What the heck have I gotten myself into??

Nurses New Nurse

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I know pretty much 99.9% of nurses feel the way I do right now when they first graduate...

Overwhelmed, stressed, discouraged, surprised by the sudden change of roles from student to grad nurse. Wondering, did the university made a mistake in passing me. lol Maybe I should give my degree back? I'm asking too many questions while at work - I should know how all this works by now.

Some staff are supportive, some not so much. I did my preceptorship on a cardiac unit (where I've always wanted to be) and have been lucky enough to get a job there. Full time pretty much right off the bat - which I was told could be overwhelming and it certainly is. Nothing I can't handle but some days I just go home very down on myself, wondering if I made the wrong choice to be a nurse.

It does get better right? I hear the first year is the hardest. It's so hard to come home and not worry about "oh crap, I hope I mentioned this in report" or "should I have started that pre-op checklist already?" or "was that strip really such-and-such?"

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Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.

Lol....give back your degree?

No way that is yours for life! You earned it! It gets better with time I promise.?

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Specializes in MDS/ UR.

It does.

One day you will breeze through most everything and realize that.

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I felt like the majority of my learning has happened on the job and I'm only 6 mo this in. The pieces I learned in school are slowly starting to fit together.

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It gets MUCH better, although there will always be tough days here and there. I've heard it takes two years to feel OK and seven years to feel pretty competent. The two year part turned out to be true for me, but I haven't gotten to the seven year mark, yet.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Rehab.

It does get better and you'll remember this feeling and be supportive to other newbies. There will always be tough days but sometimes I look back on my shift and think "wow I can't believe I did all that!"

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Specializes in PICU.

The best advice I've ever gotten was from my unit educator who told me to focus on what I do know instead of what I don't know. It is a simple change in your thinking that can make a huge difference in your confidence. When you come across something that you don't know, instead of thinking of all of the things you don't know about that it could be, think about what you do know associated with it, so you can rule those out. It will also help you ask more intelligent questions. For example, if your patient is suddenly bradycardic and you don't know why, eliminate what you do know first. Is it because they're cold? Vagal response? Sedation? Then when you go ask your charge nurse instead of just saying my patient's bradycardic and I don't know why, you can say "My patient is bradycardic and it isn't due to X, Y and Z, what else do you think it could be from?"

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Specializes in Med-Surge, Tele, PCU, CVICU, NSICU.

definitely a good 6-12 months to become comfortable with the job and with yourself as a "real nurse". Nowadays I just breeze through report and people tell me they've never had someone be so concise and so thorough in such a short amount of time ;-)

Congrats on graduation!

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Specializes in Hem/Onc/BMT.

It does get better!

I still have days when I feel unsure and down on myself, but I developed a trick:

Say, I acted stupidly, or I didn't know something I should have, or I make a mistake. Yes, it feels horrible but I tell myself, "I learned something important today. This will only make me a better nurse, not worse!"

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Specializes in medsurg, progressive care.

Whenever I feel like this I think back to the beginning of nursing school. As a freshman I thought "introduction to professional nursing" was sooo hard, I was so overwhelmed and there was so much information. Then I got to med/surg and realized whoa, intro was NOTHING, and I am the dumbest person on the face of the earth. And now here I am, having passed all those classes that made me feel stupid and worthless and holding my shiny BSN and RN license after graduating with honors.

You got this! It's just going to take time.

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I am feeling just like you. I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm hanging on tight to the fact that it will get better with time. We got through all the hurdles of nursing school, so we can do this too!

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It appears the more things change the more they stay the same. Just one week after graduation from nursing school in 1974 I was assigned as the permanent 3pm 11:30pm shift charge nurse for a 40 bed post op surgery unit. You guessed it -- I had not taken / passed Boards yet. Had it not been for a well experienced LPN named Carrie, the ultimate outcome for some of the patients on the unit would not have been positive. I knew I had volumes of information in my head but couldn't seem to put it all together or get all my ducks to stay in a row so the care I was providing actually made sense. Jumping from task to task, it seemed to me that I was accomplishing absolutely NOTHING! Obviously, the hospital should never have placed a new nursing grad in a charge nurse position - especially since I was not yet licensed as an RN. Please don't get discouraged. Cut yourself some slack and it will all come together over time. Do not hesitate to express feelings of being overwhelmed to your nursing supervisor. Additionally, seek assistance or input from other members of the nursing staff. No one expects you to know it all. In fact, none of us will ever know it all. All RNs are constantly in the process of learning. Chin up!

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