#28 Preceptorship Part 1

We have been talking about doing a preceptorship episode for quite some time now, probably since the start of the podcast. But I got to say, it’s been hard to narrow down which way to do it. I guess we could do a four-part series, but I don’t know if anyone wants to listen to that. But we-

Mini class.

… Sarah doesn’t even know what we’re going to talk about today, because I’ve been polling on Instagram, “What’s important to you in preceptorship?” And, “Why is your preceptorship good or bad?” And I’ve gotten a lot of different responses, and there’s the part of what makes a good preceptor, a long-term preceptor. And I think, Sarah, I want you to speak to that, because you did more of that than I did. And then what makes a good fill-in preceptor? I feel like I’ve done a lot of that, because I do a lot of per diem work, so it was like jump in here, jump in there.

What makes a good preceptee? Because there is talk online right now of, yeah, it’s really important when your preceptor knows how to precept. But also, there’s an accountability you need to take as the one being precepted. There’s a lot to do with the hospital system and the unit needs, and are there any experienced nurses on that shift? And are your preceptors burnt out?

As a new grad or a new nurse to the specialty, you’re coming in on the unit so excited most of the time and excited to meet your preceptor. But little do you know, the person that’s precepted you has precept eight people before you, with no break. And it’s a lot of work. And some hospitals, I just found, I had a DM, that they’re not getting paid more.

On my unit, they pay a dollar more an hour, which I’m like, “That’s not even worth it.” I tease the people, “Write it in Kronos. Let me pay you for your time.'” And they’re like, “It’s $12. It’s not even worth my time to get the pen our, to get the paper out to write it.” So, there’s that.

Preceptorship, in general, I think is suffering in our country and on our units. I don’t know if it was like this pre-COVID, but I see a lot of nurses burning out quicker or quitting right after preceptorship. And it makes me sad, because it’s such an area to help a nurse feel, like we always say, seen, safe and soothed, and really guide them, and you’re molding the future nurses of your unit. There’s a side of, it’s an honor and you’re making a mini you, which is terrifying sometimes, right?

We were joking with some nurses on our unit of like, “Oh. Yeah, that person precepted you? That makes so much sense. You’re exactly her.” Which is so great if the practices are up-to-date, if that preceptor should’ve been a preceptor. But there’s a lot of pressure in that, and there’s also a big fear of becoming a preceptor. I get a lot of DMs like, “I’m not ready. I can’t do it.” And there is a lot. And so, I don’t really know how we want to take this.

Let’s vibe.

I think maybe… Yeah, we’ll vibe.

I sound like a man.

I think, maybe too… Let’s vibe.

Let’s vibe.

We have mostly new nurses, not mostly, we have a lot of new nurses that are listening to this that are going to be in L&D, and so maybe we could talk a little bit about being precepted first and what would make your experience better being a preceptee? Because when I think you and I, Sarah, are very different, not from each other. I imagine we precepted, we were precepted the same. We did a lot of work on our own, right?

I don’t know.

We read the books.

Yes. Oh, as the preceptee?

Yeah, yeah, as as preceptee.

Ha, I bet we were very similar. How were you as a preceptee?

Very similar. I think we’re very different preceptors. I think you were very much more intense than I am.

For sure. Oh, my goodness, yes.

I think you would scare me a little bit.

Oh, for sure.

But we could talk about that in a little bit. But what do you think is important when you’re going to be precepted? What are some things that you would advise nurses to do?

I think that it’s easy to think that preceptorship, rather being the preceptor or preceptee is like, okay, it’s this very unique circumstance. But if we relate it to a lot of things, basically, you have a learner and a teacher. And I know about that, right? I am very much a learner in many circumstances. You guys don’t get to see that as much. But if anyone’s ever been around me, I currently am surrounded by books and research studies right now.

She loves to learn.

