Orientee Horror Stories?

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We always hear from student or new hires who had hellish experiences with the preceptors...I was curious to hear from preceptors who had awful students or orientees? What did you do about it?

Specializes in med/surg, home health, nursing education.

Well as an educator, I give all the patience and understanding to my students as long as they are performing at a reasonable level and aren't imminently going to kill someone.

BUT... As a preceptor (in the past) I did not tolerate anything mentioned above. Here are a few of my favorites...

MICU: Pt. with a swan that needed wedged every ?4? hours. This brand new GN had been with me the whole orientation (thus far). Seemed pretty OK. Well we walked into the room, wedged, and a doctor had pulled me into the doorway to ask about out other patient. I walk back over and the nurse if pushing a 10 mL saline flush through the balloon port. I'm pretty sure that I said some not nice words. Another time, he grabbed a 250 mL bag and began infusing it. However, it was levophed rather than vancomycin... Infusing at 125 an hour. His stance "well vancomycin always comes in a 250 mL bag.". A few weeks after they cut the cord, he was fired for giving a 10L bolus to a patient with a 15% EF with a low BP. He didn't understand why he shouldn't have questioned the MDs orders. Patient needed tubed and everything.

BMT: One brand new GN, who wasn't sure why she (a BSN) was being paired with me (a diploma). Always tried to act like she knew more and better ways. Well she was lucky enough to give chemo while still on orientation. We were caring for an acute leukemia pt. in DIC and the whole nine yards. The pt. needed chemo ASAP to combat the rising blast count. Well she informed me that her nursing instructor was an oncology nurse and she told them never to give chemo to a patient with pancytopenia. So we discussed why this was an exception. After arguing with her and sending her to work on a other patient, I hung it myself. She just did not understand the concept. The little b*tch walked into the room after me and took the chemo down, throwing it away in the regular trash. Well when a walked into the room a little while later to check, the chemo was missing. I walked into the nurses station and asked the GN. Her response "I am saving the patient!!!". The attending was ****** that the patient's chemo had been of for 4+ hours and the nurse manager couldn't decide if she wanted to send her home or make her stay until she got in.

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Specializes in Emergency.

BMT: One brand new GN, who wasn't sure why she (a BSN) was being paired with me (a diploma). Always tried to act like she knew more and better ways. Well she was lucky enough to give chemo while still on orientation. We were caring for an acute leukemia pt. in DIC and the whole nine yards. The pt. needed chemo ASAP to combat the rising blast count. Well she informed me that her nursing instructor was an oncology nurse and she told them never to give chemo to a patient with pancytopenia. So we discussed why this was an exception. After arguing with her and sending her to work on a other patient, I hung it myself. She just did not understand the concept. The little b*tch walked into the room after me and took the chemo down, throwing it away in the regular trash. Well when a walked into the room a little while later to check, the chemo was missing. I walked into the nurses station and asked the GN. Her response "I am saving the patient!!!". The attending was ****** that the patient's chemo had been of for 4+ hours and the nurse manager couldn't decide if she wanted to send her home or make her stay until she got in.

That is outrageous! I would lose my mind. Still reeling at the arrogance. I have never had anything bad enough to call a horror story, just one guy who was about 15 years older than me and kept calling me a "baby-nurse" and being all around lecherous towards me and a bunch of lapses in critical thinking, but they were all easily correctable.

To disregard the orders of the doc and instructions of your preceptor is bad enough, but to go behind and discontinue another nurse's (appropriate) intervention is insane. And don't get me started on the chemo in the trash.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

BMT: One brand new GN, who wasn't sure why she (a BSN) was being paired with me (a diploma). Always tried to act like she knew more and better ways. Well she was lucky enough to give chemo while still on orientation. We were caring for an acute leukemia pt. in DIC and the whole nine yards. The pt. needed chemo ASAP to combat the rising blast count. Well she informed me that her nursing instructor was an oncology nurse and she told them never to give chemo to a patient with pancytopenia. So we discussed why this was an exception. After arguing with her and sending her to work on a other patient, I hung it myself. She just did not understand the concept. The little b*tch walked into the room after me and took the chemo down, throwing it away in the regular trash. Well when a walked into the room a little while later to check, the chemo was missing. I walked into the nurses station and asked the GN. Her response "I am saving the patient!!!". The attending was ****** that the patient's chemo had been of for 4+ hours and the nurse manager couldn't decide if she wanted to send her home or make her stay until she got in.

Wow, that is some nerve. I can't even imagine doing something like that as a new grad. Please tell me this girl got fired.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
We had the same thing happen. He was experienced too. I'm guessing we can't play "name that nurse".......

Ours had just been fired from the hospital down the block from the same thing before he did it on my floor! Don't people check references? Goodness!

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

I usually have really good orientees. I work psych and can get some who feel I don't really do much but give IM's. I've had two that were extra cocky, so I requested they draw up haldol to give IM per MD order. I got the eye roll but off they went and came out to give it. I always double check because I know that it is very easy when you are new to draw up Haldol Dec instead of just Haldol. Every single time I get a cocky orientee, they draw up the wrong one. These were no exception. It humbles a person to realize they almost had their first med error. I usually get their attention from that day forward. Both went on to become very good nurses.

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Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.

I had to give carb coverage (4:1) and even though the math was dead easy, I made someone else check because I was looking at giving 20U to someone who wasn't getting anything for sliding scale due to low BG, and NO WAY was I doing that without a second set of eyes. I wish all facilities had double check rules. Our med scanners are a big help, but they don't do the math.

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Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.

I've only had a couple of orientees (I've only been a nurse for 2 years) but my latest burst into tears because she felt overwhelmed... because I expected her to take a full assignment (she'd been orienting to our floor for over a month and was NOT a new nurse). Not sure if I should feel guilty or not...

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We had one that got passed on to me after being with 2 others...whhyyyy !!!! We had a very sick kid, vasopressors, paralyzed, oscillator, etc. I told Her we need to change out the lines so we have to prime the lines ( this was in the day when we made our drops in the unit). Watched her make the drip, did fine, thenI told her to take a syringe of the dopamine solution and prime the new T-connector with it. Then we hung the line and gtt. All of the sudden the kids BP jumps off the Richter scale... I am like WTH... Then it dawned on me and I asked her "What did you prime that line with????" She picks up the straight Dopamine vial and hands it to

Me with a big grin on her face. I almost threw up!!! Ripped that T connector off and told her.... Get in the office. All this after I went over why we don't use straight drugs, make sure they are diluted properly, side effects etc. Luckily the baby was fine (even more thankful it wasn't a 24 weeker....he was full term).

Needless to say I recommended they let her go. She didn't get it!!!

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It all comes down to interpretation of instructions I guess

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It all comes down to interpretation of instructions I guess

No, it all "comes down to" critical thinking. It's called "critical" for a reason.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

We had an experienced RN (whose most recent 'experience' had been as a nanny for a physician's kids!!) in our PICU who brought- to her first work / orientation day on the floor- a satchel full of magazines AND her knitting 'for down time'. As if! (She lasted three weeks)

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.
It all comes down to interpretation of instructions I guess

No interpretation needed....told her what needed to be done, and just had a discussion on this whole thing. Certainly hope you don't interpret instructions/ orders too often.

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