we often see threads with the title "fired for no reason," or "new grad harassed and fired" or something to that effect. and i always feel at least a little sympathy for the individual involved, if only because i can clearly see by reading between the lines of their self-justifying post that there was a reason for their termination, even if they just don't get it. (there are always a few posts every year from a new grad who is convinced that the reason she's not getting along with her co-workers is that she's just so beautiful they're all jealous, that crowds of mean people are following her around, that she's so wonderful she's going to rock the er or icu or nicu or or and no one sees her wonderfulness clearly, or that some mean, tired, old nurse who ought to retire and get out of the way is targeting her for no good reason.)
i worked with a new grad who was recently terminated for, as she puts it, totally bogus reasons. evidently seeing mine as a sympathetic ear, she went on and on and on about how unfair it was that management expected her to get her act together and actually understand what was going on with her patients. "i've got the time management thing down pat," she said. "i don't know what else they want. they're just picking on me for no good reason." i liked sal, i really did. she was interesting and entertaining and really, really nice. she was also smart, hard-working (when she was at work) and well-educated. but she didn't study outside of work, and really didn't understand what was going on with her patients. i participated in several meetings with her in which it was pointed out that it's not enough to do the tasks, you have to understand why you're doing them. it's not enough to draw the labs. you have to understand what the results mean and then address them. for instance, if the inr is 9, it might explain the nosebleed, the cherry red urine and the fact that the hemoglobin is now 6. giving the coumadin at 6pm as scheduled is not a good thing, even if you gave it right on time and were able to explain to the patient that "it's a blood thinner." i could go on and on.
i got a call from sal today, complaining that she knows she's blackballed for no good reason because she just can't get another job. she wanted me to give her a reference. did she just not get it?
all you new grads out there who are convinced that you're being picked on for no reason, that your more experienced colleagues are just out to get you, and that you're being unfairly targeting, harassed, or picked on, hear this: it may be something you're doing (or not doing) and all those "mean people" are trying to explain it to you so you catch on, learn your job and succeed. we all tried over and over with sal, and she still doesn't get it. are you guilty of the same thing? if your preceptor says you lack critical thinking skills, do you take it to heart, think about it and learn from it? or are you convinced that the entire issue is that she's jealous of your extreme good looks? if your charge nurse charges you with a deficit in your time management skills do you spend time figuring out where you could speed things up a bit? or do you dismiss her as a tired old dog who can't learn a new trick and ought to retire anyway? are you taking to heart and benefitting from any negative feedback you're getting, however poorly given it is? or are you obsessing about how "mean" that nurse was to you and totally overlooking the message?
i wish sal would have "gotten it." she would have been delightful to work with if she had. but right now she's focused on badmouthing her preceptors and the charge nurse, and she still doesn't understand what she did wrong. don't make the same mistakes.
i would like to see entrance exams to nsg school, be modified where critical thinking could be tested...
as well as other areas, to ensure that students are indeed, the right cut.
raise that bar.
i honestly don't understand how some even made it.
leslie
My school began this after I left. Tough test too. Lots of applicants not getting in because of it. I worked with a CNA who couldnt get into the school I was from because of it. I dont disagree with that. It would help school administration decide who gets in and who doesnt at least.
Maybe we are talking about completely different things. I think OP and others are simply talking about the few who.........truly cant do it. I dont have my head in the Disney Clouds to the point where I dont believe they they exist.
Me, I'm talking about the masses who can, but need a little more that what school gives.
Haven't had a chance to read this thread, but there are people in the world who throw the blame everywhere else when the consequences of their actions catches up to them. They play the "victim", and can't see why or how their behavior contributes to the problem. And they don't learn a thing.
I really don't mean to stereotype but it seems the students now are kinda laid back. We were very afraid of what our instructors thought, what the nurses thought, making a mistake, even making a decision. That wasn't good either, but "oh well" really worries me. I don't want to be the patient when my nurse is thinking "oh well".
The GNs I run into seem.....anxious and.........well, more like what you said you were like. I'm just lucky I guess. Its students, people taking prerequisits and such that seem to not get it to me.........doing homework at work and such. Cant stand that.
I never had time to do homework during clinicals. I don't think my classmates did, either.