And I love to learn and I like to synthesize, and I think that that has helped me. But I also am an educator, right? And while I’m not precepting right now, I’ve precepted a lot. And when I think about when I’m teaching someone something, because that is what it is. In this circumstance that we are teaching them the art and science of labor and delivery nursing, the practical, how to do it. Hopefully, a lot of the emotional side of things, how to chart, how to be successful in that role, I think about just pulling it out from there.

And we have a lot of data. There’s a lot of other circumstances we can learn from in that case, too. But I would say that just an eagerness to learn and a humility walking into a new place. I think it’s easy to be excited. I’m not saying don’t be excited, because please be excited. That energy isn’t infectious. But when I look at the people I’ve precepted or even just the people that I train, that when you’re walking into something new, to approach the preceptor with respect and an openness to learn, and I think this is where a lot of our therapeutic communication comes in.

The same way that we would approach a doctor or another conflict on the unit, I don’t even see this as a delicate situation, but there is this element of build rapport that the preceptor needs to earn that respect in some ways. But if they’ve been given to you as a preceptee, that terminology, for some reason in my head, I really have to think about, that there is a certain level of willingness, openness, freedom to receive, and then also, an accountability to not only just receive, but also to take that learning in and digest it and turn it out into your practice.

I love the openness, willing to receive, eager and especially humble. I don’t think I was very humble when I started. I was really annoying. It was like, people would complain about me and charge nurses would complain about me, like “This girl keeps questioning us.” They’d be in the manager’s office, “Why is she so bossy?” And it became a joke that I was bossy, and I was like, “I’m just a natural leader.” But I-

Well-

… because I was so excited-

But I think-

… and I read stuff.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think there’s a healthy way to turn that out without annoying people, because I think it’s easy to come in with that energy. And then, also, you’re being told… First of all, you’re scared about looking dumb. You want to be able to prove that this was a good decision. I know what I’m doing. But there’s also an element that I learned later. And it’s hard to really, truly believe when you’re the new one, but that no one really expects you to know anything.

And yet, I think the perception is I passed the NCLEX, I am the nurse now. I belong here. And if you’re trying to constantly prove that you belong there and that you’re smart, and this was a good decision and I’m going to be good at the whatever, that that quickly can come across as not humble. And so, I can think about one, I’m thinking about one particular nurse that just, we had the best preceptorship and I was consistent with her early on. I was probably only a year and a half out and they asked me to precept, and I was like, “Oh, my God.” But then when I got going, I was like, well, I’m really good at educating and I get what it’s like to be new.

Now, I think I’d be a terrible preceptor. In fact, all the time, me and Justine, I’m like, “They want to learn that? Don’t we know this stuff? Haven’t they heard this before? Aren’t they tired of it?” She’s like, “No, Sarah. They need to hear it over and over again.” I’m like, “Okay.” Now, I am at the place where it’s, there’s nothing new anymore. I don’t know that I totally remember what it’s like to be new. And so, you can get into that more with the preceptor portion.

But I remember this preceptee, and she came in and she was energized, she was engaged. She looked at me in the eye, she was on time. If I gave her homework to do, she had it. She would tell me the things that she was learning. It’s like, “Okay, but I learned this in nursing school. Help me understand this. I want to work on this this week.” She was proactive, but also, she was honestly overwhelmed. And I mean, don’t mean honestly overwhelmed, I mean, she was honestly overwhelmed in an honest way. And-

I got you.

… we all know that’s normal. That being overwhelmed, knowing that it’s a lot, that there’s no particular perfect way that people learned. We also built a relationship that I felt respected by her, I felt appreciated by her. And honestly, I’m actually thinking back, initially, I wondered about her, but her willingness to learn and her willingness to tell me when she needed help built trust very quickly. And…

It sounds like she didn’t suffer from imposter syndrome, because I think that what you were describing-

Maybe.

… earlier, you were describing that we don’t want them to think it was a bad mistake, “I was meant to be here. They should hire me.” And then we get this, we get imposter syndrome, which the definition of what I’ve read recently was, imposter syndrome breeds when we don’t admit what we don’t know. But we don’t know so much when we’re starting. And if you could just be honest-

Yeah, and it’s okay that you don’t know.

