please, don't ever treat a new nurse like the nurse that was supposed to be orienting me treated me on my first day yesterday. i just started my first job since graduation, and all the clinical experience i had was from school. the job happens to be at a nursing home. i was assigned to a nurse who apparently disliked me from the very moment she set eyes on me. prior to her arrival, i was with a different nurse who at least explained to me what she was doing, and how the documentation is done at the facility for the different kinds of meds (very different from what i was used to at the hospital during clinicals). anyway, i came with a "willing to learn anything and everything" attitude and had decided that i would ask questions when i needed to. so when the second nurse came, she did not even bother to introduce herself, or ask me my name. so i decided to ask her name, to which she responded without even much as a glance at me. anyway, she would be chatting with someone and the next thing i know she is gone. she never attempted to show me any procedure or explain what she was doing or why. she would not talk to me unless i asked a question and would only give me curt responses. then out of the blue, she asks me to go give coumadin to a pt. so i have no clue where the coumadin is, or where to chart afterwards. so i ask her where it is, and she points to the cart. a med-aid eventually came and helped show me where to get it from. every question i asked was met with a "what do you mean" with a sneer on her face. eventually, with a sneer on her face she asked me if i was a new nurse, i said yes and thought phew! maybe now she will understand where i am coming from. anyway, she disappeared again, and by this time, i only had 3 hrs left to go, and i felt like i had learned nothing from her. so someone else, out of pity, pointed out a different nurse (whom we will call nurse x) for me to follow so i can watch him do the med rounds.
nurse x was awesome! he explained everything as far as the procedures, let me do them as he watched...when bam! out of the blue, the previous nurse walks toward us and states in my general direction..."i just thought you should know that hall xyz is over there." meaning the hall i was supposed to be working with her. i say ok, then go back to where she was. she looks at me and tells me that she is already done and only has one pt to go (a blood sugar). so the previous nurses had allowed me to do their blood sugars, so i asked if i should do it and she responded with a curt "no!" i follow her in and out of rooms then she tells me.."why don't you go back to nurse x, since that's whom you wanted to be with?" i take a deep breath and figure, let's start over, i don't know what's going on here. so i explain to her that i'm a new nurse, i'm not familiar with their procedures, and that if she could just take time to explain the procedures and policies, i would appreciate it. she responds "well, i can't explain anything to you if you are not here." i say nothing (i had only followed the other nurse after someone suggested that i do so as everyone was feeling sorry for me. btw management was already gone, including my sup, who had assigned me to her...and this nurse was talking and acting normal with everyone else and talking and laughing with them. so she definitely just had a problem with me). i figure if she did not want to help me, she should have told me or the sup. anyway, i ask her what time she leaves, and she responds with a sarcastic "i don't know." i ask her what's next and she says "i don't know about you, but i am going on break," and walks off. when time came for me to leave, she was still around, and since she had come late and told me that she did not know when she was leaving, i was not sure whether her shift was over, or whether she was going to stay on to the next shift (the previous nurse had pulled a double, to cover for half this nurse's shift). so i asked her if she was going to give report and she says mhh hmmm (without looking at me). i let her know that i would like to stay and watch (even though i had clocked out). then i ask if the next nurse is in yet, and who is he/she? wordlessly, and once again without looking up she points to the general direction of 2 nurses. at this point i'd had it...i mean it's not as though i lack self esteem and have to take all this crap from her. so i just tell her that i decided to just leave, as i had already clocked out. she neither responded nor, acknowledged my statement. i thank her anyway, and leave.
i later found out that she had just come back from 3 days suspension due to her attitude (even though she was telling everyone that she just came from a nice vacation). anyway, everyone there was telling me to ask to follow a new nurse today. i have already lost and wasted one of my 4 days of orientation and can't risk losing any more. but at the same time, i don't want to cause any drama at my new job.
moral of this long post...please, please remember that you were once a new nurse, you all once had a day 1 on the floor, you all had questions, you all were unfamiliar with policies and procedures at a new job, you all needed someone to at the very minimum be civil with you and take you under their wing. don't ever forget where you came from, and most importantly, please, don't ever forget that you were once a new nurse!
