Orientation Woes

[Drysolong]

This is my description of my orientation ordeal. It's taken me a few months to put the experience in words. Probably not any worse than many, but for me, really an ordeal.

First, I had no hospital experience, just a year and a half of LTC when I accepted a position on a hospital med-surg unit. Adults & Peds (Peds was a surprise as I had no experience or desire to work with Peds).

The department manager determined that I only needed the minimum 20 shifts of orientation since I was "experienced". The "20 shifts" came to include 3 days of general orientation which was attended by secretaries, volunteers, etc. Plus the 2 days allocated to learning the computer system. Also, the managers needed bodies to fill up a PALS class, so I was recruited. I am now PALS certified. (joke!)

I had about 6 preceptors in a 3-week period. When orientation was over, I asked for my orientation to be extended, but I was so frustrated I felt it was better to just take a patient load and ask questions when I needed help. It was better, but still a fiasco.

My preceptors each had their own style. One treated me like a beginning student not knowing anything. Another assumed I already knew many things and threw out 3-word phrases of instructions and disappeared. Still another did everything as I watched. Another took over if I took too long or didn't understand. And on and on. My best preceptor was excellent, but she always got pulled to ER where I tagged along once or twice.

Finally, after about 7 months I am feeling fairly competent and things are falling into place and making sense. Thinking about my experiences and others' experiences, I don't know if things could have been better, even if I'd had a decent orientation.

One of my main observations was that many of the nurses I worked with did not seem to remember when they were new and inexperienced. They didn't seem to grasp the concept that I had never performed certain tasks.

Also, I ran into situations when there were things that they didn't know or understand themselves. Another BIG observation is that knowing something and teaching it to others are two different things.

I'm still learning and all's well that ends well. I feel so much better and am no longer afraid to tackle the unknown and unfamiliar. Later I would like to be involved in teaching and mentoring new nurses in a caring manner.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!:heartbeat:redbeathe