… about that. It’s so true. Yeah, you’re not supposed to. And they’d rather that, and you’ll hear it on your unit all the time, new nurses that are like, “Sorry, I have so many questions.” They’re like, “No, ask the questions. Ask.” Everyone will say that, “Ask the questions.” And so, maybe that’s another thing, too. Yeah, admit what you don’t know. But yeah, she sounds like a dream.

No, she was really good, and she’s still really good. She’s doing very well. She’s like [inaudible 00:11:36]-

So the qualities I hear are openness, honest, excited. I liked the eye contact. That’s so true and being engaged with you. Yeah, great. I have a few nurses that I’ve seen recently that I’m like, “Do you even want to be here?” That can be frustrating for someone, especially like me. I’m working on that in my own heart. And I liked the homework piece, so we’ll dive into that a little bit more later. Yeah.

I want to mention something. I was talking to a friend online recently about preceptorship, and I have two sides. I have, yeah, do your homework, research outside of work, do bundle birth mentorship, do physiologic work, do all our stuff. And then on the other side, I’m like, is it changing? Is the generation changing to the point where they’re like, “I’m getting paid for 36 hours, so if you’re going to teach me, teach me in that time. Otherwise, I’m going to live my life and be at home.” And so, there’s that, too.

And I don’t want to make people feel like they have to work so much outside of work, because you got to live your life. So how do you balance that? And I think it is the hospital provides it in that time. There’s better onboarding, but what do you think? What are-

Well, but if there’s “better onboarding,” it’s actually longer onboarding. Because you need the experience on the floor and you also need training and time to look things up and whatnot. So, I mean, I don’t disagree. Technically, you should be. I’m an employer, so I know a lot about employer law and you should be paid for your time. Unless you have a previous agreement for something else or you’re paid in a lump sum or you’re a salesperson. Not in this case where you’re clocking in and clocking out for this job, you should be paid for your time.

So, I mean, don’t totally disagree. I also, though, where does the accountability come in on the weight of our job? That if you are going to get three months, there has to be a fine line that’s walked between, if they’re not going to give it to you, that’s too bad. And that is a system issue. I have lots to say about the system, but if we’re strictly talking about the responsibility of the preceptee, you need to be working in those three months to get to a place where you’re safe to be on your own. And in my mind, it’s whatever it takes.

Yeah. And I’m actually thinking if you want to commit to a specialty, as a new grad especially, then you got to put the work in. And maybe if you don’t want to put the work in, maybe that is in your heart. Just be like, “Okay, well, I’m going to go do another unit, learn how to become a nurse first and then when I go to the specialty, I’m not doing both.” That’s interesting. I haven’t thought about it like that.

Mm-hmm. Well, but it’s easy to not take accountability for your job. And that’s again, that balance that I see here with the way that things are shifting and how people are demanding a lot more. And I believe in that. I would love for everybody to, when they’re off, they’re off. That honestly, that’s one of the benefits of being a nurse. That’s what I miss about being a nurse. I never, ever am off, because I’m always thinking about this stuff.

But yet, easily, it’s like, “Well, I’m off. Don’t ask me to be a nurse. Don’t ask me to this and that.” And really, technically, your licensure carries outside of the hospital. You are a nurse in the community. You are, if somebody goes down, if somebody’s in labor in the community and you are there, you are liable to respond. So just because you’re not getting paid, you don’t get to decide that based on money.

And then that, to me, also gets into the whole greed, with my fear with that. And are we doing it for the money? Are we doing it because it’s more than the money? And I would hope that it’s more than the money for us, especially in a job where it requires so much more than just filling in boxes. This is heart work and if you’re showing up for just the money, you’re not going to be able to engage in the same way with these birth experiences and these families, and that will affect their birth experience. I do believe that.

On the flip side of that, too, say you don’t want to work off the clock, which we understand, it could help, even just… Say you got a [inaudible 00:16:18] case-

And we’re not talking work off the clock. I’m talking read and answer your own questions and Google things, and open up the AWHONN perinatal nursing book and review the case that you had. That-

[inaudible 00:16:34].

