Don't Know What I've Got Myself Into

[sweetsleep28]

I'm almost a month in to this new job. Tonight I check the assignemnt paper and there XYZ RN in parenthesis next to my name? What?!? I have to be reading something wrong. How in the heck am I orientating someone, this has to be a mistake. The RN supervisor sees me lookly utteredly confused from the desk

Supervisor: sweetsleep28 we hope you don't mind, you'll be orientating one of the new 3-11 RN Supervisors to the 3 North Med pass

sweetsleep: No, I don't mind, but just so you know I'm fresh of orientation myself.

Supervisor: We know. Only 2 of the 4 LPNs on tonight are not agency, and the staff member that is ours isn't competent enough to show her how to do things.

By this point in time I'm trying to keep my jaw from hitting the ground. I was literally caught of gaurd by her reasoning. Now don't get me wrong it's not that I don't want to orient someone. At my old facility they frequently put new hires with me. But in this situation I'm still the NEW HIRE, I'm not even done with my probation period. I'm just getting comfortable with finding how who the residents are, with how they take their pills, etc. And now I'm suppose to show someone how when I don't even know how to handly everything perfectly yet myself. I don't doubt myself as a nurse, but this intimadated me. I dunno if was that I was new, that I was orientating someone who will eventually become my supervisor. I didn't want to not be a team player.

I did my best, I showed her to do things to the best of my abilities. I'm still learning this myself, so hopefully if I showed or told her how to do something wrong, it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt. I think it went well. Am I wrong to be upset/angered by this.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Am I wrong to be upset/angered by this.

This practice is all-too-common in chronically understaffed LTC facilities.

When I was a brand new nurse five years ago, I can recall 'orienting' new hires onto the unit at the nursing home when I had only been employed at the facility for a month or two. In addition, I had only had my license for two months. To add icing onto the cake, the staffing coordinator would never give advance notice that I was orienting anyone. I would look onto the schedule and discover that I would be spending my shift orienting a new hire.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Wait until the agency nurses orient the facility staff....it happens.

[LR59]

xtxrn You are correct it happened to me. The nurse assigned to orient me in my present position was an agency nurse , who would lose her position when I was oriented. Imagine the orientation I got, self taught

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

Wait until the agency nurses orient the facility staff....it happens.

When I worked agency, I was requested by one of the LTC in the area. They wanted me because I worked there often and they had a new Nurse to orient and the DON didn't trust the staff to train them correctly. They also called me in to re-educate staff and to watch how they did things to ensure they were following policy!

[Always_Learning, BSN, RN]

xtxrn You are correct it happened to me. The nurse assigned to orient me in my present position was an agency nurse , who would lose her position when I was oriented. Imagine the orientation I got, self taught

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

I had my license for 2 weeks before I orienting a new grad!!! All too common in LTC.

[MisMatch, LPN]

Wait until the agency nurses orient the facility staff....it happens.

The best orientation I got at my facility (LTC) was by agency nurses. As a new nurse, the 2 mentors I looked up to most were both agency.

Many of the regular staff seemed to like throwing the new nurse in the deep end of shark infested waters to sink or swim. If not for my agency mentors, I'd have been ripped to shreads and drowned.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Wait until the agency nurses orient the facility staff....it happens.

yup, I've done it.

[Biffbradford]

"See one, do one, teach one." Just like Med School!

[Jules A, MSN]

This practice is all-too-common in chronically understaffed LTC facilities.

When I was a brand new nurse five years ago, I can recall 'orienting' new hires onto the unit at the nursing home when I had only been employed at the facility for a month or two. In addition, I had only had my license for two months. To add icing onto the cake, the staffing coordinator would never give advance notice that I was orienting anyone. I would look onto the schedule and discover that I would be spending my shift orienting a new hire.

Same here. Op, I wouldn't take it personally or be angry. I would imagine your new supervisor was probably impressed by your candor and willingness to help her. Trust me there will be a long list of things like this or at least there has been in my career so far.