New Nurse Precepting a New Grad Nurse

thecareerchanger, BSN · Jun 19, 2019

I have been a nurse for almost 6 months and there is no way I feel remotely qualified to precept someone! My own preceptors were new-ish (roughly RNs for 1 year) and I feel it was difficult for them.

allnurses Guide · Jun 19, 2019

So, AllyAnnie, is there an update?

Kallie3006, ADN · Jun 21, 2019

Just some food for thought..... our nurses must have a experience of a year at least to take nursing students.

MsQueensRN, LPN, LVN · Jun 21, 2019

Unsure where you work but are there any policies in place regarding how long you should be working there prior to orienting a new nurse. In my facility, you have to have at least 1-year experience. I saw where a new nurse who had a little more than 6 months of experience took on this responsibility and the person they were orienting was not receptive to being oriented by someone with so little experience. There were frequent power struggles, and a need to "prove" that the more experienced nurse knew what they were talking about. This made for a great deal of tension during and after orientation. The precepted nurse did not learn as much as they should have during orientation, and the preceptor wants to never orient anyone again.

JBMmom, MSN, NP · Jun 21, 2019

This is happening all over my hospital right now. Once you're off orientation, you can expect to be assigned an orientee with 4-6 months at the most. Currently greater than 50% of our night nurses have been in the hospital about six months or less. It scares me at times, but it's what things have come to with the turnover in a small hospital with lower pay than surrounding hospitals. As soon as people have enough experience to move out, most do. It's unfortunate for our patients, their families, and the staff. When you find you're the only experienced nurse with 3 or 4 nurses on a 30 bed unit, you're fielding questions constantly. I think the real downside to newer nurses precepting is that you're still getting your feet under you. You're figuring out your own routine and learning so many things yourself. And precepting well takes time. Teaching someone else as you're doing things is another step and it can really be a challenge to be learning and teaching at the same time. As others have pointed out, you were in that role so recently, you're likely to be a very understanding preceptor and have a good idea of the most important things you learned, and the biggest things that were missed in your own orientation.

I guess the bottom line is, this is how it is these days. Yes, there are people that will tell you to quit and find a place that is better staffed/run, but that's not always an option. Sometimes you just pull on your big girl/boy pants and make the best of it. Everyone is doing their best to do what's right for the patients. Mistakes happen even with seasoned nurses, and yes, there's the higher potential with newer nurses, but just try to stick to the basics. Good luck to you and your preceptee(s), it's a challenge, but you can do it!

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2019

Sad thing about it is you can refuse but be still made to do it if your boss wants you to.

Guest957596 · Jun 28, 2019

On 6/17/2019 at 2:41 PM, AllyAnnie2115 said:
Okay, guys. I've officially been a nurse for 6 months. My director just asked me to precept a new grad nurse (um, what?!?!). Anyone else have a similar situation/advice? Tips? I keep seeing articles about nurses who've been working for 4 years who feel they're too new to train someone, so I'm pretty nervous!

It sounds like you are sh*t hot and your Director knows it, or the rest of the staff said no, which is doubtful. Do you have prior medical experience? If you're confident, as your boss must think, go for, add it to your resume.

AllyAnnie2115 · Jun 29, 2019

Hey guys!

Everything is going great so far. Im really enjoying the experience and my preceptee is doing great. To those of you that were actually supportive and gave advice, thank you! I've been a nurse since December 2018, just for a little more background. I was an EMT for a year then a Navy Corpsman for 5 years before becoming a nurse, so I do have some medical experience. Our unit is a bit different than a lot of units I've been on, we have great morale and most everyone is there for each other.

Guest957596 · Jun 30, 2019

I was a Corpsman, too!