… to me, is not necessarily work. And I think that’s a reframe a little bit. Because, “Oh, well, it’s anything to do with…” No, this is bettering who you are. That’s self-development stuff. No one’s paying you to do yoga because, “Oh, it’s good for me and my job. That’s going to affect my job.” No, these are all contributing factors that will support your practice.

And it may be reading a research article, it may be listening to this podcast. And it may also be going to bed, it may be cooking a healthy meal. All of those things contribute to you being a better nurse. So I don’t think it’s fair to… Unless someone’s requiring you to do something for your job, to be paying them.

Agreed. So openness, humbleness, eagerness, and reflect on your day, every shift. What did you learn that day? Look into a little bit more. And then I would say, too, just something to note, you might be precepted by someone that has, or practices in a way that you don’t agree with or that isn’t evidence based, and that can be challenging, too. And I have an opinion and Sarah might have the same or different, but I will say, now looking back, I would be less vocal about that. Take it for what it is and look up things.

If something doesn’t feel right, they say it stat or whatever. And I’m like, I’ve heard it different, maybe from here or from somewhere else, I read it different. I’m not going to just jump down their throat and tell them the right one. I will just note it, back-check what I had, and then remember it.

Maybe a few years down the line, a few months down the line, I might mention it at the nursing station when that person’s around, to maybe, so they can hear it, that there’s a new way to do things. Our experienced nurses have a lot of experience and they’ve done things the way they were taught. And our educators are maxed in our country to their ability to educate right now. I have a lot of sympathy for our educators. I would never be-

Same.

… you couldn’t pay me $200,000 a year to be an educator. Sorry, educators.

You are an educator, though.

Yes, a hospital educator. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it. So just have grace with your preceptors and educators. They’re trying, they’re trying.

Well, and there are really good ones out there, too.

There’re really good ones.

There’s no standardizing of preceptorships and training programs, and I think people have tried. I was a part of a Versant program and so, I did get six months of onboarding as a new grad, in labor and delivery. And that was great. Was I totally ready? … I was probably, but I also took a lot of accountability for my own learning. And as you’re learning things that maybe don’t align with what you’ve heard, and the only way to know what you’ve heard is to do the work outside of the actual job when you can.

Also, be in a place that feels safe to learn and you’re not adrenaline-rushed for the full 12 hours, because everything’s new and scary. So I think there’s a level of accountability that comes in to taking charge of your own experience. And speaking up for your needs, voicing those needs, building rapport, getting to know your managers, approaching it from a learner’s perspective, recognizing that you may know a lot of textbook, but you don’t actually know the job of being a labor and delivery nurse.

And we say that with so much love, but that comes also from experience. And you talk to any nurse that’s been around, you’re like, “Yeah, I knew nothing. I thought I knew, but I didn’t.” And so, as you’re learning then, the preceptorship for the preceptee is an opportunity to develop your practice and to hold your hands open and go, “How does that sit with me?” Rather than this drink it like you’re a thirsty person, that you’re like, “Give me all the things. Okay, that’s how I’m going to be.”

Instead, it’s, “Okay, I see this working. Okay, wow, that was a really efficient way.” Observing other ways that nurses work. And I think part of the frustration is, too, that a lot of people are having more than one preceptor and that is challenging. It’s hard to gain momentum, it’s hard to build that trust again. And then you have somebody who’s annoyed that you’re there, et cetera, so we get that.

But I think the bright side of that is you’re exposed to various ways of practice and you can say, “Oh, that was different the way they did that,” or, “Wow, I love how they said that. That seemed to work,” or, “That’s not true, I don’t think. That’s not what I’ve read or that’s not what I’ve heard.” And then instead of your preceptor being the end all, be all, they’re an exposure to develop your practice.

With the bouncing around preceptors, I hear that a lot. At this point, that’s a systems failure there, too, and you got to be accountable for what you know and don’t know. So if you’re going to have a new preceptor that day, tell them, “This is what I feel confident in, this is what I need.” And show them-

Yeah, you have to orient them.

