New Grad Nurse Might Lose Job Struggling In Orientation

Nurses General Nursing

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I work on an oncology med/surg floor as a new grad nurse. I have been wanting to be a bedside nurse and I love working with my patients. But I am apparently not flourishing enough to be ready to come off orientation. I have trouble with time management but have been working diligently on it and have been improving bit by bit every day. But some days it’s so hard to finish on time when I am still learning a lot of new things and can’t always retain it all at once. I am also still struggling with understanding computer stuff and following all of the rules there are in everything I do. I am also a bit anxious and according to the nurses I work with on the floor, it shows.

I’ve cried already 3 times at work because of the way the nurses criticize me. They say they are trying to help but when they would talk to me, they would say things like, “you don’t know this yet?,” “you should know this by now.” And everything that they teach me, they make sure to tell my manager the things I didn’t know how to do and the mistakes I made (that I learned from and corrected).

They would also keep telling me to stop being so anxious and crying all the time and it just made me feel even worse and I would not be able to focus on my work and would make more mistakes.

My manager isn’t really nice when it comes to giving me feedback. She never had anything positive to say. It was always just about the preceptors complaining about me doing things wrong. She thinks I am genuinely failing at this job and told me that if I don’t improve enough in my last week of orientation, that my employment will be terminated.

I’ve been on orientation for about 11 weeks and I feel like I should be flourishing more than this and honestly, I am not happy here. I feel like I should be learning much faster than this. I know I am really new and it’s going to take a long time to get good, but I am not getting good enough after 3 months and that worries me that I am not cut out for this

I’m really really going to fight for my job but at the same time, is it worth all of this toxic behavior from my preceptors and manager? What do I do?!

Specializes in Medsurg.

Anyone appreciate tough preceptors? My first nursing job was working with vents and everything that came with that. I wanted to scream at my preceptor sometimes but she made me strong at critical thinking and time management. When i resigned to take a position at a LTACH my preceptor and i was crying because we genuinely respected each other-- i miss her terribly. *tears emoji*

Because of that preceptor i came onto my curreng job with a skill set that helped me build. Without that lady i definitely would of sank. Next place you go, dont let anyone intimidate you. Go into it girl! Man up!

4 Votes
6 hours ago, JKL33 said:

No, actually they do not.

I don't even think I just read that.

I agree. I don't think this was an appropriate comment and had to read it twice to make sure. Shocking because this doesn't reflect the type of character I expect from a nurse.

3 Votes
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

I think it is the common internet hyperbole, but I'm not a fan. And I definitely don't like the phraseology. I don't like saying anyone should be shot.

Back to the OP, I would also suggest a therapist. You seem to have a lot of anxiety and they could help you find better ways to cope with that.

Make a plan at the start of the day, with an hourly timetable. Note when meds, meals, baths, vitals, whatever are due. It will help guide your day.

4 Votes

Send me a message! I am going through the EXACT same thing at this VERY MOMENT! My story is mimics yours! It is such a disgrace to be involved with a company that treats their new grads this way. I am done now at my company THANK GOD!

4 Votes
On 4/12/2019 at 2:33 PM, beekee said:

Offer to resign in lieu of being fired. It might not prevent you from landing on the “do not hire” list, but it’ll save you a lot of grief in future job hunting when asked if you have even been terminated.

Best wishes.

Either ask to resign or ask to be transferred, as someone said above.

You have to stop crying at work. It shows lack of control of your feelings and is not professional. And it makes people uncomfortable. It even can bring out the meanness in others. It makes you seem to need mothering. Easier said than done, but you must stop crying at work.

I don't know if you "should" be farther along, but it is what it is. See about transferring (point out the cost savings to the new manager where you want to transfer to).

Or just make a clean break and go elsewhere.

7 Votes
Specializes in CCRN, CMC, CPAN, CAPA.
On 4/12/2019 at 1:22 PM, Scrubba Dub said:

I work on an oncology med/surg floor as a new grad nurse. I have been wanting to be a bedside nurse and I love working with my patients. But I am apparently not flourishing enough to be ready to come off orientation. I have trouble with time management but have been working diligently on it and have been improving bit by bit every day. But some days it’s so hard to finish on time when I am still learning a lot of new things and can’t always retain it all at once. I am also still struggling with understanding computer stuff and following all of the rules there are in everything I do. I am also a bit anxious and according to the nurses I work with on the floor, it shows.

I’ve cried already 3 times at work because of the way the nurses criticize me. They say they are trying to help but when they would talk to me, they would say things like, “you don’t know this yet?,” “you should know this by now.” And everything that they teach me, they make sure to tell my manager the things I didn’t know how to do and the mistakes I made (that I learned from and corrected).

