Preceptorship

Not all nurses make good preceptors regardless of how good a floor nurse they are.

Nurses should have a choice in whether they precept or not.

Hey Amy,

Yes nurses should have a choice, to be or not to be. Like 3shiftguy said, not everyone's cut out for pre-cepting.

So, you've gotta ask yourself a couple of questions:

• Can I multi-task? (Hint: you already do)
  
• Do I know the top three right answers to almost any question? (1-I know the answer and it is..., 2-I'm not sure of the answer, but we can look it up here..., 3-I don't know the answer, but we can ask...)
  
• Are you willing to share all/most of the interesting and weird things you've learned to do and not do since you started working as a nurse?
  
• Can you ask the really tough and sometimes weird questions to check if everyone has their thinking caps on today? (The pt's having loose BMs what do you want to do with that Colace tid, and Senna bid?)
  
• I'm ordering lunch from KFC, do you want to order something too? :balloons:
  

Precepting can be loads of fun if you have the right attitude and a good orientee, it can also be supremely frustrating (for both you and the orientee) if either of you have a bad attitude.

Also, having an organized orientation program with classes, clinical, slowly increasing responsibility over 6-8wks(no 8pts first day), daily/weekly feedback, and available Nsg educators to back you up when you have to explain that "yes, you might have learned that at the last place you worked, but its not policy here."

I love pre-cepting, it gives me a chance to get to know the newbie, and really make them feel welcome and part of the team. During orientation, the patience and support I give helps them to become more confident in their abilities. After orientation, they know they can ask any question and they'll get help. A while after that, they're treating newer staff the same way and everybody is helping everybody else. Great shifts, great floor!

:biggringi :balloons: