It’s never easy to be the new orientee, let alone a new nurse on the job. Remember the jitterbugs you felt? That fear of the unknown. The fear of making a mistake? No matter how long ago it was for you, the feelings are universal. We were all nervous wrecks anticipating what was to come. One of your jobs as a preceptor is to help the new hire allay any of those feelings.
The best way to help your orientee overcome these feelings is with an organized and standardized process. A lot of facilities have meet and greets with the new employees during their facility new hire orientation. If your facility isn’t doing this, recommend this be added to the new employee orientation. Moreover, if this is not something your facility would like to do, take the initiative and arrange a lunch with your orientee during the new hire orientation week. A simple gesture like this helps new nurses feel valued and sets the tone for a positive learning experience.
Get to know the New Orientee
Take the time to understand your orientee’s strengths, fears, and preferred learning methods. Ask questions like:
- How do you learn best—hands-on, visually, or through discussion?
- What aspects of nursing do you feel least confident in?
- Were there any clinical areas in school that challenged you?
With this knowledge, you able to better plan patient assignments, determine your focus for targeted support, and build their confidence gradually.
Give them an overview
Orientation can feel overwhelming without a roadmap. Give them an overview of what the orientation will be like. For instance, week 1 will be doing this, week 2 this and so on. Encourage them to ask questions freely and emphasize that you will ask them lots of “why” questions-not to make them feel inadequate or unintelligent but to understand their clinical reasoning. Tell them to bring a handy dandy notebook to keep on them at all times for note taking.
Validate their feelings
Let them know it’s not going to be a cake walk and that there are going to be days when they question their reasoning for choosing nursing. Let them know this is completely normal and you will be there, so they don’t end up feeling like this:
Be the preceptor you once needed!