Struggling

pockunit, ADN, RN · May 20, 2016

So they need to give you SPECIFIC GOALS to aim for. Remember SMART? Your manager needs to help you and your preceptor come up with SMART goals for you to achieve. Also, how do you learn? Reading? Watching? Doing? They need to foster your learning by giving you opportunities to see/read/do.

Are they telling you what issues they see or just telling you it's not working? The former is good, the latter is bogus. Either way, are they offering a plan to improve what they see as deficits? If not, maybe this is a bad department and you want out regardless.

russianbear · May 20, 2016

So they need to give you SPECIFIC GOALS to aim for. Remember SMART? Your manager needs to help you and your preceptor come up with SMART goals for you to achieve. Also, how do you learn? Reading? Watching? Doing? They need to foster your learning by giving you opportunities to see/read/do.
Are they telling you what issues they see or just telling you it's not working? The former is good, the latter is bogus. Either way, are they offering a plan to improve what they see as deficits? If not, maybe this is a bad department and you want out regardless.

It's a bit of both. In the end I'll take responsibility and just say I failed. The problem is, I am afraid this is going to make it difficult to find a new job. I was at one place for 7 months or so, here for a couple...who's going to want to take me on ?

Editorial Team / Moderator · May 21, 2016

Is there a chance your current place could help with an internal transfer? How much more time do you have to work on improvement?

amzyRN · May 21, 2016

I think some people do better with a few years of floor experience under their belt. I was one of those people. I knew I wasn't ready for the ER until I had a few solid years of acute care experience. It doesn't mean you will never get it, but maybe you need a slower pace to learn, then move on to the ER and then to NP.

Plus, having a little more nursing experience might give you more confidence. Plus you will develop your intuition to know who's sick and who's not. Some new grads can do well in the ER with a good orientation, but some people are better off starting in a lower acuity first.

russianbear · May 21, 2016

Is there a chance your current place could help with an internal transfer? How much more time do you have to work on improvement?

couple of weeks

russianbear · May 21, 2016

I think some people do better with a few years of floor experience under their belt. I was one of those people. I knew I wasn't ready for the ER until I had a few solid years of acute care experience. It doesn't mean you will never get it, but maybe you need a slower pace to learn, then move on to the ER and then to NP.
Plus, having a little more nursing experience might give you more confidence. Plus you will develop your intuition to know who's sick and who's not. Some new grads can do well in the ER with a good orientation, but some people are better off starting in a lower acuity first.

Yeah, it's an embarrassing way to find my limitations.

pockunit, ADN, RN · May 21, 2016

So what, SPECIFICALLY, did they tell you were the issues they were seeing? DID they specifically outline things? Or was it some vague, wobbly pile of crap on a cracker?

russianbear · May 21, 2016

So what, SPECIFICALLY, did they tell you were the issues they were seeing? DID they specifically outline things? Or was it some vague, wobbly pile of crap on a cracker?

I'd say more vague than specific.

amzyRN · May 21, 2016

Maybe your facility doesn't offer the best orientation for a new ER nurse. I'm doing my orientation now and I have daily feedback from my preceptor and weekly check-ins with the nurse educator. Any issue wouldn't wait a whole month to be addressed, more like the next day or the same week. That being said, I still think it might be worthwhile to start on a lower acuity unit. It does build confidence. Or you could try to find a different hospital with a better orientation.

Where I work, they usually don't start a nurse fresh off orientation in a high acuity assignment anyway, so I'm not sure why you'd have to be adept at trauma patients now.

pockunit, ADN, RN · May 21, 2016

I'd say more vague than specific.

They can't quite expect you to improve your performance if they don't tell you what's wrong with it. If they can't do that for you, then you may not want to be in this department because it will be like this as long as that manager is in charge.

Lev, MSN, RN, NP · May 22, 2016

I would not admit failure to my manager or to myself until I actually fail - meaning once you are told you have to leave. Until then, focus on improvement. You need to get an idea of specific areas that need improvement. You have a right to this information from your preceptor, manager, and educator. Please ask them for the top 5 areas that you need improvement in with specific example of what you are doing wrong and suggestions for doing them better.

Please remember to always keep on your game face with management so you can ask for an internal transfer to med-surg or telemetry if you are asked to leave the ER.

russianbear · May 22, 2016

I would not admit failure to my manager or to myself until I actually fail - meaning once you are told you have to leave. Until then, focus on improvement. You need to get an idea of specific areas that need improvement. You have a right to this information from your preceptor, manager, and educator. Please ask them for the top 5 areas that you need improvement in with specific example of what you are doing wrong and suggestions for doing them better.
Please remember to always keep on your game face with management so you can ask for an internal transfer to med-surg or telemetry if you are asked to leave the ER.

There are no guarantees in life. There is no guarantee that another floor would want me or there would be openings. The reality is, I have bills to pay. I am responsible to people other than myself. I'm worried to say the least.