Keeping it all together

[RoyalNurse]

Hi everyone,

I posted here a few months ago, ready to quit this ICU stuff and go to Med-surg. Now I know I really want to stick it out, and am starting to like taking care of the critically ill patients!

The floor I work on has ICU, stepdown, and some telemetry patients. When I work with 1 or 2 ICU, I seem to have a better night/day, and am more organized, when the patients don't need to get out of bed three times a day, walk, take showers, ask for different food from the kitchen, need teaching, etc... (our techs are busy, or not there when I work).

When I have telemetry or stepdown patients, which is supposed to be an "easier" assignment, I have problems keeping everything together, and stuff seems to slip through the cracks. I forget things like guiacing (sp?) a stool, charting a fluid bolus I gave someone for hypotension, sometimes new meds (!) that someone just wrote (I usually end up giving them during my shift, sometimes they're late).

I seem to be making more and more mistakes, and am trying like mad to correct them as I recognize them, and evaluating why I made them, so it won't happen again, but , I'm getting so frustrated with myself. I think I just don't have the brain for this stuff. Anyone else ever think this way?

btw, my manager said I'm doing great, said I exceed some of the expectations they have for RN's (my annual review), I don't see how this could be, given the mistakes I've made. I think I'm barely achieving competency. Anyone else think they're doing a lot worse than what their managers tell them?

Thanks in advance for any replies! :redbeathe

[blood13]

I think a lot of people go through this. It takes mistakes to learn things....hopefully not critical mistakes:eek:. I heard that new nurses take a couple years+ to develop their rhythm. I start a new job soon in neuro and am a little freaked about it, but also realize that it will take time to get it. If your manager says you are doing great then believe him or her and keep doing what you're doing!

[NursKris82]

I think we all do this, especially those of us that are "over achievers" or "perfectionists" and expect ourselves to be Super Nurse upon receipt of our liscense in the mail!! LOL! I am definitely one of those.

One day I asked my nurse manager "Am I doing OK? I feel like this is so much to do? Am I doing allright?" (I was very overwhelmed and giving 150% and still struggling to keep up :scrm:) She told me that I was doing an excellent job, far more than she would have ever expected of me at this point and that when I was working the floor she felt secure knowing that I was running the floor!! OMG- I couldn't believe she said all that. :heartbeat That's the kind of stuff that when you hear helps you to keep going and pushing and reminds you of how far you've come.

[RNcDreams]

It's like you took the words right out of my mouth!

I'm approaching one year in the ER... my yearly eval was perfect, got the full raise....

and yet I always feel I am not doing as well as I should be.

Imagine how incredibly awesome we will be after 10 years!