They would also keep telling me to stop being so anxious and crying all the time and it just made me feel even worse and I would not be able to focus on my work and would make more mistakes.

My manager isn’t really nice when it comes to giving me feedback. She never had anything positive to say. It was always just about the preceptors complaining about me doing things wrong. She thinks I am genuinely failing at this job and told me that if I don’t improve enough in my last week of orientation, that my employment will be terminated.

I’ve been on orientation for about 11 weeks and I feel like I should be flourishing more than this and honestly, I am not happy here. I feel like I should be learning much faster than this. I know I am really new and it’s going to take a long time to get good, but I am not getting good enough after 3 months and that worries me that I am not cut out for this

I’m really really going to fight for my job but at the same time, is it worth all of this toxic behavior from my preceptors and manager? What do I do?!

If I were you I would go ahead and quit rather than working out the remainder of the orientation period. Just thank them for the opportunity but feel that you need to explore other job opportunities (or something like that). I say that for a couple of reasons. First, I think it’ll be better to exit the situation with some dignity intact than for them to feed you more criticisms and “letting you go.” Secondly, even if you do scrape by in this orientation and they place you into a permanent position, the attitude of the nurses you’ve worked with during this period is unlikely to improve. This is unfair and upsetting, but it will be difficult (not impossible) to gain their respect and confidence in you even when you have made gains in your skill and confidence and efficiency and you’ll end up the outsider on that unit. So, by working out the remainder of this orientation period you run the risk of termination and then, even if they keep you it will likely be a lonely, frustrating job for you with co-workers demeaning your self-esteem. IDK. I hate to sound negative but I think you can take all that you have learned from this experience and apply it to your next one. You will find your niche. You will. And you will shine.

4 Votes
Specializes in CCRN, CMC, CPAN, CAPA.
17 hours ago, JKL33 said:

No, actually they do not.

I don't even think I just read that.

I’m sure the nurse meant it as a figure of speech. And preceptors like that are indeed despicable individuals. But I’m certain the nurse did not mean to literally shoot them.

7 Votes
Specializes in CCRN, CMC, CPAN, CAPA.
49 minutes ago, disenchanted RN said:

If I were you I would go ahead and quit rather than working out the remainder of the orientation period. Just thank them for the opportunity but feel that you need to explore other job opportunities (or something like that). I say that for a couple of reasons.

First, I think it’ll be better to exit the situation with some dignity intact than for them to feed you more harshly-worded criticisms and “letting you go.” Secondly, even if you do scrape by in this orientation and they place you into a permanent position, the attitude of the nurses you’ve worked with during this period is unlikely to improve. This is unfair but even when you’ve made gains in your skills and confidence and efficiency it really will be difficult to gain their respect and confidence and you’ll end up the outsider on that unit. So, by working out the remainder of this orientation period you run the risk of termination and then, even if they keep you, it will likely be a lonely, frustrating job with co-workers demeaning your self-esteem. IDK. I hate to sound negative but I think you can take all that you have learned from this experience and apply it to your next one. You will find your niche. You will. And you will shine.

I

1 Votes
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.
36 minutes ago, disenchanted RN said:

I’m sure the nurse meant it as a figure of speech. And preceptors like that are indeed despicable individuals. But I’m certain the nurse did not mean to literally shoot them.

I think the concern is, in this day and age, advocating shooting people, anyone, even when facetious, is a dangerous thing potentially. (since we are primarily a US based group)

1 Votes
6 hours ago, disenchanted RN said:

I’m sure the nurse meant it as a figure of speech. And preceptors like that are indeed despicable individuals. But I’m certain the nurse did not mean to literally shoot them.

No clarification required.

I have posted quite a few statements here about how I feel new grads/newer nurses should be treated. I support just about anyone who wants to learn and believe they should be given far more guided opportunity to do so in their orientation periods (and beyond) than they often are. When working with them I actually do try to say and do things in a manner consistent with how I would want to be treated.

That said, the people doing most of the training are simply regular human beings who are not given the time to do the job properly, are expected to take it on as a second FT job simultaneously with caring for patients (and all that entails) and themselves usually have had no (or very little/superficial) formal training in teaching others. If someone believes there shouldn't be any imperfect communications along the way, they are delusional and are in for a major disappointment.

Given the less-than-ideal circumstances in which all of this is happening, I suggest our intolerance be reserved for 1) Those who refuse to invest in nurses 2) Those few emotionally-toxic individuals who should not be in the position of training anyone.

4 Votes
Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Several posts have been removed after quoting a removed sentence. allnurses.com will NOT tolerate threats of violence. Thanks for everyone's understanding.

3 Votes

OP. Have you figured out what you’re going to do? Are you choosing to complete your orientation?

0 Votes
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