this is both a vent and a question about how I should deal with, well what I think is a major issue. So here goes:
I am a new grad working in a hospital in Idaho in med/surg for 4 weeks, I am 3 weeks into it, and then I will be hitting the ER. Anywho, the hospital thought it would be a grand idea to hire a nursing instructor from a local school to deal with the new grads, ALL 9 of us, yes I said one preceptor for all 9 of us on the same floor. We are all lisenced. We each started with one patient and no meds and for the past two weeks have had one patient with meds ( oh yeah, wonderful, just like nursing school) and last week I was given the green light to do all routes of meds on my own. (she has to sign a competency and then we are able to go on our own), which worked out great, no more waiting in line with 8 other people waiting for meds... Last week went well, I was doing pretty much everything on my own, only had two patients friday, planned the day etc, I was happy and all and then.... I come on today, shift starts at 0700 and she tells everyone well I know I told some of you you could give meds, but I want to take a look at them today and make sure its ok, mind you this means she is going to have to take the time to look up meds for all 18 patients before giving us the go ahead AGAIN after she already had last week. So 7:30 arrives and still no word on whether I can give meds or not, and both patients have them due at 8a and 9a. so i come find her and say I would like to be able to get Ms H's meds out and then take them in with me and get my assessment done and then if appropriate (BP med etc) I will give them to her (all PO meds), I vebalize that one is a BP med and I will assess that before deciding whether to give it to her, so then she says well i still havent had time to look at the meds yet, I will get back to you. So I go and do my assessments on both patient and put it in the computer charting, because, yes I am still waiting for her. So I find her again and she says, I want to do the meds with you today, cause i feel like i rushed approval last week :angryfire. So it is now about 9:30 since she was busy with the 8 other people waiting in line and I say ok so can I get Ms. H's 8am meds and give them to her. She says no, Mr. S has an 8am antibiotic that needs to be hung, and I say ok, he also has topical meds due at 9am with dressing changes along with an IV antibiotic and some PO's, so I say ok can I just get them all out and do it all at once. She says no we will just hang the antibiotic for now becuase i have to do other meds with soemone else. So i do as she says and we get the antibiotic up adn running and then she says ok you go get Ms. H's meds and then show them to me. So I go get the 4-5 PO meds for her, and after waiting a half hour for her to be free I show them to her, and finnaly give them, it is now about 10:30. Now mind you Mr. S still has meds that were due at 9am that she wouldnt let me get earlier when we were in the freakin room, so now I go get those out, and I also add that we still have topical meds and dressings to do. She checks the meds i had taken out, watches me push lasix (yes, for all 6 minutes, mind you I am a paramedic and have pushed lasix more times than i care to count), and then leaves while i give all the POs. She says that she has to go do a large dressing and give insulin with someone else, so i say ok. So i get the stuff for the dressing, its now about 1200 (they were due at 9am), and she now says oh I am still tied up, just start doing the dressings and I will be in. GRRRR I COULD HAVE DONE THEM HOURS AGO if she would have just let me. If she woul dhave just let me stick to the original plan I would have had the first patients meds done on time, hell the meds ALL were at least an 1 hour- 1/2 late!!! This nurse is a nursing instructor and I think she is afraid to cut the umbilical line, forgetting that we are RN's and not students. To make matters worse I have already developed my own way of doing things with dressing etc, and she insists that you do it her way which is really annoying!! I can honestly say i spent THREE HOURS of my 8 hour day waiting in line to get things done! The whole idea of having this preceptor was to take some strain off the nurses and us, but it is having teh complete opposite effect.
So anyway I have strong feelings. after leaving the hospital today VERY ANGRY and aggitated, that I really need to talk to somene about it. I am wondering if I should talk to her or the clinical educator in charge of the new grad program, especially since I am not the only one that leaves fuming mad, and the nurses on the floor are confused about what their role is and are also not happy with the whole situation, because well, we are new grads and things are getting missed because she is just to busy to really check in with charting and new orders, and labs. A critical lab value was missed last week just to give and example. I am concerned that she is going to do this everytime we have a new patient, as far as not letting us be independent. I always come to her with questions, so it is not like I am being a know it all and making her nervous in that sense.
Any oppinions? I am afraid to talk to her because I really do not think it would do any good, other than to make things worse.
Sweetooth
Thanks all for any oppinions and sorry about the length.
