So you're an experienced nurse, and suddenly you find yourself, once again, in orientation. Maybe you've lived in Seattle and you want to live somewhere with more than 65 days a year of sunshine; maybe your husband just got transferred to Omaha or Anchorage or maybe you've just decided that you'd like to try a new specialty, a different hospital or a new city. Anyway, you find yourself orienting for a new position and whether you've chosen it or been dragged into against your will, you are now the know-nothing newbie.
You want to show your new colleagues that you AREN'T a know-nothing, that your previous experience was valuable, that you've learned a lot, you know a lot and you can teach them something. I've always said that if I don't learn something new from every orientee, I'm not doing it right as a preceptor. But there are limits.
Last night, I worked with an orientee who is doing it wrong. And so, for those experienced nurses out there who are going through, about to go through or may someday go through orientation again, here are some tips.
"I don't know why they paired me with GRETCHEN. She's ten years YOUNGER than me. She has practically NO experience. I don't think she can teach me ANYTHING."
Gretchen is in her twenties, but she's a solid intensive care nurse, and if nothing else, she can teach you how we do things HERE. I know you were the expert at your old job, that you have a decade more experience as a nurse than Gretchen and there are hundreds of things you can teach her -- and me -- but that's not why you're here. You're here to learn how WE do things, how to take care of our patients, how to work with our equipment (not the wonderful stuff they had at your old job, but the pieces of junk we have here) and our surgeons. Blathering on and on about how it's terrible that you're paired with such a young and relatively inexperienced nurse isn't going to impress me, is going to make Gretchen feel terrible and isn't going to go well with our management team who chose Gretchen to be your preceptor for a reason.
"I can't BELIEVE that make you go to meetings here and not get paid overtime."
"We get straight time for meetings."
"Then they pay you overtime for the first two hours of your next shift."
"No, meetings are additional straight time. No overtime."
"At my old job, we got paid overtime for meetings. It's not fair. How can they require you to come in above your hours and not get paid overtime? I won't do it!" (Repeat X 2 or 3.)
This is how we get paid. I don't make the rules, I don't even like the rules. I don't want to defend the rules, but it is my responsibility to explain them to you and make sure you understand them. If you don't like them, I get that. But you're going to have to make a choice: do you want to work here with our pay schedule? Or do you not? Because believe me, the institution isn't going to change the rules just for you.
"At my OLD job, we had a much better way of doing things. Your way sucks." OK, the first time I hear that it might be interesting. Perhaps the second or third time -- it depends upon how interesting you make it. But by the fourth, fifth or seventeenth time, I'm bored, irritated and perhaps downright angry. If your old job was so much more wonderful, why aren't you there now?
"I can't believe you guys put up with such substandard equipment! We had all the best stuff at my old job."
"You have too many new grads here. That's dangerous!"
"I can't believe they're letting residents in the ICU! At my old job . . . '
"I know, I know. But at my OLD job, we . . . "
Again, if your old job was so wonderful, why aren't you there? I'm beginning to sense a theme here. Perhaps you aren't at your old job because you didn't fit in to the unit culture. I'm starting to see how that could happen, you being so all-knowing and perfect and all. Maybe you are right, and no one here likes you. Gee, I wonder why not.
If you're experienced, that's great. But we don't want to hear all about your old job until after you've proven you can learn this job, you're off orientation and we're all sitting around at 3 AM telling stories because all of the patients are st**** and there's nothing to do. Just keep your eyes open, your mouth shut and SHOW us what you know rather than TELLING us. And don't diss your preceptors.
Now if I'd known all that at 25, I would have had a much smoother transition into MY second job!