Off orientation soon...stressing!!!!

[MiaRN32]

I just graduated in May of 2015. I passed my NCLEX and started applying for jobs ASAP! I landed one on a busy cardiac/telemetry unit. I'm on my last 3 weeks of orientation and I am freaking out. My first night shift alone is December 7th. I had 6 weeks of orientation on day shift with an awesome preceptor. It scares me to think I won't have a preceptor to rely on or catch my mistakes when I'm officially on my own. Now I am on nights (7pm-7am) for 4 weeks. I still feel SICK to my stomach the day before work, and CANNOT sleep!! I go into work and my anxiety is awful. I still feel like I know absolutely nothing... I did very well in school, but I feel like everything I learned in school, or thought I knew just vanished from my memory! I constantly feel like my co-workers are judging me, even though they have all been nice. I get nervous when the docs, nurses, family members etc ask me questions about the patient because I feel like I might give wrong information. Is this normal??? Does anyone have any words of wisdom or comfort???!! I just can't stand the stress this job is giving me, and how it's effecting my life outside of work. I want to feel excited to go to work, not like I want to throw up...

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

Once you have a few shifts on your own under your belt, your anxiety level will start to go down exponentially. I, also, graduated in May. I had 6 weeks orientation (4 weeks on days and 2 weeks on nights) and I've been on my own ever since. You need to remind yourself that you really do know what to do. And if there's a situation where you don't, that's where you speak with your charge nurse or an experienced nurse who's friendly and ask for assistance. You are only going to learn by jumping in there and doing it yourself.

I was pretty freaked out my first week when we were short-staffed and I had to have 7 patients all at once (we typically have 4). I kept saying "what have I gotten myself in to?" when the shift started. I sat down, took a deep breath, and started prioritizing what needed to be done. When you organize yourself by priorities, it makes it much easier to get through your shift and manage.

I use a "brain sheet" that also has a grid for keeping track of med passes. That way, I can see each hour if I have meds due, so I don't fall behind schedule. I try to get the important things done first. Use your delegation skills if there are things you just can't do in a timely manner. I will always ask my techs "can you assist me with changing & repositioning this patient?" Instead of just dumping it on them to do themselves. Doing it together makes the task get done quicker and my techs know that I'm willing to jump in and do whatever is necessary. I find that my techs really have my back when I need them because I'm willing to pitch in and help them.

Our charge nurses are usually great resources when we have questions. They're experienced, they know policy & procedure, they know when something isn't as serious as you think it is and they know when something is MORE serious than you think it is. My 3rd week on my own, I was worried my patient was going to tank, so I asked my charge if she'd come take a look. Sure enough, my gut instinct was right. We were in the process of calling Rapid Response when the patient started coding. So, I got my first Code Blue my 3rd week on my own.

It's amazing how much you will learn in a short span of time. Just keep reminding yourself to stay calm and that you WILL get through it and be a better nurse for it :)

Best of luck to you! Hang in there

[IHeartPeds87]

To the OP: I feel for you. I feel completely the same way. I have only had two weeks of orientation on days (and the first week was 2 shifts, so really, not so much) and then I had three weeks on nights and they wanted to take me off orientation. I requested more time, so they gave me another week. That week is this week...next week i'm on my own! I'm terrified as well.

Thanks for the advice of the poster above. To the OP: hang in there, we can do this!!!

[MiaRN32]

Thank you for the advice! Tomorrow is the big day! But hearing your words of encouragement and advice help my anxiety level go down. Hoping for the best :)

[NYNurse89]

You got this!