I feel so dumb...

[Pam RN]

After working in the OR and taking call and all that for 5 years I took a break from the grind and then switched to office nursing in a surgeons office. I always felt like I was missing out on a lot of nursing knowledge and now I'm learning gobs at this job i.e. post op care, pre op evaluation, phone triage, etc. I love the hours, like the docs and most of the office staff, but when it comes to assessment I feel like....well, I just feel like I'm missing something. When it comes to phone triage I never seem to ask enough questions or the right questions at times. I don't know how long it takes to become proficient at this sort of thing but I don't feel like I'm doing a good job. I've been at the office for eight months. When I ask for assistance at times just to run the situation by one of the nurses it seems that I've missed asking many questions and I feel like a dope.:imbar

My office manager made the comment to me in reference to my multi-hinged tuperware lid for liquids that "boy, you really like your gadgets." Then it hit me that maybe that's why I was attracted to the OR in the first place. I loved working with and trouble shooting the equipment, using the surgical instruments, the surgeries, etc. In fact, I miss it at times. I felt like I fit in with the personalities of the OR better than the office. I don't miss getting to work at 6:30 in the morning or being paged in the middle of the night.

So, back to assessment and phone triage. How can I get a handle on this? Is there reference material for all these little details I obviously need to learn or do I belong back in the OR?

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

Despite the books a lot of assessment is experiential learning. Don't sell yourself short when it comes to assessment two heads are better than one and it is easy to say to someone - why didn't you look for ............. when you are looking at what they have already done than to do it all from scratch yourself.