Hang in there new Grads and New Nurses it does get better..I PROMISE..this is long

soo sorry to hear that. My biggest help in anatomy was getting a study group and just drilling the crap put of each other...it's just memorization. another thing is I made a binder of all the slides and pictures for my lab practicals and just kept going over them over and ove. Another thing is if you have a study group you can come up with some great anagrams and stuff..I mean we had some very dirty raunchy ones but I will always remember my cranial nerves to this day..just keep it up ..A&P is difficullt but just keep memorizing!!!! It will click. Ithink I bombed my first anatomy test too..and I SUCK at taking tests but just remember A&P is your roots..I use them every day I work. Good luck and if you need some pointers let me know..also don't read TOO much into your A&P text book..there's alot of WORDS..just ask questions, talk to your teacher and if you are disecting the cat it's the best learing tool. Hope ya nail the next one!

Hey guys just got my evaluation for the year, last year I was new so it was a prewritten evaluation..this year I got to score my self, self evaluation before my night shift Nurse Manager gave me what she evaluated about me. Well, let's just say that we use a scale of 1-5...I scored a ton of 4's and 3's on the evaluation from my Nurse Manager at night. She said she has never given so many 4's on an evaluation for a new nurse, meaning under 2 years exp. She also said she is trying to nominate me for a junior registered nurse of the year award.

She said that I have improved and excelled more then any other new nurse she has ever seen. She said that I still get frustrated with certain things, I made her name an example(s), she did, and then she also said that no matter how much exp. nurses have they still get frustrated with things. I also pointed out the situations in her examples and why I get so frustrated and no matter how much exp. you have as a nurse theses situations will make you frusrated, she agreed that I got and still do get heavy pt. loads but for a reason, and it may be intentional and unintentional, but she felt that challengeling me as a nurse with certain pt's makes me a better nurse.

She also told me that my patient relation skills are amazing, and my objective and subjective assessment is incredible.

I was floored that I scored 4's on my evaluation.

She also told me that my aggresiveness and advotacy for the pt with the MD's has changed our floor at night. She said, "you used to be timid with the MD's last year and in you eval from last year in january of 2008, you were telling me how hard itwas to talk and make a point across to the MD's b/c you had only been a nurse for 6 months at that time. BUT NOW you make sure some MD, will listen and if they don't you keep calling, no matter what time it is and who you wake up in the middle of the night. You have no fear of MD's yelling at you b/c you fire back at them and you make sure your pt. is taken care of no matter what.

She said that I am comming up on my second year of being an R.N. and she is very proud of me. She said that she's very proud of me...

After that eval. I got home in the morning and called my mom, my aunt(who is an ER nurse manager, and my mentor in nursing) and told them. My aunt was so happy, she said, "just keep excelling, and I can't believe you scored 4's on your eval. I am proud of you.." Comming from her that means the world to me....

So new grads you can do it! It takes alot of literal blood, sweat and tears but being a nurse is something we choose. And well it's a love/hate job, but those little moments change our lives!!