mnf4ever

Sent you a PM!

Thanks for the book recommendation! I too, am interested in breaking into this lucrative, exciting field! Off to amazon.com to purchase the book! :)

I totally agree. It was a "lesson learned" indeed. Never again will I associate myself with this woman again besides the absolute bare minimum. I don't know why I could ever trust her, she used to gossip about other nurses during my orientation with her. I can't believe she's been allowed to work at this facility for 9 years already. And it's sad how she seemingly enjoys giving people grief and there's nothing I can do about it because I'm the newbie and won't be taken seriously. Oh well, moving on. I'm just gonna do me, and be the best nurse I can be.

Thanks dudette10! I've already lost respect for her. I thought we were cool, but never again will I use her as a resource because she surely isn't the type to welcome my "stupid" questions. She is not the type of nurse I aspire to be AT ALL. She has always made me feel small, but I've always tried to win her approval by doing the best I possibly could, always nodding and smiling and taking her rude, belittling comments. I've given her more than one chance, this ISN'T the only time she has done this to me. I'm fine with her yelling at me, but for Pete's sake, why does she have to be a jerk and tell other nurses in front of me (and probably behind my back) and why does she have to make the whole world know??? Good grief. I'm over it now. :)

Thank you. I think I can muster up enough courage to do this, but am afraid it will somehow backfire on me. To answer the other poster, during the time when she was my preceptor, she was for the most part condescending, and would often point out how slow I was, and at one point laughed at me when I was struggling with how to chart correctly. She laughed and said, "oh my gosh you are still charting? I dont know how you're going to make it on your own." Her excuse is "I am talking to you the way I talk to my daughter, I just want you to be independent." she also made it a fact to tell me how she made other new grads cry, and if she made me cry that it was "nothing personal." is this acceptable behavior? I've Refused to cry in front of her, but I have gone home crying in my car because of the way she speaks down to me and makes me feel like I'm a horrible nurse. At the end of my orientation, she said "i hope you appreciated me. No one wants to be a preceptor, but i said i would do it." Again she said this in a weird, non-encouraging tone. However, according to her new orientee, she speaks very highly of me. I've kept quiet all this time, and I don't mind criticism, but why did she have to tell everyone what I did wrong and why did she feel like she had to yell at me in front of everyone? I know she checks her email often, would you guys recommend I try to email her about this? Thanks again.

I'm a new grad, it's been 2 months of working on my own on MST. A lot of things are still new to me and I'm still learning and doing my best. I know that I'm doing a good job because I've already gotten 2 excellent customer service cards from my patients sent to my Director, one of whom happened to be a DoN herself. I've also received great written feedback from CNA's also sent to my Director for excellent teamwork. On to my story, yesterday I had a direct admit, a process I'm still new at and learned that night nurses at my facility hardly do to begin with (I'm a night nurse.) it was change of shift and my former preceptor was giving me report on this direct admit that she received at 3pm. she said she didn't have time to call the dr. for orders, and that I would have to do it. Long story short, dr. said it was okay to admit the pt. as 'med surg' after I gave him report. Charge nurse was happy because I was able to do it on my own, I was so proud of myself. Anyway, I had an extremely busy night last night due to my other pt. who was in constant severe pain, and another confused who was in restraints, very agitated despite meds, trying to get out of bed, so my charge nurse suggested I stay nearby. My direct admit slept well throughout the night with stable vitals. Despite providing excellent nursing care to my pts. with the best of my abilities, one oversight I had was I didn't remove the tele monitor from my direct admit, so he had it on all night (doc said ok to put on medsurg). It wasn't that I wasn't paying attention, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to remove the monitor since my preceptor was the one who initiated it yesterday. I wasn't aware of the "protocol" for something so simple, and I should've asked someone last night, but I'll be honest, it was a complete oversight on my part. So when change of shift came again, I made the mistake of asking her if I should remove the monitor and she completely yelled and humiliated me in front of everyone in the nursing station. Instead of telling me in private, she made a huge scene and told 4 other nurses in front of me how I didn't take off the monitor. Everyone in the nursing station heard, including the secretary and monitor tech. I gracefully apologized, I explained how it was an oversight, and I just didn't know the protocol and I wanted to double check with her before I remove it (something I will never do again since I was about to remove the monitor without asking her anyway but the newbie in me wanted to make sure) since she was getting the pt. back this morning. I truly felt embarrassed, especially for something so simple and how she completely humiliated me in front of everyone. She apologized in private to me in the hallway before I went home, and said, "it's a lesson learned for you" in a weird tone. I cried all the way home, feeling like a wet dog with my tail between my legs. Is this something I should just keep quiet about? I feel like telling my Director (who always encourages the new people to come to him if someone isn't treating us right), but I don't want to come off as "weak" or unable to handle it. I don't want any trouble or to make a fuss. In fact, I just wanna forget about it and crawl under a rock. WWUD? Thanks for hearing me out.

Thank you so much everyone for the useful info! I really appreciate all of your answers. :)))

I work full time with benefits...would I lose benefits for not making up those 12 hours? Do we have the option of using our vacation hours to make up for lost time? Thanks for your help!

