What would you expect from a OR student?

[nurseinlimbo]

I was accepted for a bursary a while ago to take the OR course at our local college/hospital. I have been in Clinical for exactly 20 shifts. Clinical is now over. I was chosen for the funding via interview, and provided a resume. The OR is currently short 3 fulltime positions, and casual staff are overworked trying to keep up.

I am a nervous learner, need lots of guidance and a patient, kind person to teach me. In our clinical so far, we are put in a different theatre with a different team each day, and none of them seem to know from day to day what we've been doing. So some days you scrub and do almost everything, the next day you are lucky if they don't park you in a chair in the corner. It is very hard for me to take anything away from the experience when it is presented this way. I need consistent day to day experiences that build on eachother.

We are now into an 18 shift preceptorship, and then are finished. If hired we get a 3 month orientation.

There are alot of negative vibes on this unit with regards to management, holidays and everyone seems very burnt out.

I am going home in tears nearly every day, and when I try to talk to someone about it, I am brushed off.

Today the instructor saved my eval for the end of the day, knowing that I had to pick up my son, so she wouldn't have to talk to me for long. I don't know what to do. This is going to cost me $5000 and 2 months lost wages, not to mention what it's doing to my self esteem.

Please help!

[staceyp413]

Sorry you are having a rough go of it right now. Having been a preceptor for many "new" staff/students/etc. my advice is to speak up. As you said they don't know what you've done from one day to the next so let them know. Also, ask them if you can do things if they "stick you on a chair in a corner." If that doesn't work and you're still brushed off then try to WOW them by studying up, ask questions, and most of all let them know that you are truely interested in what they/the team is doing. What usually burns everyone out is teaching people that just come and go or are just there to get their hours in and then are never to be seen again.

Good luck and I hope things turn around. You'll find strong personalities in any OR you visit.........find the ones you like to work with and then do whatever you can to stick with them and let them know they are appreciated