Hi, I am new RN grad and I just started working about a month ago on a med/surge floor. I was hired into new grad training program for days. Which included 6 weeks of simulation/didactic and 6 weeks preceptorship. I was a bit unsure of going through this whole thing because I remember through my clinicals nurses told me when you start as a new grad they give you 12 weeks of preceptorship and the pay is also half of what we get paid here in Florida. Not only that, by week 2 of preceptorship I was "excepted to have full assignment!" So then I called a friend of mine that went through this program and she said it was awesome, so I listened and took the offer.
On my first day on the floor my manager came up to me and said she needs me on nights and I agreed. I trained for 2 weeks on days and I loved it, my preceptor and I "clicked" she explained everything and let me do everything. the charge nurse was such a sweetheart and helps the nurses out so much and I never saw her upset. There were nurses who I didn't introduced myself to, knew i was new and would ask me if I was alright and If I needed any help. Even though I was overwhelmed with everything I had support and I had a great preceptor which made me feel at ease. Once I transitioned to nights, my life became miserable.
MY night preceptor is horrible. From the first night I explained to him that I was expected to have full assignment and wanted to do as much as I wanted because I only had 4 wks left. And he said ok but didnt let me have not one pt. The next night we had a crazy night so much things were left undone from day and it was given to us. My preceptor was running back forth without explaining anything to me and didn't acknowledged me at all, he had called two doctors, tried to start an IV and didn't even tell me. I literally went looking for him and found him starting an IV. after the madness calmed down I pulled him aside and told him again that I need to do most of the work. He ended just giving me 3 pts and disappeared on me, i became so upset because when comparing to my day preceptor she would never disapparead on me she would either be next to me or she would wait outside and recheck all my noted and documentation. I automatically started to shut down, I had no one to talk to on the floor.
There is less nurses on nights and they are all in their little corner texting. I felt alone. I called the instructor thats from this new grad program who follows up with me & preceptor every other week to see how im doing. I explained to her my situation and I am overwhelmed and I feel like I am not progressing, I feel alone I feel like it is not a Team at night, I also explained to her how I feel like im missing out on so many things i need to be learning because my preceptor rushes everything and doesn't really include me. All my instructor said to me was "talk to him again, you will be working with him and you do not want to burn any bridges", I told her I already did TWICE. But i listened and the following week I spoke to him again and told him I only have 3 wks left and I want every pt and with u on my side so u can catch my mistakes and if any questions I have I can ask u right away.he said ok and after a few hours he said i was falling behind on my charting so he grabbed a computer and started charting on most of the pt then we received a new admission and he took it and didn't even tell me, he even started blood, I became so upset because he didn't even tell me or gave me the chance i went to the bathroom and I started crying and felt horrible.
The following week he gave me less pt and i was back to 3 i didn't want to argue so i took it and i took my sweet time because at nights its much slower for me so i did a full head to toe on all my pt and even took the time to speak to a pt who was upset and was crying, i come out and my precptor tells me I took to much time. that I talk to much with my pts and how will i survive once i have 6-7 pts. I wpoke to my manager and requested to be changed and she said no they are so short on nurses and they barely have precpetors at night. I also asked to be switched to the other night team because we have to work every other weekend and Ive been schedule to work with this preceptor for the next two years and my manager also told me no. I signed a contract a 2 yr contract and if i quit I will have to pay back 10k back, I am stuck in between a rock and a hard situation. I cry every day and everytime i leave work. I feel so depressed, my days off fly and I am not able to do anything because i am always so tired I feel so miserable.
I do not know what to do, I worked so hard and my nursing school was so hard and I still cant believe i made it. and IT kills me to even think of quitting. I love nursing I love talking to patients and I love to make them feel better. Ive always loved working with people but right now im starting to hate it. I hate rushing things and all this paperwork. I even considered to go back to school to get my masters and study nursing informatics but with this terible depression I feel like I wont even have time to do my course work. I cant go to gym or cook which I used to love doing. I also dont want to quit because I help my mom pay bills and I help her with her medications and I also dont want to let her down, shes so proud of me. But I honestly feel so sad I cant stop crying. I wish I just had a better team or coworker or at least better training. can someone help me on what should i do?
Specializes in Tele/Interventional/Non-Invasive Cardiology.
