Orientation frustration

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

Because of various circumstances out of my supervisor's control, I completed my general orientation on three different patient care units. The hospital has a policy that new nurses do not float, but apparently it did not apply to me or my co-workers. I began taking patients on my own 2 weeks after I arrived on the new unit, despite the fact that the patient population was quite different.

I am now in the process of orienting on a specialty unit so that I will be able to float there when I become eligible to do so. It has been a frustrating situation to say the least, because I have had at least 10 different preceptors since January. Each unit does things differently, and even within the same unit two nurses often blatantly contradict each other when they tell you how to do something. I always refer to the policy if there is a question about a procedure, but a few times nurses have become very defensive when I decide not to do something "their way". It seems that each nurse is pretty set in her ways, and new nurses risk being chewed out if they politely state "The policy says that I should do it this way". I am not saying that it is right for new grads to be know it alls, but it is always possible that there is more than one way to do something correctly. I think that many more experienced nurses tend to forget this from time to time.

I have come to the point where I have decided to shut my mouth and keep my head down during orientation. I comply with the written policy and procedure whenever there is a question as to how to do something, because I have been burned by preceptors telling me to do something that I am not comfortable with and regretting it later.

I am wondering if I should talk to my supervisor about this problem. I am also wondering if other new nurses have run into similar issues. TIA.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

I moved your thread to the First Year in Nursing Forum for hopefully more responses. Hang in there!

[Pumiky]

Wow!!! this sounds so hard...I would go and talk to the supervisor...what do you have to lose?? what's the worst thing that could happen? Bring up your concerns in a polite and professional way, you're not there to blame anyone but you are entitled to have some consistency during your orientation...

All the best

pumiky

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I have not had consistency for my orientations, either. What I had to do was to guess within myself if something is right or wrong by trying to use common sense, and/or watching others and deciding if that is a technique I would like to imitate or not. Policy and procedure manuals are either incomplete or not updated, maybe even hard to understand. I don't blame you for now...watch, keep reading and learn for yourself. Unfortunately, nursing is not a world where you can trust anyone.