Advice and opinions for a new RN...

[KLWCurlyQ]

Hello everyone... I need some advice and opinions on what happened today. :uhoh21: I am a new RN on a med/surg resp. unit. Today was my first day on the floor and the clinical educater forgot I was coming today. She quickly paired me with an experienced RN and told me that today I would shadow her only. The problem is she was doing almost everything wrong! She rarely used gloves for our patients on contact precautions for MRSA, VRE and c diff when changing dressings or coming into contact with fluids. She also never cleansed ports of PICC lines with alcohol before accessing, and kept repeating to me: "I am not doing the right thing, so don't do what I do" Needless to say, I had a very frustrating day, and was worried when I found out that this nurse would probably end up being my preceptor. I want to learn the RIGHT way, not have to do the opposite of what I observe. I called the clinical educater when I got home and politely asked if I could have a different preceptor because I don't feel I will get the experiences and knowledge that I need. She told me she would pair me with someone else and thanked me for speaking up. I am relieved and happy, however, I just feel bad and am afraid that they will think that I am complaining so soon, or that I didn't give it a chance. What do you all think? I don't know if I did the right thing, maybe I should have given her another chance, she may have just been having a bad day. I am just afraid of having problems with my new coworkers after only one day. You advice and opinions are appreciated. Thank you! ~Kristen

[RNPATL, DNP, RN]

Hello everyone... I need some advice and opinions on what happened today. :uhoh21: I am a new RN on a med/surg resp. unit. Today was my first day on the floor and the clinical educater forgot I was coming today. She quickly paired me with an experienced RN and told me that today I would shadow her only. The problem is she was doing almost everything wrong! She rarely used gloves for our patients on contact precautions for MRSA, VRE and c diff when changing dressings or coming into contact with fluids. She also never cleansed ports of PICC lines with alcohol before accessing, and kept repeating to me: "I am not doing the right thing, so don't do what I do" Needless to say, I had a very frustrating day, and was worried when I found out that this nurse would probably end up being my preceptor. I want to learn the RIGHT way, not have to do the opposite of what I observe. I called the clinical educater when I got home and politely asked if I could have a different preceptor because I don't feel I will get the experiences and knowledge that I need. She told me she would pair me with someone else and thanked me for speaking up. I am relieved and happy, however, I just feel bad and am afraid that they will think that I am complaining so soon, or that I didn't give it a chance. What do you all think? I don't know if I did the right thing, maybe I should have given her another chance, she may have just been having a bad day. I am just afraid of having problems with my new coworkers after only one day. You advice and opinions are appreciated. Thank you! ~Kristen

Being a new grad, it is imperative that you have the ability to follow someone that will carry out nursing procedures according to your hospitals policies. If the nurse you are working with is not doing things correctly with the little aspects of nursing, then how can you be sure you are learning the bigger procedures correctly. I completely agree that you need a new preceptor and am glad that you told the clinical educator about your concerns. Hopefully they can pair you with someone who really represents good clinical practice.

It is sad that they were not prepared for you when you arrived. As a new nurse, starting your first job can be stressful and then coming in to work where no one expects you can be even more stressful. Hopefully this was an oversight and not a sign of disorganization on the part of the unit director.

Good luck and I hope all works out well for you.

[KLWCurlyQ]

Thank you for the advice Patrick! The more I think about it, the better I feel like I made the right decision. I hope next week will be much better for me! ~Kristen

[RNPATL, DNP, RN]

Thank you for the advice Patrick! The more I think about it, the better I feel like I made the right decision. I hope next week will be much better for me! ~Kristen

You are welcome and good luck with your first job as a RN. It can be terribly exciting and also wreck your nerves. Just remember that in the beginning it is very overwhelming, but this feeling passes. It is imperative that you give your first job at least a year to get a comfort level. I am sure you will be great .... please return here and post to the med-surg forum and let us keep track on how you are doing .... ok?