Yep, mm-hmm. You have to let them know you know. And you can be confident, “I can definitely chart on our strips, turn them, titrate Pit. What I’m struggling with right now is calculating MBUs, or staying up on my eyes…” But knowing what you know and don’t know is important and keep track of that.

Yeah. And I think that, it’s easy as the preceptee to expect that your preceptor is going to be aware of that magically. And instead, this is what it looks like to take control of your learning, is track. What have you done? What haven’t you done? What feels confident? What doesn’t feel confident? And then literally sit down with your preceptor at the beginning. I know for me, I’d be like, “Oh, my God, this is so helpful.” Of, “I have been here and I only have three more shifts, and I’ve only seen two births. We have to see a birth today.

“If there’s any way that you can help me get into a birth, I need to see the birth. I need to do eyes and thighs. I need to assist with breastfeeding. I need to whatever. And if we could talk through that, these are my goals for today.” That, for somebody who is being thrown into precepting, who’s not received any formal training on precepting, potentially, is helpful guidance. Otherwise, you’re trying to figure it out the whole shift.

Yeah. Also, on the flip side of that, I’m wondering, in my role now, it would be helpful for me if I knew what the preceptee has gotten or hasn’t gotten when I make assignments for my shifts. So I’m thinking if a preceptee showed up 10 minutes early and caught me and was like, “Hey, do you have a mag patient I can have?” Or, they’re leaving the night, leaving that day and coming back the next morning, like, “Hey, if you get a patient with this, can I have them? I really want whatever.” That would be helpful, too. And that is, again, taking accountability for your learning. I love that.

I think that easily, though, for that, is the fear. When you’re new, it’s like, “I’m going to show up and ask for the mag patient. I don’t know if I want the mag patient. I’m not ready.” And you’re never going to be ready. And so, I think the reminder that preceptorship is when you want that stuff. You want the support, you want the other person with you to do it. And I know it feels overwhelming and scary or, “Oh, my God, an insulin drip? I could kill them.” Yeah. But that’s why you have somebody there with you that’s supporting you through those cases. And to be proactive about that is only going to help with your confidence later on.

Yeah, you don’t want those when you’re off preceptorship alone.

Definitely not.

I know, for me, I was very involved with AWHONN as a student and a new grad. I was going to AWHONN’s conferences when I was being precepted, and I was already involved with the board, and I was just-

That’s so much, I didn’t even know what AWHONN was. No offense to AWHONN.

I was end all, be all, man. I was so concerned that they were going to realize that they shouldn’t have hired me. I’ve had major imposter syndrome at the beginning and I was constantly studying. I don’t know if it’s because had no kids and I enjoy learning. And I was just constantly hitting the books, reading stuff, learning, and I loved it. And I have a struggle with, sometimes when new nurses don’t love it like I did. That’s been a constant theme in my life of giving them grace. And I’ve gotten way better at that.

Like, “Why don’t you love this?”

Right. “Why aren’t you obsessed with it like I am?” They need to be. But I want them to know how important their job is, right? And that’s one of our missions here of, you don’t have to be obsessed with it to do really well at it. I had a lot of preceptors. My main preceptor, which is so funny, because Sarah ended up knowing her. They had worked together years earlier. OB is a small world, guys. She was pregnant, and so she was out pretty quickly after I had her. And so, I had a lot. I probably had 19 total. I had four months and so-

Wow.

… I think I had 48 shifts, so I was very thankful for that. I was at an HCA. So if you work at an HCA, you have a StaRN residency program. So it was six weeks didactic before you got on the unit, but the didactic part was no OB. It was all med-surg, so it was kind of silly, but it was fine. It was like a second nursing school, whatever. And then we got on the floor and I was excited, but I was the one I wanted the hard patients.

