Wrong Department?

[NNF2015]

I have been an OR nurse for almost 7 years. I became burnt out and decided to move into the ED. My current preceptor (who has been an RN for 9 months) has become increasingly annoyed with me.

I have not made any medication errors or caused any patient harm, but she complains to my manager that I am asking the same questions over and over and that there also seems to be a "disconnect" in my brain. She reports that I am slow and cannot prioritize. 

The last straw occurred when (under her supervision), I began to start an OG tube. I have only seen one done before and had mistakenly assumed that all OG tubes were marked at approximately the 60  mark. She corrected me and showed me how to measure.

In hindsight, I realize how stupid this was, but at the moment I thought this was right. She went straight to my manager and explained the situation (she has been in his office constantly complaining about my questions with charting).

He has now moved me to a new preceptor but states that "this is my last chance".

I am terrified. I feel that she simply does not like me, but maybe I am not right for the ER?

Please give me some advice.  I am very concerned. Thank you ❤️

[offlabel]

Sounds like they've set you up to fail. If, as you say, your first preceptor hasn't even been a nurse, let alone an ER nurse, for a year, that's a clear case of the blind leading the blind. If your new preceptor has less than 2 years of nursing experience and at least that in the ER, IMO, that ER should be in the rear view mirror and the search for another one begun. There is a chance that the ER isn't for you, but as far as I can tell, you haven't been given a chance to say one way or the other. 

And BTW, what brand of OGT's are you using that don't have depth markings on them?

[NNF2015]

I believe it was a cardinal health OG, it was my mistake for assuming 60 was the number for adults. Thank you so much for your response. I am questioning my ability to even be a nurse at this point. 

My new preceptor is a veteran of the ER. So she will be my final test. 

[HiddenAngels]

I agree with previous poster. It sounds like a set up. Please have an exit strategy just in case. I would not  trust these people at all.
“This is your last chance”.. how scary is that comment.. what is wrong with some people???

[offlabel]

21 hours ago, NNF2015 said:

I believe it was a cardinal health OG, it was my mistake for assuming 60 was the number for adults. Thank you so much for your response. I am questioning my ability to even be a nurse at this point. 

My new preceptor is a veteran of the ER. So she will be my final test. 

 

Not to put too fine a point on it, advancing an OGT to 60 cm's in an adult isn't the end of the world. I routinely put them in in the OR (I'm a CRNA) without measuring. I just stop when I meet resistance, no big deal. You're gonna get an xray anyway so...measure next time, don't sweat this time...done!

[NNF2015]

Thank you both,

I have an exit plan just in case things don't work out.

I have started other jobs in the past and have never felt so uncomfortable asking questions during orientation, and also that people are hoping that I fail. I truly thought that the nursing field was moving away from the culture of eating their young. 

 If I don't get fired I am going to finish my year contract and move departments. I am disappointed because I was excited to move into the ER. This is a bump in my confidence and my career. 

Your comments have helped me not feel like such a terrible nurse.

Thanks again  

[MarkMyWords]

I am not a nurse but it looks like someone did not want you hired or taking this specific job and so is troubling you. I don't know the med procedure.

Is there more to this situation than this?

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

Some people just shouldn't be precepting and it sounds like one of them is your former preceptor, unfortunately. Anyone that cannot encourage questions during the orientation period doesn't remember what it was like to be new, or doesn't care about setting their colleagues up for success. There's a chance the ED isn't for you, but it doesn't sound like you could figure that out either way based on your experience.

One thing I tried to do when I was new was to go home and review my day and what I had done and learned. In the moment you can be so busy that you hear something and "learn" it, but until you review the whole situation again it doesn't really sink in. Unfortunately we often times equate memorization with learning and that limits our ability to retain information. Like with the OG tube, if your preceptor had taken the time to show you how to measure and explain why you were measuring, you would have had a much better opportunity to retain that information. And don't beat yourself up, many people just put all OG tubes at 55/60 and call it good.  And I've had very short people come up from the ED with OG tubes at 80! You know no one measured that. 

I hope it works out better with your next preceptor and either way I hope you find a good fit. 

[HiddenAngels]

2 hours ago, MarkMyWords said:

I am not a nurse but it looks like someone did not want you hired or taking this specific job and so is troubling you. I don't know the med procedure.

Is there more to this situation than this?

Yea unfortunately this happens when people start to smell themselves.  The way they went about this was just all wrong. I’m not sure it had anything to do with the applicant.  I feel they use this type of team interviewing often at that facility 

[JKL33]

My take re preceptor #1: Poor lil thing had to find someone making a huge transition (you) to put down so she could feel better about herself.

She is relatively brand new to this gig. Something wrong when people barely have their own feet under themselves and pull this kind of thing; it's bad enough when experienced people do it.

That said,

On 11/17/2022 at 10:12 AM, NNF2015 said:

I am asking the same questions over and over and that there also seems to be a "disconnect" in my brain.

Any truth to these? I ask because truly some people are not cut out for the ED environment. I have never worked in the OR but I imagine it has to be seriously uncontrolled atmosphere compared to OR. That said, lots of different kinds of people can learn new things. The opinion of a newbie (P #1) shouldn't matter here.

As for this,

On 11/17/2022 at 10:12 AM, NNF2015 said:

I have only seen one done before and had mistakenly assumed that all OG tubes were marked at approximately the 60  mark. She corrected me and showed me how to measure.

In hindsight, I realize how stupid this was, but at the moment I thought this was right. She went straight to my manager and explained the situation (she has been in his office consistently complaining about my questions with charting).

This is just silliness on her part. Not a big deal.  AT ALL. I can't imagine being concern about this as a preceptor. Learning to prioritize and hustle in the ED is overall infinitely more important than a detail about a task that will be learned with a one-time verbal instruction.

Anyway, good luck to you.

 

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

18 hours ago, HiddenAngels said:

I agree with previous poster. It sounds like a set up. Please have an exit strategy just in case. I would not  trust these people at all.
“This is your last chance”.. how scary is that comment.. what is wrong with some people???

THIS is why places remain understaffed. And on what freaking planet is someone with NINE MONTHS of experience a preceptor? First clue that everything is going sideways. My husband (ER resident) keeps trying to convince me to work in the ER again. NOPE. 

[NNF2015]

Thank you,

I agree that this is a huge transition. My manager said that " he thinks that it is good for the new nurses to precept so that they gain confidence".

I may be in the wrong department. I just want a fair shot at success.