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Nursing Mastery
The first year1 reply · Published Sep 7, 2026

They asked if I could come off orientation at ten weeks instead of twelve

Avery on orientation

The question

Asked at the desk, mid shift, in the tone you'd use to ask if I wanted coffee. Framed as a compliment and I think it was meant as one.

Week nine. I've never carried a full assignment on a night the unit was full. Every good shift I've had has been a shift where my preceptor was four feet away and I knew it.

I read three threads about this over the weekend and the split is say yes and grow into it, or say no and get labeled. Has anyone said no to this? What words did you use, and what happened after?

The conversation

1 reply
  1. Reese with a preceptor storyRN, had two preceptors, learned from both

    Said no at week ten and nothing happened. That's the boring answer, and it's the one I wish somebody had given me.

    What made it easy was naming a thing instead of a feeling. I said I'd carried a full assignment twice, both on days, and I wanted two nights at full load with somebody beside me before I signed off. That's a thing a manager can say yes to. A general ask for more weeks is the one that gets heard as struggling.

What would you tell them?

Answer from what you have seen. It posts without your name.

A person reads every answer before it appears — usually within a few days.

Ask Mira

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