New nurse orientation: No one told me it was this intense.

[CrazierThanYou]

I'm a brand new nurse. I just got hired for my first job and tomorrow will finish up my first week of orientation.

In nursing school, no one really told us anything about what its like for a new nurse on a new job. I guess I thought I would have some orientation and then I would go to the floor for some hands on learning with a preceptor.

No. I got my schedule today and I have months of classes with some working the floor in between. I was hired for weekends and I was expecting to work Friday thru Sunday and be home the rest of the week. I live 90 miles from where I'm working and I have an apartment for when I'm working. I didn't realize I would be working all week for months to begin with.

I'm super thankful to have this job as there are no jobs where I live. But I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and guilty about being away from my family so much. Also, I'm a country girl and I always have been. Now, I'm working in a city at a hospital that is probably the size of my entire town! I'm overwhelmed by the parking even! You are assigned a parking lot and you ride a shuttle to wherever you're going, assuming one shows up. Or you do a lot of walking and everywhere seems like its uphill. I feel like I'm at university again! I haven't even really BEEN in the mammoth hospital yet so I can only imagine what its going to be like trying to find my way around.

*sigh* Just feeling a little nervous, scared, and overwhelmed and wanted to vent a little about it.

[Bringonthenight]

Welcome to nursing.

The first year is the hardest. It'll get easier

[Lovelymo79]

Wait..so you had no idea what your orientation would be like, nor how you would be scheduled for the upcoming weeks? Sounds like some miscommunication somewhere...

[RNewbie]

Congrats in your job. I'm curious to know how long is your orientation, and how much is class time vs on the floor? As far as your schedule goes, you may have a different schedule during orientation due to your preceptor's schedule. Sometimes important info like this can slip through the cracks.