preceptor problems

[haji]

I just started a new job recently. I worked for a year somewhere else. Before orientation I heard from a couple nurses in my unit that my preceptor was "difficult to work with". And now I'm finding out they weren't kidding. I expected to eat some humble pie just like I did starting my last job, but not to have deal with a personality problem. A month into the orientation and my preceptor still thinks I don't know how to make a bed or take a temp. Every time we go up to a new patient she spends 10 minutes complaining about how the last rn didn't do "x" right. Things that I did daily at my last job are difficult to accomplish b/c my preceptor is constantly hassling me. Since she has been a nurse for almost as long as I have been alive I feel like I should just nod and bite my lip. I don't think there are any bad intentions towards me but it still sucks. I spent a couple of days with different preceptors and they let me do way more- I learned more than I had in a month.

I thought about bringing this up with my manager but the unit is tiny and I don't want to raise a stink. I am a little concerned that a)I'm not learning enough, and b)I'm going to lose my temper at some point. Any advice is appreciated.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Hi and welcome. If orientation isn't going the way you need it to, I would talk with the nurse manager or educator or whoever pairs the orientee with the preceptor and tell them firmly but politely that this pairing isn't working. In order to accomplish this without hard feelings from this nurse, I would just approach it matter of factly that different people learn different ways and you need a different approach.

Good luck.