New Job - Office RN (worried)

[CarolLoriRN]

Hi,

I am a new RN and accepted an offer working in an office. The hours, location, pay, etc. will all be perfect for me. I'll be starting in a few weeks. This is a clinic affiliated with a large acute care hospital.

I'm starting to worry, though, because all of my training has been focused on hospital nursing. I haven't been trained in office nursing. I'm worried I'll be expected to know everything since I am a Registered Nurse but I really feel like I know very little about working in an office. Hopefully they will give me a good amount of orientation time.

Any input? I graduated in the top 5 of my class and received several academic and clinical awards in school. Just low confidence right now.

Thanks!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Welcome!

I will mention this respectfully: no one in the workplace cares about your graduation ranking or school awards. Do not mention these accolades to coworkers.

No one, other than unreasonable people, would ever expect an inexperienced new grad RN to know much about the job. It is generally expected that your first nursing job will present a steep learning curve with challenges.

Good luck to you!

[cleback]

Agreed with the previous TheCommuter. No one will expect you to know everything as a new grad. As long as you did not exaggerate your abilities or past experiences in the hiring process, you will be just like any other new grad starting out. One question, though-- do you really not know your orientation length? That is important and something that should have been negotiated at the time of accepting an offer. Although it's difficult to know how much time you'll need being new, you should feel OK with their plan. The important part would be that they have a training plan for you.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Agree with Commuter not to mention your graduation ranking or school awards.

Disagree that only unreasonable people will expect you to know much about the job.

A new grad was hired for this position for a reason. You need to find that out. The fact that you don't know how long your orientation will be, sends up red flags.

[Skips, MSN, RN]

Clinic nursing is a different kind of busy than acute care. Be prepared to be on your feet and get ready to practice lots of multitasking!

The main thing is to work on being efficient with your time, learning the policies, and making sure you learn the flow of the office. You will get into a routine that works. I worked at a clinic for awhile, and each clinic has a different flow and setup. You will probably eventually learn to do phone triage, too! Enjoy the learning. Hopefully you will get orientation as long as you need. My clinic was pretty laid back about orientation time. When I felt ready, I was on my own.

[CarolLoriRN]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful comments! :)

I guess I'm a little worried because most of the skills I learned in school aren't used in an office setting. So I guess a lot of what I need to know will have to be learned on the job. Makes me a little nervous but excited too!

[featherzRN, MSN]

Learn to love doing earwashes and phone triage!! :) (Did hospital nursing, then office nursing for years and those were the two skills I knew almost nothing about when I started)..

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

Actually, you will use many of the skills you learned in nursing school, listening, assessments, critical thinking, learning what looks sick and not sick, changes in color, breathing pattern, vital sign assessments, even if you are not taking the vital signs, you will need to look at them and be able to provide recommendations to LIPs. It sounds exciting.

[HazelnutCream]

Also, may be late for this to be helpful for you, but might help others: always a good idea to ask about the orientation and training provided, especially for a first nursing job. Depending on the level of technical skill required in the position and new equipment & EMR systems to learn, these can vary drastically, so it helps to know what you can expect of your orientation. (Better to ask this in your interview process, but you can and should certainly still ask this when you get started in your position). Good questions to ask include length of orientation, how much classroom vs paired with someone on the floor, will you have a consistent preceptor or will multiple ppl train you, how will you be evaluated during orientation.

Best of luck in your new position!

[bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN]

Ear washes, phone triage, EKG, prior authorizations with insurance companies, referrals, med refills per protocol, lot of injections depending on the specialty, supervising unlicensed staff (CMA and CNAs).

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Moved to the First Year After Nursing Licensure forum for more replies.

[CarolLoriRN]

Wow! So much help from everyone! Thanks so much, this is so helpful :)