what she really should have been doing was working as an aide.

How many people do you know who had a GPA of 4.0 in nursing school? She's probably a perfectionist and thought acing the theory and technical part is the whole ball of wax.