My first job.. :(

[cylmara]

I will never forget my first job experience.

I have never had good clinical experiences when I was in nursing school. Most of the nurses was not helpful, friendly, patient, or willing to teach, unfortunately my preceptor from my first job was one of those. She was nice to me, which I am thankful for, but some nurses from my floor talked about how negative she was and how sorry they were for me. She was so rude and used to yells at me in front of the pts (What a blow to my self-confidence! And how will I know what to do on my own if she didn't teachers me the way it was supposed to be, I felt like I was wasting her time and bothering her.) I had slowly progressed to doing assessments, routine meds, some wound care, and the occasional IV med. I've told her that I would like more experience, and she was saying that she'll let me do this and that, but she ends up sitting me at the computer to chart, disappearing, reappearing after varying lengths of time saying, "I took care of our meds. You're doing great. I'm going to take a little break," and disappearing again. So after 6 weeks I was so unhappy with the whole thing and decided to ask my director to let me finish my preceptorship with another nurse, I don't know why after that they ended my contract. I quickly realized that staff nursing isn't what I want to do with my license. I greatly admire staff nurses because they work extremely hard for so many hours, so many days a week; however, I know in my heart that I'm not cut out for that lifestyle.

The reality is that a good or bad preceptor makes or breaks orientation for a new nurse.

[Elladora]

The reality is that a good or bad preceptor makes or breaks orientation for a new nurse.

I would respectfully disagree. If one bad experience (which all things considered, wasn't ALL that bad) is enough to turn you against this type of nursing I would daresay you are going to have a hard time finding your niche.

No one can have that kind of control over you and your feelings unless you let them. You cannot let negative people rule your thoughts.

[loriangel14, RN]

Your experience is what you make of it.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. You haven't got enough nursing experience to know where your niche is yet. I'm sorry your employer ended your contract but you have to get back in there quickly and find a new job so you can keep your skills fresh and learn new ones. A nursing career isn't built on a few weeks' orientation no matter how good or bad your preceptor is. Hang in there and don't give up!

[ED Nurse, RN]

You should have spoken up before six weeks. You only get out what you put in. If you were released then they have documented issues- stop trying to blame everyone else. You don't just get fired for have a bad preceptor.

[cylmara]

Thanks !