Preceptorship not going well

[krenee]

I am SO upset! If you had asked me yesterday I would have said everything was fine . . . my preceptor is, honestly, hard to read. I couldn't say if she liked me or not, but I thought we were getting along fine. I have had no indication that she was not happy with me. I should mention that I'm just over halfway finished with my preceptorship.

The situation is that I was called into the asst. dean's office this morning and told that the hospital I'm precepting at isn't happy with me. With NO specifics whatsoever, I was told that they said I was rude, not taking initiative, not setting goals, unable to perform return demonstrations . . .

I believe I can be honest with myself, and I as far as not taking initiative is concerned, I can see that. I'm not very aggressive in asking to do things. However, if asked to do things, I never say no, I will always try. I have no idea where the rude part is coming from, as I feel I am respectful and I can usually get along with anyone. Even if I can't stand someone, I would never let on. But the "return demonstration" part has me completely stumped, I have no idea what incident(s) this is referring to. I don't always pick up things the first time I try, but I don't believe I am completely incompetent.

I am trying to set up a meeting between myself, the patient care director, and my preceptor. My plan is to be respectful, listen and apologize for what I may have done wrong. I am certainly willing to learn from my mistakes, but I am afraid this may jeopardize my plans for employment with this hospital.

Well. Any advice welcome!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i'm sorry you're having problems. the idea of listening carefully and asking for examples of when you've screwed up is a good one. another thing i'd recommend is taking a good, long, hard look at yourself and your behavior and try to figure out if there's anything you could possibly have done that offended your preceptor. then ask her about it. it's entirely possible that there's some sort of communication difficulty between you and your preceptor. since you cannot change her behavior, you're going to have to change your own, even if you haven't done anything wrong. good luck!