a friend of mine is really upset right now about a situation at work. She recently started at a hospital unit after being away from acute care for several years (having done outpt in the meantime); her manager told her that orientation would be determined on an individual basis; however, standard is 12 weeks. A new grad started at the same time, therefore my friend did not get the usual unit preceptor. The one she got was absolutely dreadful and just left her to sink or swim. 5 weeks later one of the regular preceptors (who had finished training yet another new grad) became available and the manager assigned my friend to her. My friend was very grateful for that and got along well with her new preceptor. The new grad, meanwhile (who had barely passed nursing school and the NCLEX) got an excellent orientation but asked some pretty amazing questions when her preceptor wasn't around (e.g., while charting her assessment, "Is an NGT a head abnormality?" or when asking advice about giving a med, said she had no idea why this med was ordered).
Well, my friend was just told that she isn't ready to work on her own yet and needs more orientation (primary reason given was to improve time management); new grad, meanwhile - who started at the same time - supposedly is ready. Needless to say, my friend is crushed, being about 20 years older than this clueless new grad who stays late charting just about as much as she herself does (and probably would stay even later, but if you don't care why and how you give meds, you probably don't spend much time giving them).
My friend is concerned how this situation will be perceived (as we know, hospital units are the worst kind of gossip mills). What should she say when the inevitablle question will be asked, "Why are you still on orientation when New Grad is off?"
