Stupid or Just Nerves??

BadBird, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2002

It is a overwhelming responsibility taking care of another human life. I think nerves are your problem, with more experience you will automatically know what to do, remember none of us were born with a stethescope around our necks, the best nurses were new once and had to learn just like you. The fact that you recognize your weakness is important, you will learn and grow from there, hang in there.

live4today, RN · Aug 30, 2002

(((((((Shevalove))))))) We have all had our "shaking in our nursing shoes" jitters when first out of school and on our first nursing job, so you are always in good company around other nurses who are not afraid to share their nervous jitters with you about when they first began as a new nurse in the field. In time, things should get better for you. :kiss

Just relax, and breath in and out slowly as you tell yourself...I'm doing fine...I may be new....but I know the basics about patient care; therefore I will trust in what I know to apply to each patient, and when I am unsure of myself, I can always turn to a more experienced nurse for help.....like my preceptor, so I'm okay....everything else will be okay. :)

hapeewendy · Aug 30, 2002

its nerves

experienced by most people who are damn good nurses even.

when you go from the scholastic ,everything by the textbook,structured classroom , to the outside, unpredictable, chaotic experiences of a med surg unit there is going to have to be an adjustment phase.

the neat thing about mistakes,is that looking back, you can realize why you made the mistake and there is a nice little spot in your brain that logs all these mistakes which helps prevent them from happening over and over again.

Kinda like when you date the wrong person , you in retrospect you realize that you shouldnt have dated them but at the time there was just too much going on for you to conciously realize it, but I'll be damned sure that his/her name is logged in the good old subconcious somewhere right?

its very hard for new grads to instantly function perfectly when they finally realize that this is it,you are responsible for the wellbeing and care for your patients. forget about new grads functioning perfectly, no one functions perfectly!

prioritize, when something freaky happens of course youre gonna get all bugged out , just try to temporarily focus on the task at hand - ie calling the MD , checking vitals etc

try to get a feel for someone on your unit who is patient and experienced and get some tips from them or just watch how they handle situations.

do not , I repeat do not call yourself a moron and wonder if you are incompetant

how many morons do you know who reflect on mistakes they've made or tried to better their nursing practice? and how many incompetent people try to improve their skills and efficiency?

none right? that makes you neither incompetant or a moron!

Shevalove · Aug 30, 2002

Thank you guys so much. You do make me feel so much better. I know it's not supposed to be "Easy" by any means..I just do feel so clueless at times. I guess I will feel more secure as time goes on.

nimbex, RN · Aug 30, 2002

yes, nerves....

the only day you will ever need to worry about yourself and your skills...

is when you think you have learned it all

until that day... look back over each of your shifts and recognise one good thing you have improved on and one thing to focus on your next shift. just 1, workable goal to acheive next shift worked.

then you can look back and see progress and focus on the positive that you do....

hugs from someone who's been there and still has nerves after 7 years.

live4today, RN · Aug 30, 2002

Originally posted by Shevalove
Thank you guys so much. You do make me feel so much better. I know it's not supposed to be "Easy" by any means..I just do feel so clueless at times. I guess I will feel more secure as time goes on.

You will, hon...you will! Trust yourself! Nursing school does NOT graduate students who did NOT successfully pass the program, nor does the NCLEX hand out nursing licenses to those who didn't earn them by successfully passing the exam. So....Shevalove....you've successfully graduated nursing school, and succesfully passed the NCLEX, and were awarded a professional nursing license to practice nursing. All great accomplishments, I might add. :kiss Keep the faith...before you know it, you'll be sharing this same advice with a new grad down this road of life we live who YOU may be the Preceptor of. Now.....how about that! :nurse: :balloons: