Are most new grad RN preceptors like this on the first day?

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  1. Are most new grad RN preceptors like this on the first day?

    • 7
      Yes
    • 76
      No

49 members have participated

So I am in a new grad RN residency program at a hospital. I am trying to gather some input on whether it is common to get a preceptor like mine or not.

So yesterday was my first day and the first time that I met him and one of the first things he said to me was that if I am going to cry I shouldn't do it in front of him and I should go somewhere else and do it.

Nice first impression.

After getting to know him he did lighten up a bit, however I noticed he is the kind of person where if he shows you something once, he expects you to know it.

Now the charting system here is very complex and the IV pumps are unlike any that I've used before so it's not exactly easy. So we did morning rounds together, then in the afternoon he sent me on my own to do afternoon meds. And he said to me that he wanted me back in 15 minutes (5 patients, 1 on isolation, all meds were IV push/fluids and injections that had to be drawn up). And actually everything that he sent me to do on my own he gave me timelines and anytime I went over he let me know!

I just felt rushed and I don't like to feel rushed when giving meds (especially like heparin/insulin/mag) and especially when it's a new system/ MAR/iv pump that I have to get used to.

I don't want to make any mistakes. And apparently he is supposed to be really good at mentoring because he was mentor of the year for the hospital last year so I don't know.

Are most preceptors like this on first day?

When I am done orienting I believe I will be working on night shift :) . But I'm glad to see I am not crazy in thinking that was a bit much for a first day. Especially when I have never used that equipment before and the charting system is all new. All he kept saying though is "you're gonna have to do this stuff when you're on your own."...No **** sherlock, but I am not gonna be on my own for another 12 weeks, so I don't have to be totally independent on my first day!

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Specializes in Med-Surg; Infectious Diseases; Research.

No. Most good preceptors do not behave in that way. I'm very surprised that he allowed you to give meds without supervision the first day. He either (A) thinks you're very capable, (B) has a chip on his shoulder or © is testing you. There is nothing wrong with having a conversation with him at the end of the week. You can say, "So, I've worked X amount of shifts with you and would like some constructive feedback on my progress thus far." Now be prepared for him to not be nice, if he's a bully, he will see this as prime opportunity to hurt your feelings. Or he may surprise you and do nothing but sing your praises. If he says anything negative, when he's done, thank him for his feedback and say, "I appreciate you teaching me _____________(think 1-2 things you enjoyed learning). One thing I can say is that I was not entirely comfortable doing _______ alone. Would you mind coming with me when I'm _______? That way I can ask questions of you right then and there. I'm still learning all of the technology and how things flow on the unit." He sounds like the type who would say, "well she didn't ask me!" if you make a mistake. So ask him. Plus, it may also make the lightbulb go off in his head that he needs to be a more diligent preceptor. If he still won't help you, nothing wrong with asking another nurse.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.
No. Most good preceptors do not behave in that way. I'm very surprised that he allowed you to give meds without supervision the first day. He either (A) thinks you're very capable, (B) has a chip on his shoulder or © is testing you. There is nothing wrong with having a conversation with him at the end of the week. You can say, "So, I've worked X amount of shifts with you and would like some constructive feedback on my progress thus far." Now be prepared for him to not be nice, if he's a bully, he will see this as prime opportunity to hurt your feelings. Or he may surprise you and do nothing

but sing your praises. If he says anything negative, when he's done, thank him for his feedback and say, "I appreciate you teaching me _____________(think 1-2 things you enjoyed learning). One thing I can say is that I was

not entirely comfortable doing _______ alone. Would you mind coming with me when I'm _______? That way I can ask questions of you right then and there. I'm still learning

all of the technology and how things flow on the unit." He sounds like the type who would say, "well she didn't ask

me!" if you make a mistake. So ask him. Plus, it may also make the lightbulb go off in his head that he needs to be a more diligent preceptor. If he still won't help you, nothing

wrong with asking another nurse.

Excellent advice.

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I had a preceptor like that when I started on stepdown. It sucked. I did give it a fair shot, and spoke to both my manager and the educator about my concerns about MY learning - it's much easier to make it about what you need than what someone else isn't doing (sometimes the words you choose matter more than you'd like to think). He (mine was a guy too) was constantly rushing me, and I'm a person that takes my time to learn something without cutting corners and then without too much time passing I've developed a safe, effective and time efficient routine (I pick up speed quite a bit while still doing things safely as time spent on orientation passes). I know for a fact, my preceptor hadn't wanted to orient me OR charge and chose orienting/precepting over having to learn to charge.

I work in the OR, and frequently have new grads orienting with me. I don't leave them out there to do on their own and flounder. That's not right. It's a complex continuum though - you don't want to belittle anyone, but you don't want to assume they know anything (admittedly this is harder to accommodate when precepting folks who have experience than new grads). It's mentally exhausting to precept someone. I have to know what my next move would be, observing the orientee's actions/inactions AND balance that with the overall clinical situation. I strive to let my orientees do as MUCH as I can possibly let them, within reason. I'm right with them the first time my orientees do just about anything (I have a responsibility to my patient and frankly nobody is born knowing how to do all of the seemingly 110,000 things we do in a day). I give them more independence as they demonstrate they can handle it. It is very hard finding that balance - and there is no set "way" to always precept, as people are individuals. I let my orientees do things their way (often there are 15 ways to do the same thing) and unless my orientee's way is going to harm the patient or violates our policies - I let them do it their way whenever I can. They either learn their way is not effective or they learn it is or how to refine their way. We may have (for example) 10 things to do before we can start a procedure, and as long as all 10 are done, it probably doesn't matter which gets done first (in most instances).