That said, I'm intrigued by the notion of a gap between what nursing schools teach and the skills that hospitals expect students to have upon hiring. I agree: That gap is huge. But is it acceptable from a manager's point of view? It certainly is from the point of view of my nursing instructors.
Time and again during nursing school, when I expressed frustration at not being able to perform a particular skill, I was told that skills were something to be mastered after nursing school. My time in school, they said, was to be spent learning to think critically. When I began my practicum in an ICU last fall, that sentiment was echoed by my preceptor, who told me she didn't care about my skill level. She cared about my ability to analyze lab values, to consider what was happening to our patient in the disease process, and to anticipate my next move as a nurse. When I screwed up a skill -- which I did, virtually daily -- she smiled, told me not to worry about it, and once even told me after a particularly funny mistake that I reminded me of her. I looked forward to every shift in that unit. I went home every night, eager to read up on more of what I'd observed that day. My preceptor was a great nurse and a great teacher. My confidence and my performance improved daily.
I've been told to apply to that ICU once I have six months in med-surg under my belt. Tomorrow, I will meet with a manager who's offered me that med-surg job. I plan to be up front with her about my skills: I'm no longer a beginner, but I'm hardly an expert. I understand the significance of an INR, and more importantly, I want to understand that significance. I want to study at home. I want to be challenged.
But is that enough? If new grads are perceived as "laid back" or just plain undereducated, I worry that I won't be able to satisfy the veteran nurses around me, no matter how hard I try. How many weeks of orientation should I expect? (Yes, I'm off topic, but this thread has really got me wondering how I will be perceived in a new unit.)
Part of the problem seems to be that less is required. Critical thinking can be taught. We learned it from researching in order to write a process paper; preparing for our assigned patients (looking up their meds, labs, ect.) And we better not slack off or else! My hair was sticking out from nursing school thru my first year of nursing.
I never had time to do homework during clinicals. I don't think my classmates did, either.
That said, I'm intrigued by the notion of a gap between what nursing schools teach and the skills that hospitals expect students to have upon hiring. I agree: That gap is huge. But is it acceptable from a manager's point of view? It certainly is from the point of view of my nursing instructors.
Time and again during nursing school, when I expressed frustration at not being able to perform a particular skill, I was told that skills were something to be mastered after nursing school. My time in school, they said, was to be spent learning to think critically. When I began my practicum in an ICU last fall, that sentiment was echoed by my preceptor, who told me she didn't care about my skill level. She cared about my ability to analyze lab values, to consider what was happening to our patient in the disease process, and to anticipate my next move as a nurse. When I screwed up a skill -- which I did, virtually daily -- she smiled, told me not to worry about it, and once even told me after a particularly funny mistake that I reminded me of her. I looked forward to every shift in that unit. I went home every night, eager to read up on more of what I'd observed that day. My preceptor was a great nurse and a great teacher. My confidence and my performance improved daily.
I've been told to apply to that ICU once I have six months in med-surg under my belt. Tomorrow, I will meet with a manager who's offered me that med-surg job. I plan to be up front with her about my skills: I'm no longer a beginner, but I'm hardly an expert. I understand the significance of an INR, and more importantly, I want to understand that significance. I want to study at home. I want to be challenged.
But is that enough? If new grads are perceived as "laid back" or just plain undereducated, I worry that I won't be able to satisfy the veteran nurses around me, no matter how hard I try. How many weeks of orientation should I expect? (Yes, I'm off topic, but this thread has really got me wondering how I will be perceived in a new unit.)
No reasonable person expects a new grad nurse to be 100% competent with every single skill. Most of the skills are learned and honed on the job. You should hopefully expect about 12 weeks of new grad orientation, or thereabouts for med-surg.
I don't perceive new grads as laid back myself,. It's just a matter of individual perception I suppose. However, don't waste precious time and energy worrying about what the veteran nurses think of you. I promise you this: if you are sincere, have good common sense, a strong work ethic and concentrate on your patients and being the best nurse that you personally can be then you'll be o.k.
If those are your concerns (how you are perceived by veteran nurses) you already stand out from the crowd. There are new grads that are respectful, know how to take instruction and seem to have it 'goin on'. And it is refreshing. I don't want to discourage you. Keep positive but open to learning.
I never had time to do homework during clinicals. I don't think my classmates did, either.
