new grad and stressed

[Atrus82]

Hello,

I am a currently in an internship in PACU, and after about 8 months, I thought I was doing fairly well. Well then management assigned me to a new preceptor and now they say I am not doing so well. I am not given any real specifics on where I am deficient, just that I am not where they think I should be. I have asked a few other nurses I have worked closely with how they think I am doing, and they mostly tell me, they see me "working it out in my mind," but then I get distracted and they think I have a hard time getting back to my train of thought. I am not sure I agree with this entirely but I am trying to be more mindful and see if there is some truth to this. Upon evaluating myself, I would say the lack of experience hinders my process. There is just too much for a new nurse to learn in the time period expected. I feel like maybe I chose the wrong unit or something. I am not sure what I am looking for here, I just wanted to vent and hear someone else's thoughts. Thanks much!

[BostonRN13]

Ahh.. I remember those days and they sucked, ha! I would ask for a sit down meeting with your preceptor(s) and nurse manager . I'm surprised they don't have a list of competencies they want you to master where they can be more clear with their feedback.

Tell them you're interested in hearing more on how you could make your learning experience a better one . Ask for constructive criticism and let them know how you learn best and what you feel that you're lacking from it all. This is the time to be verbal, one day you'll be on your own so make the most of your orientation/internship now..

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

OK - this sounds like a hot mess.

You deserve to be provided with specifics rather than nurses who are 'reading your mind' and critiquing your thought processes. Sheesh. This is so not helpful at all.

Go back to your orientation skills checklist &/or internship goals & job description. This is the basis by which your success will be evaluated. The educator & your preceptor need to sit down with you and discuss those requirements - and let you know exactly where you stand with each one of them. Then, you will know the 'gaps' that you need to work on to be successful. Work with them to put together a detailed action plan for achieving those goals.

Ideally, you should be provided with 'exemplars' (a detailed outline of the care that the patient should have) for different types of patients... beginning with those that are most commonly seen. You could then compare your performance to the exemplar. For example, if the exemplar for a lap choley patient includes pain assessment & medication 15 min before transferring to post-surgical unit, and you forgot to do this until you were almost out the door.... this would be an area that needs improvement.

I agree that you should be open to critical feedback, but it should be focused on job performance, not on your character or how you tilt your head when you're thinking.