I always wonder why some people feel the need to be aggressive or rude on these posts. I understand that nursing is high stakes. But nursing is one of the new professions where "veterans" think it is okay for co-workers to be rude or what not. For those who claim it isn't about the new nurse, I gladly disagree. Nursing isn't like medicine where physicians get a 3-4 residency after medical school to hone their crafts. Nurses are expected to take on an epic amount of responsibility after a couple months of training. This will be the only "residency" the new grad will get. It should be a time of learning. If the preceptor isn't a good preceptor or burned out, guess what? DON'T PRECEPT.
Just because nursing was a sucky environment when certain veteran nurses began doesn't mean it should continue. It is very hard to take possible constructive criticism when the person isn't respecting you. Just because the person is a new RN, that doesn't mean that he/she should just shut up and take disrespect. On the flip side, new RNs should be understanding of his/her preceptor's needs and keep his or her eyes open. Your pride will get hurt even if you have the nicest preceptor, quell your pride and learn.
I feel that this is a multi-faceted issue, and one that isn't going to improve anytime soon. Nursing turnover is a real issue, and having a consistently new staff orienting all the time can be a major drain on the floor or in any unit. The quality of the new grads makes a huge difference in this, as some are already quite impressive in skill, and others leave much to be desired.
I was hired into an ICU position as a new grad, alongside about 2-3 M/S new grads, and lo and behold I am the only one remaining. I think at least 1 of them quit because of lack of support and or poor management, but the rest simply weren't ready for the job. They would ask questions, and I kid you not, about things like "How can you tell if a wound is well approximated?" Scary....
Some preceptors are just not cut out for it either. Nights are a different beast, some night staff are the funniest people you'll ever meet, others are night staff because they are socially awkward and can't function around "day people" (aka 70% of the population).
What is important to realize is you will have to interact with people, good or bad, throughout the rest of your career. What is also important is do your research and teach yourself all the time. On days off I would watch videos about topics that were related to my specialty, and write down questions that were advanced and showed that I was interested in learning at a high level. One example is, "Can you help me understand why Levophed would be the drug of choice for this patients situation". This lead into a very detailed conversation with the entire unit about the difference between using positive inotropes for normovolemic shock states (epi/dobutamine) vs using vasoactive agents for hypovolemic and or adrenal crisis patients (levophed/vasopressin). Why is this relevant? You can teach yourself all the specifics such as these at home, which does not impact your preceptors time OR a patients life. What you cannot do is teach yourself time management and prioritization at home.
Something that doesn't seem quite right, if your story is 100% correct, is the part about the 2 year contract. If they hired you with the intention of being on days, then switched you to nights, did you have to sign a new contact? If not, they are in violation of their own contract. I would check the wording carefully, but it seems like something isn't quite right there.
after a few hours he said i was falling behind on my charting so he grabbed a computer and started charting on most of the pt then we received a new admission and he took it and didn't even tell me, he even started blood, I became so upset because he didn't even tell me or gave me the chance i went to the bathroom and I started crying and felt horrible. the following week he gave me less pt and i was back to 3 i didn't want to argue so i took it and i took my sweet time because at nights its much slower for me so i did a full head to toe on all my pt and even took the time to speak to a pt who was upset and was crying, i come out and my precptor tells me I took to much time. that I talk to much with my pts and how will i survive once i have 6-7 pts.
I really think this part back fired on you. This is my understanding of what you wrote here.
1. You were falling behind so your preceptor took over to catch up.
2. You became angry and went to the bathroom to cry.
3. He then gave you an assignment with fewer patients.
4. You were angry so in your words "took your sweet time"
5. Preceptor again tells you it's taking too long.
It sounds bad overall. Maybe he's burnt out, maybe he's not an effective teacher, maybe , maybe lots of things. It has definitely been a non-educational experience for you that has left you depressed and shaken.
I think a great preceptor with the ability to teach how you learn, and communicate to you both what your doing well and how to improve with concrete goals would be wonderful. But Neither of us can make that happen, so I will focus on what you can do (not because I think you are a weak link, or that older nurses should eat their young, but because it's the only thing you can control is you)
I do understand your preceptor cutting back your patient assignment. That way you can learn time management skills with fewer patients, do all the care and all the charting without falling behind. And while it hard to hear, I think that "taking your sweet time" in this case just reinforced his belief that your time management skills maybe even worse then they are.