That said, I'm intrigued by the notion of a gap between what nursing schools teach and the skills that hospitals expect students to have upon hiring. I agree: That gap is huge. But is it acceptable from a manager's point of view? It certainly is from the point of view of my nursing instructors.
Time and again during nursing school, when I expressed frustration at not being able to perform a particular skill, I was told that skills were something to be mastered after nursing school. My time in school, they said, was to be spent learning to think critically. When I began my practicum in an ICU last fall, that sentiment was echoed by my preceptor, who told me she didn't care about my skill level. She cared about my ability to analyze lab values, to consider what was happening to our patient in the disease process, and to anticipate my next move as a nurse. When I screwed up a skill -- which I did, virtually daily -- she smiled, told me not to worry about it, and once even told me after a particularly funny mistake that I reminded me of her. I looked forward to every shift in that unit. I went home every night, eager to read up on more of what I'd observed that day. My preceptor was a great nurse and a great teacher. My confidence and my performance improved daily.
I've been told to apply to that ICU once I have six months in med-surg under my belt. Tomorrow, I will meet with a manager who's offered me that med-surg job. I plan to be up front with her about my skills: I'm no longer a beginner, but I'm hardly an expert. I understand the significance of an INR, and more importantly, I want to understand that significance. I want to study at home. I want to be challenged.
But is that enough? If new grads are perceived as "laid back" or just plain undereducated, I worry that I won't be able to satisfy the veteran nurses around me, no matter how hard I try. How many weeks of orientation should I expect? (Yes, I'm off topic, but this thread has really got me wondering how I will be perceived in a new unit.)
Your timing couldnt be more perfect. I'm drowning here, trying to make a point that we could do better with our new nurses. I think people have lost site of how damaging constantly putting down "new" or "young" nurses is to the profession as a whole. There are better ways to deal with GNs who wont get it for reasons that have nothing to do with preceptorship. This isnt it.
I wasnt talking about students on clinicals. I meant students who work in the hospital as a CNA who do homework while they should be working as a CNA. I believe OP had an issue with a girl doing homework while trying to go from ADN to BSN or something too. That just isnt acceptable.
Schools are not going to change their ways either. They get acredited by having good first time pass boards numbers. They could care less how you do in the field.
Thing that helped me when I was being precepted: I contributed to the unit in the ways I could, made up for other nurses having to help me with skills stuff all the time. I worked OT (too much sometimes, but thats another story) to help keep ratios down. I worked holidays so the nurses who had been on the unit for years could be with family. Being a male, I helped with transfers a lot. I was flexible with the assignment, often was the one who had to take on different patients while other nurses got to keep theirs from the day before.......didnt complain. I also made it a point to get to know the nurses who helped me a lot outside of work. Made friends that way, and they kept a close eye on me at work.
Maybe I'm just disapointed in some of the venom in this thread because I've seen first hand how doing it the right way can be so awarding. Nothing is gained from kicking people while they are down.
I do not feel that new grad RNs need to be able to," hit the ground running", the day after they graduate. I feel strongly that nurses' image would be inproved if we had a BSN entry into practice and a 6 month mandatory internship required after graduation. Doctors are required to do an internship and residency, PTs, OTs, Pharmacists, ALL DO AN INTERNSHIP AFTER GRADUATION!! None of them graduate and walk into their first job wet behind the ears. They all have a graduate level entry into practice. The sacrificed some clinical skills while still in school, and added academic classes in their place.
They all make more $$$ than nurses, have far more prestige and respect than nurses, and without a doubt in my mind, are higher on the hospital "food chain", than nurses. Think about it.
Furthermore, I have never heard of an MD, PT, OT, Pharmacist, be berated by a preceptor, or treated as disrespectfully by their preceptors, as a new grad, or even an nurse orientee, who is not new to nursing, but perhaps is changing specialties. Why are nurses so incredibly nasty to the "new kid on the block"? Why do experienced nurses seem to get their jollies from harrassing these individuals, and just plain making their lives miserable?
It probably has to do with our lack of control over our profession, our lack of authority in the workplace, and the need to validate their self worth and self inportance by conducting themselves so unprofessionnaly and slamming anyone that we can. JMHO and my NY $0.02.
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
i would like to see entrance exams to nsg school, be modified where critical thinking could be tested...
as well as other areas, to ensure that students are indeed, the right cut.
raise that bar.
i honestly don't understand how some even made it.
leslie