I graduated from nursing about 7 years ago and went into management in LTC and worked there for about 5 years. I just started a new job in Emergency, and am being orientated in Observation. From the get go, I was very honest about my background about the fact that I have little to no experience in nursing skills. Plus I never worked in a acute care setting. I was told that this was not a problem as they would orientate me to these skills.
My orientation feels like a horrible nightmare, and at this point I don't know if I have gone crazy or am needy or what, I am at a total loss.
I am buddied up with someone different almost everyday of orientation, which is stressful in itself.
I constatly receive contracdicting information, for example some nurses say we need a MD order for lab work, other say we do not.
I have two people telling me to do two different things immediatly because each thing is a priority (one being my buddy, the other the CRN).
I feel like I am running around in circles like a circus freak doing nothing productive and forced into doing one thing when I am in the middle of doing something else.
I am always being told that I missed something (like a MD order, consult etc, etc), however I am not sure how to avoid this. I am so frazzled that I don't even think of asking how this can be avoided and I don't remember anyone telling me how to avoid missing this information.
My buddy will do some of the paper work and patient care without telling me and then expect me do to other paper work, it all seems very random. For example, I have the MD returning my buddies telephone call about my patient, but I cannot figure out why she called the MD in the first place (of course, I am the one answering the call and my buddy is no where to be found and nothing is charted), yet I am blamed for screwing up because I missed faxing a consult. Is this normal?
I want to cry in the middle of the shift.
At the end of the day I feel more stupid and incompetent.
I asked for constructive critizism and was told that I am slow, disorganized and a safety concern. Is this constructive or just critizism?
Am I wrong for asking what some tests are, what some diagnosis mean, or how to provide some simple nursing skills such as giving a bolus of normal saline?
What is the role of the buddy nurse, and should she (or he) posses a level of understanding?
What is a supportive environment, and does it include giving any encourgment?
I feel like everyone has given up on me.
I do not want to ever to return to that place, but I need the money.
Am I being too sensitive?
I use to be confident as a nurse and felt that I had enough "soft" skills to survive, such as assessments and communication skills. I always thought I was a smart nurse and a quick learner. However, any confidence I had went down the toilet very quickly. I am pretty sure I suffered from false confidence and now reality has set in and I am actually an idiot nurse. I no longer know what is normal or not because I am so dazed. Please help.
I've never worked in ER but from your post, I'd say that you're not in your niche. You might want to get your skills down on MedSurg first.
This is exactly what I was going to say. Try honing your basic skills on the floor first and see what you like. There are so many opportunities and departments that you might be able to find one that interests you. If one of your patients is having some procedure done, you might want to go with that patient, just to see if there's anything that you might like. I'm doing my last rotation as a nursing student in the cardiac floor, and whenever there's a procedure that a patient needs, I always ask if I can go in order to see what kinds of things I might want to try once I become a nurse. The cardiac cath lab is very interesting and though it gets busy, it's not as fast-paced as the ER (unless there's a code). Talk to your charge nurse and see if this is at all possible and tell her/him that you're not very happy where you are right now.
Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.
My other concern, is that if they are hiring nurses that have no acute care experience, they must be desperate and might not be in a position to offer a supportive orientation period. Good luck.
Then it is their responsibility to make sure that the OP is up to their standards, or they will continue to lose staff. How can one cope in his/her situation without positive or constructive feedback and with conflicting information?
There should be at least a handbook supplied for orientation indicating policies.
Regardless of what is happening, it doesn't take much to say a kind word, or at least apologise for behaviour when the ED has calmed down a little.
Fancee, I am really sorry that this situation has happened. If the decision to move to another floor is entirely yours then I wish you the best of luck for the future. If it wasn't, then they should be ashamed of themselves. Don't you dare blame yourself for their behaviour. Sure, you may have had shortcomings, but so did they! And remember, if they didn''t orientate you properly, they will probably do exactly the same thing to someone else.
So hold your head high; and get to use your skills on a ward that will appreciate you better.
MMARN, BSN, RN
914 Posts
This is exactly what I was going to say. Try honing your basic skills on the floor first and see what you like. There are so many opportunities and departments that you might be able to find one that interests you. If one of your patients is having some procedure done, you might want to go with that patient, just to see if there's anything that you might like. I'm doing my last rotation as a nursing student in the cardiac floor, and whenever there's a procedure that a patient needs, I always ask if I can go in order to see what kinds of things I might want to try once I become a nurse. The cardiac cath lab is very interesting and though it gets busy, it's not as fast-paced as the ER (unless there's a code). Talk to your charge nurse and see if this is at all possible and tell her/him that you're not very happy where you are right now.
Good luck! :)