Is this new grad a nut or what? Opinions please !

[DutchgirlRN]

We have a new grad on our floor. We kept hearing that she was going to be so good. She graduated with a 4.0 and her parents are both physicians. Well, she is far from good.

She turns off her pager to chart. In the meantime her patients are asking for pain meds and she is ignoring them.

Third, she is sooo very slow. She has been on orientation for a month and this week they have started letting her take her own patients. She says she knows how to do everything but you check on her and she's got the PB plugged in under the pump. I can take alot, I've been a preceptor for years and with some real challenges who have turned out to be very good nurses but I don't know about her.

The thing that really blows my mind is the fact that she has picked up a British accent from one of the preceptors. She has been told her numerous times to cut it out and speak normally. I mean is she immature or what? Any opinions? Suggestions? Thanks!

[zicovico]

Kinda reminds me of a girl at my job, who mysteriously didn't have a southern accent, until one of the doctors kidded around with another nurse about her accent. A couple of people asked where she got her accent in only 3 months.

Sounds like this person needs to be brought up to the director. The British accent is weird, but turning off the pager to chart, and ignoring requests from pts. is negligence.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH BRITISH ACCENT?

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH BRITISH ACCENT?

I did not say there was anything wrong with a British accent. Good grief!

I was referencing the person who picked the accent up (mocking her IMHO) from someone else. Picking up the accent is weird.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

From my perception, you sounds somewhat very judgmental. Why don't you try and give this new graduate the benefit of the doubt. By the way, what's wrong with mimicking British accent? Give her a break.

The person she picked the accent up from is not taking it as complimentary. I don't blame her. I'd feel like the girl that picked the accent up was mocking me.

[Kelly_the_Great]

But a nut

[PsychRNMsz]

I find the accent thing interesting. Some people unconsciously pick up accents very easily. My sister is that way. She can immitate accents easiy ... and will unconsciously pick up a little of whatever accent she is around. I also do that a little without noticing it. We are a very verbal family and I suspect it has something to do with the way our brains are wired for auditory processing.

It would be interesting to know if she were conscious of it.

llg

I pick up accents in conversations too without knowing it... my 4 y/o called me on it after we picked up the mexican food one night "mommy why are you rolling your r's" too many years moving around I guess...

LOL

Christa

[MsMonicaRN]

the accent thing is wacky...i agree with others who have wondered what this girl's response is when she is confronted about it. sometimes there is a perfectly good explaination for the weird things people do. but, im also human and just from reading your post she sounds like someone i would easily be annoyed by (i dont like followers) and probably avoid.

in this new grad's defense regarding her turning off the beeper...my friend who worked with me at my previous hospital started as a new grad with me and she used to have to go to a back room every time she wanted to chart. i thought it was wacky as hell and she was "sooooo slow." however, in time i realized some people take longer to adjust to the faster-than-the-speed-of-light pace of nursing. most nursing stations are a frenzy. so, after a while i didnt think twice about the way she handled her pt. care as long as she continued to be safe and get her work done in time. (of course in time my friend grew out of this need/habit). if this new grad needs more time, give it to her. rushed people will not be safe. if she's charting at the desk she can still be made aware of emergencies and the unit secretary can tell her when a pt is calling. hey better yet, someone tell her or tell the manager she aint pulling her load! pretty soon she will realize she needs to put the actual people ahead of the paperwork.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

From my perception, you sounds somewhat very judgmental. Why don't you try and give this new graduate the benefit of the doubt. By the way, what's wrong with mimicking British accent? Give her a break.

What's wrong with mimicking a British accent? Everything! She doesn't come from England. Her preceptor has asked her several times to stop. It's childish and disrespectful :angryfire of her preceptor feelings, who is a true jem and wonderful nurse. If she put her time into learning something other than the British accent

maybe now 100% of the staff wouldn't be complaining about her !!! Your perception is wrong and I am NOT judgemental.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

hey better yet, someone tell her or tell the manager she aint pulling her load! pretty soon she will realize she needs to put the actual people ahead of the paperwork.

here! here ! monica i couldn't have said it better myself, you have hit the nail on the head !

[prmenrs, RN]

Sooo? What's been happening w/the situation?

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

Sooo? What's been happening w/the situation?

Evidently she has plenty of book sense but no common sense and every one is afraid she doesn't or won't be capable of having any critical thinking skills. Yesterday she had a pt with a BP of 230/120 and she thought it was ok because the pt had come in with an elevated BP. The patient was in to r/o CVA and c/o severe headache. She gave her 2 tylenol and wasn't even concerned to call the doctor. Her preceptor had to force her to call the doctor. No, she's not afraid of doctors. She was talking to the doctor on the phone with that phoney British accent. Oh please give me a break !

[kadokin, ASN, RN]

I find the accent thing very interesting. I know it is easy to pick a few things up here and there, but and entire British accent is odd. My hubby (from up north a bit) now says "fixin to" and "pitch a fit" which are two things he used to tease me endlessly about saying, but not with an accent. I have also started to say aunt the way it is spelled rather than 'ant' like I did before. I work with a girl who talks to herself (animatedly) constatly and bursts into laughter for no reason. She actually did this near a patient who had a somewhat sensitive problem and he got a bit miffed. She wasn't laughing at him, she just does that every few minutes. Sometimes I will see her talking and using hand guestures when no one is around buit the wall. She is really smart though.

I don't mean to be harsh and judgmental, but it sounds like she might be really psychotic as well a really smart. These 2 characteristics can sometimes go hand in hand. You need to get someone else to witness the behavior and see if she might need some help.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

I feel sorry for this strange girl. Yesterday they gave her 3 patients on her own. I saw her talking to the computers that were off "Come on tonto you know you can win this race", others saw her talking to the TV's in the patients rooms. I saw her biting her lower lip so bad that she had blood on her front teech. She would run down the hall for no reason and then get in a patients room and go "wow that's tiring". I think it's time for her to go. Just my opinion.