I asked for the high Gs and Ps, and I wanted them to bleed and I wanted them, I wanted the high pressures because I had that, “Yeah, I don’t want to do this on my own. I want help.” And so I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being precepted. And when I was scared about something, I reached out to my preceptors. I remember taking my night shift preceptor aside, and I was like, “I don’t think I could do this.” And she was like, “What?” And I was like, “I forgot about AFE. I forgot that was a thing. I can’t do that.” I can’t handle if, because what happened-

Oh, honey.

… I was asked… I know. And I was asking my educator, I was like, “Do we have a policy on AFE?” And she was like, “No, we don’t have a policy, because we just hope it doesn’t happen.” Now I’m looking back and I’m like, well, we didn’t need a policy on AFE, I just wanted a protocol. What do I do? Where’s my education on it, right?

What do I do?

What is this algorithm? And then I was like, “Well, have you ever seen one?” And then she tells me the story of one. And then another nurse tells me the story of the one she saw. And I’m like, well, multiple nurses are chiming in. I’m like, “Well, obviously it happens. Why aren’t we being…? So I was like, “I don’t think I can handle it.” So my night shift preceptor is very, the wild west. The wildest of wests. Has been doing this for so long, is just so. She’s going to retire any second. I still work with her. And she’s like, “Oh, my God, you don’t need to worry about that.” Calmed me down.

Probably dismissed me a little much. But it was okay, because it did make me feel good in this time of, “Okay, I don’t need to worry about it.” But I worried about those things. And when I heard something that was “scary,” I took a class on it or read a book or had the knowledge in my head so that if at least it happened, I had something. And I think that’s helpful, because there’s things we’re just not going to see ever, if not for a long time. And if you’re losing sleep over a prolapsed cord, learn about a prolapse cord, you know?

Right, and then you’ll get over it real quick, of like, “All right, shove your hand up there.”

Well, what about you? What kind of preceptor you were you?

So I love labor and delivery, and I loved it from the very start, through nursing school. But I had worked at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, leading up to literally the week before I started on the floor as a nurse and as a PCSA. So I was like a nurse’s aide. So the whole time through nursing school, I dabbled between peds and L&D. So I wasn’t the gung… When I got the job, I was like, “All right, this what I’m doing and I’m so excited” And yes, if I was honest with myself, I didn’t want to do the sad peds side of things, because I’d been doing that for a couple years. And so, I was very, very happy to be in L&D.

But I wasn’t going into it like, “This is my dream come true of my entire life. This is all I’ve ever wanted.” But I was excited. And there was such a selection process. There was so many applicants. This was in the height of the nursing school… Where people couldn’t get jobs. My graduating class, there was, I think, only 56 of us in my graduating nursing school class. And I think there were over 30 that didn’t get a job for almost two years afterwards, because it was almost impossible to get a job.

That’s definitely not the same right now, luckily.

No. No. Luckily for you, that was very stressful. So all of us that got jobs, it was like people were taking stuff that they would’ve never wanted just to get a job and get in, because they needed experience. And so, I felt very grateful to be in a specialty. There were over 900 applicants and there were two of us that got hired. So I think that set me up to be super receptive and super grateful and approach it as a learner. I also had the advantage of Spanish. And my hospital was mostly, if not… I mean, by the time I was on my own, if I had an English-speaking patient, it was a dream.

I was speaking almost a hundred percent of the time Spanish. And so that was an asset to the floor. And so, I became the, “Oh, she speaks Spanish?” girl on my floor, and that allowed me to help translate and help with certain circumstances, or, “Hey, Sarah, do you have a second? Can you come help with this case?” But it let me see other nursing techniques. And I remember being in… They wouldn’t let us in triage until two years of experience. That didn’t last though, because I was in triage a lot earlier than that, because I really liked it. But we didn’t really spend time in triage. And so, they pulled me into triage to translate and I’d get to see and help with things. So that, I think, was an advantage for me.