I would take the gift of less patients (whether it's intended that way or not) and use it to work on getting everything done and have time left over then continually help out your preceptor with your left over time. I know you probably don't want to help him with anything right now... but this shows him that your getting better and can take more on. You could even point out after a couple of shifts that you managed three patients well with time left over so can I take four today, then five.
The only other thing I can advise is to seek help for your depression. If your employer has an EAP, make an appointment and go talk to them. If not, a visit to your PCP maybe in order. When things feel like they have spiraled out of control, there is nothing wrong with getting help to get them right again. It would be very hard to turn things around on both fronts (work and depression, even if it's related to work) without some help.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I really think this part back fired on you. This is my understanding of what you wrote here.
1. You were falling behind so your preceptor took over to catch up.
2. You became angry and went to the bathroom to cry.
3. He then gave you an assignment with fewer patients.
4. You were angry so in your words "took your sweet time"
5. Preceptor again tells you it's taking too long.
Yes, I would say this backfired. OP, passive-aggressive reactions (which is exactly what this is) will only come back to bite you. You are not teaching your preceptor a lesson; rather, you are sabotaging yourself.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Yes, I would say this backfired. OP, passive-aggressive reactions (which is exactly what this is) will only come back to bite you. You are not teaching your preceptor a lesson; rather, you are sabotaging yourself.
Summed up very nicely and something for the OP to think about.
Your night preceptor may be terrible but unfortunately that is usually the case. I wanted to quit during my first 4 months but then I got the hang of it. It was VERY frustrating. I think most new RNs feel this way. I got a lot of emotional support from reading similar experiences here on Allnurses. I had several preceptors because people's schedules kept changing. They are all very good nurses but they were all terrible at explaining things. They are all my friends now but I never pointed out to them that they were terrible preceptors.
However, this "i took my sweet time" nonsense has to stop. You ARE an inexperienced RN and there is no place for this sort of childishness. You need to hold yourself to a higher standard, especially now when you are establishing work relationships.
Hang in there...be nice to everybody because you will have lots of questions in the coming year once you are off orientation and on your own. You can do this.
There are marvelous institutions out there (I work in one!!!) and you should move either to another unit or hospital! There are great people out there, great teachers and mentors. You deserve to have good ones!
Thank you so much for the advice. I really do appreciate it.
I honestly am trying very hard to be positive. But my problem is I am sensitive and i am a hands on person.
Unfortunately, my preceptor likes to be control and finish all his tasks as soon as possible. I know its nothing personal, I just wish he understood that I am new and i cant be as fast as him.
After bringing up my concern about my training to my manager, I really thought she was going to change my preceptor instead she said "she doesn't have anybody else to train me". And I jist couldn't believe it.
It sounds like your preceptor on nights in a lot like me. We like to get it done so we can prepare for the next challenge coming at us, the next patient/admission, the next person suddenly getting sicker. He seems to be trying to convey something to you...and that is that you need to organize your work and get your time management down better. Learn what he is trying to teach you. You can't always have it your way, and you won't when you get off orientation. Good luck!
Hi. I have been a nurse for 27 years. I am sorry that your situation is so unbearable. At this moment in time, nursing is not fun like it used to be. We are all overworked and understaffed. I know that this sounds discouraging, but please do not give up. The girls on days, the preceptor, see if you can talk to one of them. It sounds as though they would be great encouragement and support. Your night preceptor is a prick, and he is miserable, that is why he is the way that he is. Go to work, do a good job, because I can guarantee that your patients appreciate you and your kindness.
CardiacRNLA, BSN
165 Posts
I always wonder why some people feel the need to be aggressive or rude on these posts. I understand that nursing is high stakes. But nursing is one of the new professions where "veterans" think it is okay for co-workers to be rude or what not. For those who claim it isn't about the new nurse, I gladly disagree. Nursing isn't like medicine where physicians get a 3-4 residency after medical school to hone their crafts. Nurses are expected to take on an epic amount of responsibility after a couple months of training. This will be the only "residency" the new grad will get. It should be a time of learning. If the preceptor isn't a good preceptor or burned out, guess what? DON'T PRECEPT.
Just because nursing was a sucky environment when certain veteran nurses began doesn't mean it should continue. It is very hard to take possible constructive criticism when the person isn't respecting you. Just because the person is a new RN, that doesn't mean that he/she should just shut up and take disrespect. On the flip side, new RNs should be understanding of his/her preceptor's needs and keep his or her eyes open. Your pride will get hurt even if you have the nicest preceptor, quell your pride and learn.