I can't wait to "lose my loser" preceptor

[anfe]

I am coming to the end my oreintation and if there is only 1 silver lining is that I will not have to work through 12-13 hours with my preceptor who talks down to me, is rude, makes snide negative remarks about me being slow, disorganized to anyone who would listen, is more task oriented than detail-oriented. Does not explain why things are done or why something is probably happening to the patient and what to look out for. Completes things that I planned on completing( completely throws me off since I am learning to put my day together), as well as leaves me not knowing parts of what is going on with the pt. does skills intsead of giving me the opportunity to do it(because she "has to leave by 1915 and I will take too long". So needless to say, I have not done any IV starts, even if I told her I need to learn those. Go do this, no you don't have to do this now, who told you to do that....rush, rush, rush... many times I can't even think straight and feeling like just saying" back off,....don't u realize I am a new nurse, trying to learn?"

I know its going to be crazy busy for me once I am on my own. I k now that there are many things I have still not learned or put together, but not having to deal with this person is going to take load off my shoulder. I have scheduled myself to work same days with a couple of "go to" nurses who I can ask questions without being made to feel like an idiot or who takes the time to say things like " we were all in your shoes. don't worry it'll all come together. ...it's your license on the line so take your time to understand what u are doing,etc..

I patiently hung in there for the length of orientation, and did learn many things from her, but I am sooooo ready to "loose this loser'!!!! Just can't deal with that attitude no more than I have to..

[jemtown]

Wow, we could have had the same preceptor! I was in trouble almost every day that I worked with my preceptor. I reported her to my manager with the hope that she would be more mature and demonstrate some level of professionalism with the next orientee. I was really nervous about being on my own because I just didn't feel ready. I definitely didn't get the training I needed from her. I recently was given the opportunity to move to a different floor and have found the staff there to be VERY helpful. I'm on my own now and while it's hard work I am learning sooo much.

Not every experienced nurse is an effective preceptor. It would be great if there was some kind of screening tool to weed out preceptors that are just doing it for the extra money and don't realize how vital that role is for a new grad.

[Leahr]

Some preceptors are bad to the bone. At least you had the same preceptor, I have a different one everyday!

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I went through that. Heinous.

Hang in there, my buddy.

[steelcityrn, RN]

I can't understand why anyone would agree to be a preceptor, only to make a newly hired nurse feel unwelcomed. Its becoming more clear to me that hospitals should find some resolution to this problem. Some of the really good nurses with awesome personalities get burned out from precepting in the past. Then you end up with someone like you had. Shame.

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

That's why preceptors shouldn't be paid that much more just for precepting. Our preceptor pay isn't that much at all, it ends up being like $1-2/hour extra. So people definitely don't do it for the money. And you have to take a preceptor class. The people that don't want to do it, don't sign up. Therefore we have people that actually like teaching as preceptors. Works well for us.

Good luck to you!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I can't understand why anyone would agree to be a preceptor, only to make a newly hired nurse feel unwelcomed.

Where I work aren't asked, you're told. You get an email from the educator saying something like, "Thank you for preceptoring Nancy Nurse, who will be buddied with you for the following shifts..." And we don't get a penny for it, unless we're supervising a nursing student. The only ones who get to do that are the relatively new grads... where's the wisdom in that?

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Our hospital asks us if we want to be preceptors, we get trained, and then they give us a fair patient load because the student/new grad is not counted. We also do get a little extra money for it, but really, the amount is so negligible that you just have to love preceptoring because otherwise, it's not worth it.

But I've heard of some hospitals who give a double load of patients to nurses who are preceptoring. Who can teach or learn in that environment!

The conditions are just no excuse for treating you like that, though. I'm so sorry you had that experience and hope that it'll be better now.

[Templedoll]

Gosh things don't change too much. Good on you for hanging in there I would have given up. Why these nurse have to be so mean has made me wonder for a long time. Many years ago when I was a student I went to A small town to do clinical practice. I was given a fantastic report when I left. ON arriving back to the nursing school I was asked to see the tutor. She asked me for my side of the story as these nurse had phoned her when I left town and been really negative about me. Only hours before I was given an excellent report both orally and written from them. Try to work that one out because I never could. Good luck

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

I am so sorry. I love my preceptor but before her, I had one that was heck! Best wishes to you!

[mimmy]

It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders...too bad your preceptor does not. When I was a new grad, I had a wonderful preceptor and I was so thankful and learned alot from her. I recently changed from med/surg to OB and lets just say my preceptor must be related to yours! Try not to take her critism and remarks personally. I know it is hard, I went home in tears many days. Having been a preceptor myself, I cannot believe that these nurses can feel good about their teaching styles. Just take each day one at a time and learn from the nice nurses...trust me there are some out there that do not eat their young. And keep smiling:)

[pattyweb]

That is not fair to anyone! I started out with the best preceptor I could have ever asked for! I was hired for overnights, but had to work days the first 4 months (we have 5-6 month orientation periods for new grads) because they didn't have enough experienced preceptors for overnights. My preceptor on days was there when I needed her, was able to back off when I needed to take over the team, and was always challenging me to strive for the best without overwhelming me. I started nights this past week and was supposed to have an overnights preceptor for the first 2 weeks, then just have a resource person. My second overnight shift, I was pretty much on my own, and did great! Charting was done on time, meds passed, families talked to, admissions completed. I couldn't have done it without such a great preceptor!