And I remember I was assigned a certain preceptor, and I also was popped around to multiple people. And I found a policy and procedure book that no one oriented me to. It wasn’t like, “Oh, you need to know the policies and procedures.” I didn’t even know this thing existed, probably a month in. And I remember opening this up and being like, “Wait a second, this literally tells me how to do the job. Why don’t…” I remember copying the whole thing. I took it home. I translated it into little note cards, where I made myself a little, it was around my neck, little badge buddy kit thing.

Oh, my God. The little nerdy-

I was already making products.

I love it.

I know. I know. And laminated them myself. Oh, yeah.

Oh, man.

And then had my key phone numbers and anything like that. I wanted the resources at my fingertips to reference. And I remember getting made fun of for that, but I didn’t care, because I was like, this is my lifeline. If you’re going to give Pit to somebody, it literally tells me what to do. This is amazing. Why was I not oriented to this? But I was also in didactic that was med-surg related and not L&D specific. So that I think was a waste. But I’m like, I’m looking at it now and I’m like, just throw in our mentorship instead for that part of it. That would’ve been so helpful.

Because I needed more of the L&D didactic, but I found it myself. And I read AWHONN’s perinatal book throughout my preceptorship. I don’t know that I was looking at research articles. I mean, I’d been in school, but I didn’t see the need. I read AWHONN’s book and the policies and procedures and memorized them, and was passed around. And not everybody was nice to me, but I think my advantage was the Spanish. And the girl that was hired with me was a know-it-all and wasn’t very well liked. And I was observing that. And I remember just pulling back. It’s funny, because I’m pretty outgoing, pretty outgoing, I’m very outgoing when you know me. But-

If you don’t you.

Or, if you don’t me, yeah, I probably got that.

That’s fair.

I’m a pretty outspoken, loud, excited, passionate person-

Infectious person.

But in… Oh, thank you. Dramatic person. But in new environments, I’m very much an observer. And I very much sneak in and I pay attention, or as I’m learning, and you’ve seen this, too, Justine, where I’m like, I’m-

Yeah, I know.

… just taking it in. I’m just taking it in and synthesizing and watching and curious and whatnot. And so, that was, I think, my perspective. And I was watching them truly be very not kind to my counterpart. And she was a know-it-all, and she knew everything and was telling everyone how to do things, and it didn’t go over well. So I remember seeing that and being like, “Ooh, all right. Well, I’m not going to be it that way.” I don’t think, looking back, that I was a know-it-all. I remember just being very scared all the time, but really loving it and wanting to be good. So I studied a lot and just kind of wung it.

That’s what we’re all doing out here, winging it. Even us. We’re just-

We’re real. Oh, yeah.

There’s no guidebook.

I don’t know what I’m doing every day. No, no. And ideally, there should be. That would be very helpful. But also, that’s life. And so often, somebody might tell you as a preceptee that, “This is the way to do it.” What have we just said in previous episodes of, if it’s safe, your way is safe and you’re not putting anyone in harm’s way, that you’re following policies and procedures, you’re following standard of care, there are lots of ways to do things, and that’s okay.

But when you’re with a preceptor, do it the way that they’re asking you to do it and see how it feels for you. Approach it as a learner and I think that there’s a lot for you to learn there. And then once you get off preceptorship, you get to decide and you get to explore what that looks like for you. And continue to learn. There are things to this day that I’m like, “Oh, shoot, I wish I would’ve done that,” or whatever.

Agreed. So true. Same. I’m thinking of all the things, I’m like, “Ah, I never thought of that.” That was a juicy little episode full of nuggets. And I think we’ll actually do part two. So this did end up more than one episode. But there is a lot to preceptorship, so it works out. So, we will do part two for the preceptor. This will be for the preceptee, and I think it’ll be a nice mix for both of them.

Yeah. Thanks for spending your time with us during this episode of Happy Hour with Bundle Birth Nurses. If you like what you heard, it helps us both if you subscribe, rate, leave a raving review, and share this episode with a friend. If you want more from us, head to bundlebirthnurses.com or follow us on Instagram and TikTok. Now it’s your turn to take what you learned today, apply it to your life, be a humble and eager learner, and we’ll see you next time.