One of my now former coworkers told me I'd take 3 things from one person's routine/practice/style, 2 from another, 5 from someone else -

and all of a sudden I would have my own blend that works for me. She was right. There are things I do I picked up from several of my now former coworkers. Other things I picked up, I picked up from the experiences I've had. My experiences with former coworkers from previous jobs - totally taught me more about what I don't want to be as a nurse and coworker. I learned a lot of nursing and patient care stuff, but learned more about who not to become in my first jobs.

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I must admit I have not been the nicest when precepting, I am harsh on things like time management. I don't think he should put you down on your first day but I do get my charting done fast and I am out on time. Granted as a new nurse you shouldn't rush but you should be mindful of how much time you are spending on something. We have nurses clocking out and staying up to an hour after charting. That's ridiculous.

1.He shouldn't expect you to know charting/machines within the first week or two.

2.After showing you something 2-3 times you should be "getting" it though.

3.If he continues to act this way I would just ask for another preceptor.

In my ICU if you don't manage time well you WILL get wrecked.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Adapting to the preceptee's learning style is important. Some people are not good teachers, and some preceptors cannot tailor their style to match the student's needs.

Take your time to learn and work safely.

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Most are not so unreasonable and rude, but a lot are. They shouldn't be, but maybe they have their reasons, unjustified as they are, to act like that--- powerlessness, terrible job/work conditions, constant stress, etc, etc. You could ask to change it up, but your next preceptor might not be much better.

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I must admit I have not been the nicest when precepting, I am harsh on things like time management. I don't think he should put you down on your first day but I do get my charting done fast and I am out on time. Granted as a new nurse you shouldn't rush but you should be mindful of how much time you are spending on something. We have nurses clocking out and staying up to an hour after charting. That's ridiculous.

1.He shouldn't expect you to know charting/machines within the first week or two.

2.After showing you something 2-3 times you should be "getting" it though.

3.If he continues to act this way I would just ask for another preceptor.

In my ICU if you don't manage time well you WILL get wrecked.

I completely understand where you are coming from, however he only showed me things once and breezed right through it and then after that expected me to be fully independent on the tasks. And when I was charting it's not like I was super slow, yes I was slower than him because I was being careful not to document incorrectly, yet he still criticized me. And like I said in a previous post, we got out with plenty of time to spare maybe like 15-20min early.

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Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc.

I think this guy would be a better fit for precepting a nurse that has already gotten some experience, not a new grad. You need to do a lot of things, to find out how to manage your responsibilities and who you are as a nurse. That can't be done with his technique. This is a poor fit and a clash of temperaments. I think I would seek a new preceptor.

When I precepted in the ER, I never had new grads take an assignment the first few days, unless they had worked as an ER Tech but even then I would work them by degrees. They shadowed first if they had no experience, then I'd have them start taking patients when they were ready, working up to taking that full section assignment. I stressed the importance of asking questions, asking for help and communicating their learning needs, as well as reading/studying/researching patient situations and diagnoses they encountered. I never threw anyone in, not even an experienced ER nurse.

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LOL.... I'm sorry this is the experience you're having. I'm laughing at the thought of this jaded drill-instructor wannabe making med-surg out to be hardcore business. Roll with it for a while because you'll probably see him faulter with a sick patient.

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Yes I believe he meant the crying would be due to him yelling at me or making a mistake, etc. And I think you may be kinda right about the lazy, bc as I was doing the charting, he would criticize how slow I was (again I'm not used to the system), and while criticizing me he was on the other computer on some website not work related. He's been a nurse for a long time and he likes to just get his stuff done and get out on time. He even said that my main goal should be to get out on time.

Which by the way we got done so early we had to wait like 15 minutes before we were allowed to punch out!

He sounds like kind of a jerk, although you did manage to work fast enough and, presumably, fast enough to get done early your very first day on the job, even though you were unfamiliar with the charting, the IV controllers, and probably the patients, policies, and procedures.

He got Mentor of the Year because he's sleeping with somebody. I don't mean to be down and dirty but he sounds like he doesn't really want to teach anything, just give orders to you (and you do learn by doing, so his behavior is defensible) and you should sink or swim on your own.

You still need to be able to ask questions and have time to learn. On the other hand, you're not in school any more and what better way to teach you to swim than to really light a fire under you? Something to be said for protecting and handholding new workers and also for this guy's method. But him surfing the web? This is wrong. There were probably things like restocking the med cart or treatment cart, checking for missed orders, whatever that he could have been doing.

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No, in my experience no preceptors are like this on the 1st day, usually the first week is getting you familiar with the envoroment equipment, and honestly I wouldnt have a new grad giving meds by themself on the first day. Sounds like he is ultra focused on time management but its a bit soon for that. I would talk to somebody, the crying comment is inappropriate.

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