Need experienced OR nurse advise.

Specialties Operating Room

Published

I am presently 4.5 months into my 9 months of training. I am getting very, very frustrated.

I have been told, by the Nurse Educator and Dept. Mgr, that I should be able to do most general and gyn cases by myself. They are wanting to move me on to other specialties.

The problem is, my preceptor (god love her) always has her hands in things and doesn't wait for me to call her when I finally realize I need her help!! For example, today I was by myself in the OR for a modified radical mastectomy.....I should be able to do these, right?? Anyway, the pt. needed a 14fr foley and it was ordered from CS. My preceptor was out in the hall....where she has been told she needs to be....I motioned for her to come into the room and asked if she could check by the clean supply elevator for the foley. She went to get it and brought it back. She then stayed in the room and proceeded to get her hands in everything again....hooking up suction, doing my paperwork, and the list goes on. I got so Frustrated!

The other new nurse I was hired with is having the same difficulties w/her preceptor. Don't get me wrong, I TRUELY appreciate everything these wonderful nurses are doing for us. I just don't want to have to 'learn' how to manage everything and become organized AFTER I get off my training. Now is the time for me to learn these things......she just needs to be my safety net if I can't fly too good sometimes. I know she wants to keep the room running smoothly and the docs from taking chunks of my behind, but, how else am I going to learn??

And, yes, these preceptors have been told by the Nurse Educator that they need to stay outside the rooms as much as possible so that we can learn when to call for floats, and how to be organized.

I'm biting at the bit!!! HELP! :confused:

I want her to push me off the cliff, not keep me in the nest.

Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

Hang in there! You are going through what every newbie goes through with their preceptor. I have doing this for 23 years and still have trouble keeping my nose out of things in the room. Old time OR nurses seem to want to keep things running smooth and forget that they are training people. A preceptor should be out of sight but still close enough to know what is going on in the room. I just tell the surgeons that the person is new and I won't let anything happen that could result in possibly harming the patient.They mumble and growl but hey how else are they going to get the best trained person for the future. We need nurses who are passionate about OR nursing and have to allow for the occasional tripping but don't let the person fall flat on their face because all that does is frustrate and discourage.I hope your preceptor will let you off lead once in awhile and let you make your small mistakes without someone constantly looking over your shoulder. good luck!!! Mike

PS, I train dogs in obedience, so the off lead line.

I use to be a preceptor and it is hard to stay out of the room. Maybe you could just tell her in a non defensive way that you are alright now and you can handle it but stick close in case you need her again.....most OR nurses will. She probably thinks she is helping you because she wants everyting to run smoothly for everyone.

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