I just completed my first week of orientation on a LTC floor. I have heard the horror stories of more seasoned nurses "eating their young" and I have experienced first hand nurses picking student nurses to pieces. This post is not the same ol' rant about that..happily! I think my preceptors are for the BIRDS
I was not eaten by my "elders". More like fattened up by them. Just as a mother bird will eat meals for her babies and then regurg to feed them, the nurses I had the pleasure of working with were just like that mother bird. They did all they could to help me, show me tricks, give me the knowledge to start the process of giving me my confidence to spread my wings and fly solo. Of course that process is a work in process, no one expects me to fly solo for a while. They DO, however, want me to flap these new wings and TRY.
I felt so welcome and actually WANTED from the very first minute I was introduced to the nurses I'd be working with. When I made the same mistake not once, or twice but THREE times, my preceptor did not get annoyed or sqawk at me. What she did do is give me positive reinforcement by telling me although it was a mistake, she was happy to see, that before I carried out that mistake I questioned myself (I knew something was wrong but not sure what) and then asked her if what I was doing was incorrect. She reinforced to ALWAYS ask when something doesn't "sit" right in my gut.
Even the nurses on the shift before me were/are welcoming. My preceptor had to go to a room to check a patient as I was pulling meds. I got stuck because the med was listed on the MAR as the generic and I couldn't remember if that med was ABC trade name or XYZ. I stood at the cart, thinking, just about ready to grab my drug book from the nurses station when the nurse leaving came over, sweetly put her hand on my back and said "sweetheart, you look scared..whats wrong, can I help?" I explained my situation and said I think that this med is ABC trade name but I am not sure, (it was a VERY basic well known trade and generic name..duh!!) she said "yup, that med is known by ABC...you're right". I thanked her, told her I felt stupid and incompetent because I wasn't 100% sure while pulling the med and had to ask. She told me to never, ever, feel stupid and the only people who are incompetent are those who DON'T ask, even if it a basic question.
My entire week was great. I was offered the opportunity to do anything I wanted to try, and was allowed to decide to watch or listen the times I didn't feel ready to do.
These are the types of nurses I aspire to be. The ones who WANT to show the ropes to the new fledglings, the ones who want to nurture and protect us so that as we "age" and leave that protective nest of our momma bird we will fly safely when we go solo.
I hope that my momma birds will continue to feed and protect me as I get ready to leave their nest. But as with all momma's I do expect a peck on the neck from time to time when I do wrong..really wrong..the kind of wrong that can hurt me and/or my patients.
I am wishing all the new nurses who are entering the field the same great experiences I have been getting..so no, not ALL nurses are hungry enough to sample their young, most are so full, they are giving their "food" to the young ones.