Congrats KaLynRN! I am very happy for you and glad it worked out for you :))

I work on a med/surg tele unit and worked damn hard to land my first job with the constant rejection of new grads, bad economy, and "come back when you have 1 year of experience" line. I was so, so, sooooo excited to start in the beginning that I even dedicated a whole entire post to help others on how I landed my first job. Well its been 3 months and i just got off orientation (which was inconsistent and had preceptors who told me they were "forced" to precept and didnt want the position to begin with) and I can honestly say I'm overwhelmed and don't know if I can handle the constant stress, anxiety, and incompetence that I feel as a new grad. I work nights, and it's been hard trying to adjust to that schedule, I feel physically and mentally drained by the end my shift that I barely muster enough strength to try to give a decent report and even then I feel like I could do better. I have to stay late to finish my charting when everyone else seems to be done so fast. AM nurses get annoyed if i cant answer a question they had even though i try my best to find the answer. I wish i could answer all their questions but there are some things i am still new at and need to learn. I apologize and gracefully take their criticisms--i just wish they werent so rude about it. But i just shut my mouth and take it and try not to break down and cry. The only good part is when patients compliment the care I give them and they even say how other experienced nurses they've had were horrible. Anyway I got a job offer at a medspa clinic for a full-time position, less stress, only 2-3 patients a day, and higher pay and willing to train. I have nothing against bedside nursing, but I dread going to work everyday and never had a real "passion" for this type of nursing even though i try my best to take care of my patients as if they were my family members. I feel guilty for even saying this because I really do love helping people, but I hate my job already if that makes sense. What should I do? Bedside nursing is wearing me out physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Whenever I'm with my preceptor, it seems like she always knows EXACTLY what to say to the patient when we make our initial rounds...they always ask her questions and she always knows the answer...how do I do that?? So far, all I'm capable of doing is: 1) Introducing myself..."Hi Mr./Mrs./Ms. ______, my name is ______ and I will be your nurse for today." 2) Then I ask, "How are you feeling today? Are you still experiencing (whatever the problem was)." 3) Today, the plan for you is (I usually get this information from report from the other nurse) Do I need to check the charts prior to making rounds in order to know more about the patient? Should I come in early to work to review the charts? (I've heard some nurses do this off the clock). It seems like my preceptor knows EXACTLY what tests are being ordered, what tests were done, WHY they needed to be done, exactly when the pt. will be going home, etc. even though it wasn't mentioned in report. How does she do that? Please give me tips on how to be more informative with my patients....

I'm a new grad and just started out on a med/surg tele unit. I am very grateful for having a job and for all of the things I am going to learn. But after just 2 days of actually working with my preceptor (who is somewhat abrasive, passive-aggressive and rude but weirdly friendly when she wants to be), and seeing how she gossips about all the other nurses to me, I don't think I would want to work in that kind of environment for long. I also get very anxious the day before going in to work for so many reasons (being the newbie, still not knowing a lot of things, being worried about not being able to handle a situation, UGH the list goes on). I really want to be a great nurse, one who not only creates a friendly work environment, but one who also knows how to take care of patients and their families COMPETENTLY. I would like to work in a different field of nursing outside the hospital environment/politics. I just don't think a big hospital environment is for me. Is this normal? I was considering going into aesthetic/med-spa nursing, public health nursing, or even school nursing. I've always been told that you "need to" put in at least a year in med surg so that you will have honed in on your nursing skills. Is this true? I dread going in to work; will 6-8 months in med-surg be okay if I can find another job in any of the other fields I was interested in? I don't think I can stand the stress that mainly comes from co-workers (it mainly comes from some of the unsupportive, experienced nurses) and would rather work outside of a hospital, in a smaller environment...what do you think? I appreciate any advice!

Thank you very much for your informative answer!

Hi there! I'm a new grad RN, about to start in Med/Surg/Tele in a hospital that doesn't have a new grad program. I will, however, be assigned to a preceptor. I don't start until another week or so, and I want to be as prepared as possible. I have some questions and would appreciate any help: 1.) How do you organize your patient's info onto a sheet of paper? do u have a format? If you have a link or can email me what you use I would really appreciate it! 2.) What meds should I study up on? Anything specific? 3.) In what format do you give report on a patient? I want to report the right information in the right sequence...although I've done this in nursing school, I've heard of nurses who laugh or think that new grads are too informative or give information in the wrong sequence... 4.) How do you make sure you have enough time for charting, passing meds, taking care of patients without feeling overwhelmed? Any secrets? lol 5.) Anything else that I should know or be prepared on so that I can be as best prepared as a new grad could? Thank you so much!!

@ fireline: My resume was 2 pages long and my CV was also 2 pages long. I also made business cards and got them for free at vistaprint.com. All you need to pay for is shipping, which was under $5 if I remember correctly. Good luck!! @ herowneulogy: thats sounds like a good idea! Anything that can make you stand out in a good way is sometimes the very thing that will give you the edge and show how passionate you are. Good luck to you!!