[RunnerLuvLisa]

Sorry just kinda venting...
I think I can pretty much say I am terrified to be a nurse. No, not to be a nurse, but I have some worries:
1. I am the type of person that would take the "abuse" of new nurses hard. The politics etc... It tears me up when people act in a negative way towards me.
2. How can I possibly feel that I will know enough? feel professional?
3. I am a homecare worker in group homes for individuals with MRDD, so I have MAR/documentation experience... but med errors are big deals, and you have so many patients to deal with.
4. I am in college, but I don't really feel like a grown up... lol
5. I hate the feeling you have with a new job when you havent gotten into the swing of things... it takes time and there is always so much to learn on your own on how everything runs. BUT once you FEEL like you are in the nich of a job, it a great feeling.

I don't know, maybe I just need confidence.

AND I decided to take Organic Chemistry in A 5 WEEK SUMMER SESSION.
Oh save me.

Lisa

[TEAS test]

Hey Lisa,
I worked in group homes too.. good news is most hospitals are computerized. You have to go through a process before giving the med-it's way different than GH's. And you will have alot of clinical experience before actually getting a job and you can also work as a student nurse.

[RunnerLuvLisa]

Yeah... its just an overwhelming thought... lol
Thanks for the assurance!

It freaked me out a teeny bit... one of the forums here, I dont remember which.. was full of complaints on how it is so hard and so many wanted to quit within their first year and hated it.

[fultzymom]

I would venture to say that all new nurses are scared. All wonder if they will know what is going on. Confidence comes with experience. I remember when I started working my first day off of orientation. I could believe that they were letting me work by myself et be in charge. It is very scarry! As for letting people treat you badly because you are the new nurse, just know that you do not deserve to be treated like that. You went to school et know what you are doing. It just takes experience. Good luck!

[roxxy3773]

Girl, I am completely in the same boat!! I have also worked in group homes, I remember when I first started I was really nervous and it felt overwhelming, but I ended up managing two of the homes before I moved, I never would have thought I would get to that point on my first day of work! There is always a learning curve with anything.
As far as not feeling prepared, I think that is the standard feeling for most fields when you first get out of school. I remember expressing this to my dad when I got out of school the first time (he was a doctor), and him alleviating my fears a bit by saying that nobody really does, and he too didn't feel prepared when he got out of school (This was crazy to me because all I could see was he had always been a wealth of knowledge and a great doctor that everyone loved, but I neglected to realize that he had been in practice 40 years, it didn't happen overnight!)
That all being said...I am still most definitely terrified!
I also just want to get to the point where I feel I am competent and I don't feel like I am scrambling to keep my head above water, but I guess that will come in time. It is scary to start something new and start at the bottom and have to learn everything...it is especially scary to realize the responsibility and the scary patient loads that people talk about on here. And when you hear that it takes years to actually be pretty good...that is kind of daunting! I think it has been a little more real and scary for me since I was accepted into a nursing program. Don't get me wrong, I am SOOO excited, but still it is scary for me.
I am a little afraid of the mean nurses I have heard of too, the yelling doctors, etc. Hopefully I don't cry!! I have a tendency to do that when someone yells at me and I hate that! (and here I am thinking of coming into the army as a nurse eventually...ha, I have to get thicker skin I think!) Hopefully I will get over that.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I am terrified as well, and I can really relate to your fears. I am so excited about getting into nursing, and most things I know I can handle, but there are some mental and emotional things that I am nervous about at this point!
Good luck Lisa, hopefully we both get over our little issues!

[RunnerLuvLisa]

OH MY!! SOMEONE JUST LIKE ME!

I feel pretty comfortable in my group home now. I love that feeling. Those are definantly just things that everyone deals with. And I have definantly been at a job with a horrible boss, it seriously just eats away at you! I hope that we both can toughen up our skins and be confident, educated nurses! Good Luck to you too!