Mentoring a struggling nurse

RNNPICU, BSN, RN · Mar 22

What are areas that she/he is strong in? Are there any? Is there an opportunity to practice some skills on a manikin? One approach you could try is have her be you "assistant" for CVAD cares or a wound dressing, etc. Then have them be the lead and you can remind them if there are any steps missing. Try this with all skills even ones that they may know.

Give them a list of everything that needs documented on so that there is no guess work. Build on what they know and think about what tools they would need to be successful.

Think about ways for them to be successful. Although it may not work out, at least provide some guidance on how they can improve.

BeatsPerMinute, BSN, RN · Mar 23

Following. I'd like to hear more about this. There are many reasons why a nurse could be struggling. Ask the nurse what she thinks would work for them, and then try that for a week or two. Note for yourself what you observe while you try this. A nurse who is struggling often is dealing with personal stuff, or generalized anxiety, or its not the right job for them. Try a gentle approach.

I second practicing somethings on a manikin. Repetition is helpful.

arich472 · Mar 23

Thanks, that's good advice. 🙂 ill try those suggestions and see if it helps her!

Vectrexevo · Mar 24

Sometime you just need to be direct and just ask. Just be nice, listen, and suggest change if they open up.

Marshall1 · Mar 24

She has been a nurse for 3 years, working with your company for a year and still needs mentoring/orientation? Wow.

JKL33 · Mar 24

Quote

Sometime you just need to be direct and just ask.

I think this.

I would try to assess what elements are at the root of this before spending much more time. The buddy shifts are going to come to an end. You can be more proactive while still being kind and professional of course. I just think at this point you need to know whether, for example, you're dealing with just a matter of dexterity while performing a sterile procedure—vs not understanding sterile technique itself. It is just more practice with certain technical elements that is needed, or do we really just not understand bigger concepts like the plan of care and what needs to happen?

I would ask what she thinks is most challenging about whatever is the task at hand, and I'd probably nicely/in a helpful manner also ask her to describe what her understanding is of what needs to happen and what we are going to do

Career Columnist / Author · Mar 25

She is not practicing independently, and I wonder how she made it past orientation.

The most important thing you can do is document her performance so her manager can take action.

Work with her manager to set measurable goals and formulate a performance improvement plan she must meet.

Read How to Give Constructive Feedback for some tips, and for how to set goals, read When You Receive a Warning.

sleepwalker, MSN, NP · Mar 27

Something else to look into would be whether or not she graduated from an accredited program...seems to be a lot of issues related to that topic nowadays

Labrentha Lonon · Mar 27

Go over procedures and policy before attempting the task.

Look at the orientation process how it can improve. Learning procedures, shadowing and assisting with another experienced nurse before being given task own their own.

Don't make it punitive but give corrective instructions when needed with competency training or retraining as needed.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · 2025-04-22T13:45:14Z

If she has been a nurse for 3 years and a full year of that has been with your employer and she still needs 1:1 support I would say it's time to cut her loose. It's pretty doubtful in that situation that changes in orientation would benefit her. There has to come a point where it's obvious that no additional changes to orientation are going to result in a better outcome.