First Year As A Registered Nurse

bewbew · Oct 8, 2003

I am loving my grad year, but I am soooooo tired............. :zzzzz

I sometimes find it hard when I work with people who have been doing the job for 20 years, who expect you to know what they do, just because you're an RN now.....very unrealistic, but it seems to happen now and again.

I had some students today, and I always try to remember what it was like to be on clinicals, and try hard to help them. I hope when I hit the 20 year mark I haven't forgotten!

ainz · Oct 8, 2003

Frustrating but satisfying, challenging but rewarding, tiring, and an eye opener. The worst part of it was the way my fellow nurses treated me.

As everyone says, it gets better because you know how to handle things faster and easier.

I walked away from my first year with a solemn resolution not to treat other nurses, or student nurses, the way I was treated by my own kind.

Welcome to nursing, please do what you can to make it better, we need your help because it truly can be a great job.

Chrislynn2003 · Oct 8, 2003

I need a place to vent. I just started a perioperative internship a month ago (as a new grad) and today was my 1st clinical day at the hosp in the OR. I was nervous to begin with; I was to scrub in and observe and was allowed to do more if I wanted. I was having a fairly good morning, but my preceptor was being extremely rude to me. She was ok to me in the morning. But then I thought that i did something wrong b/c she started being mean to me. She told me she didn't have patience to be a preceptor and she told me that I shouldn't make her look bad b/c it's her name on the paper. I wanted to cry so hard, but fought back the tears and remained positive. I thanked her for showing me stuff and she never seemed to care. After she came back from lunch she moved my table and said that she couldn't work with it b/c it's not the way she sets it up. She stopped letting me pass instruments and sutures. She just took over and didn't say anything. I had no self esteem when I left and felt like I couldn't do anything right. I will have a preceptor for many months to come yet, but she acts like i have to do everything right and says that she will not hold my hand. My instructor (nurse manager) who I adore told me to let her know if I have any problems with her, so I am going to speak with her tomorrow. I just feel like i am not made out to be a nurse. Thanks for listening.

Christine

PSA, RN · Oct 8, 2003

Christine I am so sorry you had such a rough day.

sympathoadrenal · Oct 8, 2003

Christine-

Sorry to hear that your preceptor is so rude. Yes, you want to speak to your nurse manager. Don't waste your precious time with some people who have their emotional problem out of control. You deserve better orientation.

I am also a new grad. I know how hard it is to deal with people who want to eat their young. But, I also found that there are so many nice people out there. I believe our inner strength will attract those people and your positive attitude will eventually manifest itself in your environment. Good luck to your orientation and enjoy every moment of your time there!

nicudaynurse · Oct 10, 2003

Christine,

I'm sorry for the situation you're in. The way your preceptor is treating you is very unprofessional and uncalled for and it isn't fair to you. Please don't let your preceptor bring you down and make you have seconds thoughts about your ability to be a nurse. Her job is to encourage, support, and build you up as a new nurse.

I would definitely talk to the nurse manager and see what she has to say about the situation.

My first preceptor out of nursing school wasn't the best and he made it a harder for me to adjust to my new role as an RN. He was impatient and got frustrated easy. I have since precepted a few nurses and I am nothing but supportive and nice to them. Preceptor's need to realize how important they are to new nurses and how they influence their perceptions of nursing as a whole. Maybe she didn't want to be a preceptor in the first place.

Hang in there and I promise it will get better!!!!!!!!!!

Chrislynn2003 · Oct 11, 2003

Thanks for the encouragment everyone!

Christine

Brirn08 · Mar 16, 2009

This is my 3rd month working as a new nurse. I am working on a medical/monitoring unit that states they "cater to the new nurse" From the experience I have so far they may need to change their motto! Most days I feel completely overwhelmed and insufficient. I keep thinking back to what my instructor told me when I graduated. "you'll learn more in your first year of nursing then you ever did in nursing school" Well I am waiting... the most I have learned is that their is too much to be done with limited help, supplies, difficult computer charting system and staff with little or no compassion. Many days I feel more like an over paid waitress then an underpaid nurse. I fear I am loosing what basic knowledge I gained in school. Sure I get the occasional skill of IV, foley cath insertion and wound care... but there is so much more to know/learn. My time management skills are constantly challenged and most every day I feel I loose the battle of keeping up. I too get the occasional encouragement of "don't give up you will find your routine", but then see some of the other nurses struggle to just make it through a shift. I have yet to see the nurses on the floor appear happy about coming to work or mention they love what they do. I wonder is this normal... did I choose the wrong profession? What experience I have in healthcare did not lead me to believe nursing it like this! Am I just working in the wrong place? I am not a young grad (I am 38 years old, and this is my second career in health care- 1st being a lab tech) I do not want to turn into the "grumpy old nurse" who is unhappy with her job! That is not why I chose nursing! I want to stay true to who I am and make a difference in people's lives with compassion for what I do...

I pray almost daily that God will lead me in the direction I need to go, because I am not finding it on my own.

Any advice from my peers out there?

Thanks for letting me vent!