[Anagray]

Hello everyone and congrats on finally making it into the real world of nursing!

I just wanted to give some reassurance to those new nurses who may be having a REALLY hard time adjusting to the floor and to all the things that come with it.
I truly belive that eventuallly things work out and nursing becomes easier in a sense that eventually you will know what to do, how to do it well and how to do it fast.

I graduated from Nursing shool with honors, even though I had a baby while in school, all the while working at the hospital, running a home business and taking care of my 4 year old. It thought I would be fine - I even passed my boards in 45 minutes without any trouble at all.

However, my first 6 months on the floor were a COMPLETE disaster. I made several med errors, I was staying 2 hrs past my shift to finish paperwork and my planning of care was truly horrible. The only thing that saved me I think was the fact that I have great intuition and my patients were safe pretty much. (except for the time when my CVA fell out of her chair and a chest x-ray didn't get done after a central line was placed and used without placement verification )

At times, I wondered whether I was in the right place - my boss was not happy with me - in feedback meetings I felt torn to shreds with criticism- and my coworkers didn't really trust me. It was a really hard thing to handle, but I had to stick it out.

But something happened at the end of my 6th month - suddenly I started improving, maybe because I wanted to do it so badly. Now, 1 year after I started, I am a true member of the team and my book-knowlege finally came together with experience I gained and I am proud to say that I made a REALLY good nurse.

so, don't give up and keep plugging away. You will do it!

[RITA2007]

Ana-

I wanted to say thank you for your post. I am a brand new RN on an ortho/neuro floor. My orientation is about to end and I'm freaked! I'm very nervous that I will totally screw something up and be embarassed. I have to face the fact that I WILL make mistakes and probably stay late a lot of times. I try to stay an hour ahead and find that I only run an hour behind! lol j/k Thanks for your encouraging words. I hope that I can say the same thing in 9 months!

[RNSacht]

What an uplifting post!!!!!!!!!!! Im quickly approaching the 6 month mark and I am starting to panic. I just got written up because while discharing my patient took her tele monitor off, threw it in the bed and the housekeeping staff threw it away. I sure hope it all comes together and my patients stay safe and I will be able to handle any changing situation. Thank you again.

[smilin_gp]

Originally Posted by FLKatieRN

Ana-

I wanted to say thank you for your post. I am a brand new RN on an ortho/neuro floor. My orientation is about to end and I'm freaked! I'm very nervous that I will totally screw something up and be embarassed. I have to face the fact that I WILL make mistakes and probably stay late a lot of times. I try to stay an hour ahead and find that I only run an hour behind! lol j/k Thanks for your encouraging words. I hope that I can say the same thing in 9 months!

Except for ortho/neuro, these could be my words exactly. On my own in a little over a week . . yikes! Fortunately not completely on my own, because the nurses on my unit are very helpful. To the OP, thanks for the post! It's good to be reminded that I'm not the only one having a busy/crazy time, and that eventually it will calm down a little.

[beckabeckahi]

Thanks for your honesty and words of support!!!!!!!!!

[kathi9]

Such an inspiring story. I quit my job because I was so overwhelmed and thought I'd made a bad career decision. Now I am thinking about trying again. So few nurses are willing to admit that they had to learn and struggle at first. The ones I worked with never did. And they made me feel so stupid that I was afraid I'd make a mistake and harm someone.

I wish things weren't always so rushed and understaffed so that new nurses could develop some self confidence along with her duties.....

Peace,

Kathi9

[cardiacRN2006]

Great post!
It's hard not to beat ourselves up over all the mistakes we make when we are new! It's nice to know that my fears are not unique and that I will survive this!