would like to share my evaluation by my Head OR nurse

[Lorodz]

after 6 months in the probationary program, my OR head nurse said that Im fast, quick and efficient. But sometimes I often commit mistakes (I.e. giving the wrong instruments to the doctor). She said that the quicker and faster i move, the more errors i commit. Im sad, because in the OR you have to move quickly and efficiently but at the same time you have to think your actions correctly so that you would lessen your errors.

My co-probationary colleague(?) according to my head nurse is better than me in some aspects. I know she is but it sometimes hurt that you are compared to someone.

Im doing my best and giving it my all but it seems my head nurse isnt that impressed.

how about you? what did you do to be an excellent OR nurse?

thanks a lot:D

[SophiaO]

Dont get discouraged. If your being graded on your scrub skills, it will take years before you "get the whole picture." It takes working with the same surgeon for quite a while. Knowing the next step in the hard part, when you've never seen the operation before. A good OR nurse is ORGANIZED, a team player, and a good resourse. For all these things to happen you need experience. Which your getting right now. I wouldnt worry about your other trainee. Everybody learns at your own rate. Just stay positive and dont psych yourself out. It will make passing instruments harder. Plus when you get stressed, your mask will start to fog up, and you lose passing skills..You can do it! Stay positive!

[BethCNOR, BSN, RN]

I agree with SophiaO, it takes a long time to acquire the skills to pass efficiently. Your head nurse probably was trying to encourage you, but I think she may have taken the back door to get there. She may have even told the other person you were the better one. Stay with it. Time is an important factor in the OR. I tell every new person in the OR and student, that it takes a year or more to start to feel comfortable. Hang in there.

[I love the OR]

Wow. I would like to evaluate your "head" nurses' ability to perform a proper and productive evaluation.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

OP, there are people with years of experience that make mistakes daily. You are only 6 months in..many nurses forget what it was like when they were new. Keep your head up. I'd be willing to bet that your coworker may have gotten an eval similar to yours and probably was told that you were better than her. Some managers act like that...they use the ol' Divide and Conquer strategy.

[staceyp413]

Hang in there!! I have been a OR nurse for 14 years and early on was counseled on things to work on and honestly I did't take it well as I was 22 and thought I would rock it out. Thankfully I had a great spouse who pointed out that I shouldn't just focus on the - but also all of the +. I don't think comparing you to a peer at this time is too supportive in the team model nut you could flip it and challenge yourself that in 6 months you'll be the standard of which to compare(hopefully not with your peers).

[Lorodz]

Wow thanks for the encouraging replies! By the way I have taken measures to improve my skills and knowledge. Everyday I keep a ''work journal'' where I record the important details of an operation (especially the surgeons preference) And note my errors so that it would never happen again.

Just to update you guys, I recently signed the contract, promoting me to regular status! weeeee! thanks

[llg, PhD, RN]

Wow. I would like to evaluate your "head" nurses' ability to perform a proper and productive evaluation.

Why? I don't see any evidence that the evaluation was unfair or inappropriate. It's the head nurse's job to give honest feedback -- and if the orientee is making more mistakes than expected, that fact SHOULD be included in the eval. Don't blame the head nurse for that. There is nothing to suggest in the OP that the evaluation was not done appropriately. In fact, it sounds as if she gave some positive feedback as well as some negative -- which is the way it should be done.

To the OP: Hang in there. Ask your educators, senior staff members, etc. for a little help so that you can work on your weak areas. The fact that your manager is keeping you on staff and investing in you suggests that she thinks you are "worth keeping" -- and that's good.

[TammyCNOR]

I can remember an evaluation in my early years... I got an "average" score for promptness on call-back cases. I lived closer than anyone and was routinely there before my teammate. When I questioned my evaluator, she said,"to get an exceeds standard on this, you would have to answer the phone before it rings" Sometimes I think they grade down a bit to give you something to improve and also, they only have so much money for raises. Take it with a grain of salt.

[tewdles, RN]

Why? I don't see any evidence that the evaluation was unfair or inappropriate. It's the head nurse's job to give honest feedback -- and if the orientee is making more mistakes than expected, that fact SHOULD be included in the eval. Don't blame the head nurse for that. There is nothing to suggest in the OP that the evaluation was not done appropriately. In fact, it sounds as if she gave some positive feedback as well as some negative -- which is the way it should be done.

To the OP: Hang in there. Ask your educators, senior staff members, etc. for a little help so that you can work on your weak areas. The fact that your manager is keeping you on staff and investing in you suggests that she thinks you are "worth keeping" -- and that's good.

My management training and education suggests that it is generally counter productive to compare one employee with another in an evaluation process.

[Scrubby]

As someone who does evaluations I dont' really care about whether or not a nurse hands the wrong instrument occasionally. In most circumstances handing up a wrong instrument isn't going to harm the patient, unless it's an emergency case where speed and efficiency are vital.

Now if your handing up instruments and other items unsafely where you may cause a sharps injury to the surgeon or someone else that is something to worry about.

It is true that the faster you try and do things the more likely you are to make an error. This is why it's important when your learning to slow down and think about what your doing. That way you can eventually speed up and are less likely to an error because you have mastered skills.

[Argo]

As a manager and evaluator I would never compare one to another, that is almost impossible and like comparing one child to another........ The comment that you grade down a bit is true, If you got all 5's in a 1-5 type grading system on everything then there would be no room for improvement or RAISES(according to human resources).

I will say this though, sometimes it takes twice as long or longer to move faster than everyone else(because you have to do it twice since you made a mistake). Slow it down a tad and think out your movement before you make it so you try not to make a mistake of grabing a regular hohman as opposed to a double bent hohman, or a gelpi instead of a weitlander..........