Expectations of new graduate nurse

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 1, 2010

congratulations on getting your adn and good luck with the nclex and with finding a job.

as a preceptor, what i expect from a new grad is to come to work willing to work hard and learn. you'll have to spend some time at home studying. i did when i started and again when i changed specialties. now i study to figure out how best to explain something to someone who really isn't getting it.

don't be a know-it-all. no one expects you to know everything -- or even much of anything -- but it's damned hard to teach anything to someone who already knows everything!

understand that preceptors are not teachers; they're nurses who are assigned the extra duty of helping you learn the job. sometimes when i've been doing something for 20 years and you ask me why, i have to stop and think about why i do do it that way. i'll think about it and try to come up with an answer that makes sense to you. i may even look it up (google is your friend) for a different way to explain it so maybe you will understand it this time. that doesn't mean i'm stupid or hidebound. it just means the answer seems so obvious to me that i can't figure out how to explain it except to say "that's the way we do it." i'll really try to come up with a better answer, but maybe not today.

try to look past the manner of feedback you're getting and take the feedback to heart. if i tell you that you've totaled the output incorrectly, what i mean is that you've totaled the output incorrectly. i don't mean that i hate you, am trying to fail you, think you're stupid or expect you to know everything. i just mean that you do it this way instead of that way.

patient care comes first. i'll do my best to make sure you get a chance to practice your skills, but if something needs to be done right now, i may step in and do it myself.

please be an active participant in your orientation. look things up, think things through. it is not my job to spoon feed you everything, and if i did that i'd be a lousy preceptor.

preceptors like chocolate.

stephie_love · Dec 2, 2010

RubyVee! I hope I am lucky enough to have a preceptor like you next year when I graduate.

...and I'd totally bring you chocolate every day :bowingpur

brotherbear · Dec 2, 2010

I will be graduating in December with my ADN and I was just wondering if I could get some feed back on what some facilities expect out of new graduate nurses. What is some adivce you would give to new graduate nurses?

Hi. well most facilities will expect you to know the standard nursing rules/steps for procedures that are thought in schools. By that I mean standard precautions, handwashing, charting, passing medications, e.t.c. Now they know that you are a brand new nurse so they'll be pretty lenient with your mistakes. The facility will then teach you their internal policies/customs as far as nursing/patient care is concerned. During this time it's best that you listen and ask a lot of questions (smart ones, lol). Also, make friends there so you have people to watch your back and give you information. Good luck!

halliestokes · Dec 2, 2010

Thanks for all the great advice, I really appreciate it!!

SV RN 2010 · Dec 7, 2010

Thank you RubyVee! Hoping for a preceptor like you when I get hired :) Thank you for a great topic, Halliestokes, and congrats on your ADN. I am about to graduate in December with an ADN, too. How is the market for ADNs where you are from?