To Throw in the Towel or Not?- Opinions Please!

Don't quit. Seek out professional nurses with more experience and ask if they would mind being a reference person for you. Let staff members know you need more practice with X and to please call you when that task becomes available so that you can do it. You WILL fail at some things. It is a given. We all did and sometimes we still do. Don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone has to start somewhere. I was very lucky. When I was a senior in nursing school I worked part time as a CNA in a very large hospital in the Texas Medical Center and I rotated to all areas of the hospital including the critical care areas. I reached out to the charge nurses of these areas and they allowed me to do a lot of things, even pass meds with them supervising me during the med pass. This is how I learned to give IM injections. I took care of ICU patients of the charge nurse who had other duties. It really helped me. But the key was that I was VERY assertive with letting people know what I needed to learn and they would help me find those learning opportunities. If you will use that same tactic, I am sure that others will support you. Good luck.

I hated clinical, felt totally incompetent in my first job and used to cry all the way to work and all the way home during my second. I was convinced that nursing wasn't for me, and couldn't wait to get some financial stability so I could finally get out of nursing. My opportunity came, and I went to graduate school and got an MBA. Then guess what? I realized that I liked nursing after all and didn't WANT to sit in some office Monday through Friday 9-5! I wanted to be a nurse. That came as a true surprise to me! I think what made the difference was that when I was in graduate school, nursing became what I did, not who I was. I was focused on school, went in, did my job and went home and studied.

As long as I have plenty of other things going on in my life, I like my job. It's when I get focused on the job to the exclusion of the rest of my life that I find myself hating nursing and wanting out. In retrospect, I've had a pretty nice life working weekends and playing during the week. I wouldn't change a thing.

RubyVee, you're pretty smart! I'm just figuring this out now after "being a nurse" for 2 years. I took an acrylic painting class last month, and I couldn't believe how much better this made me feel. I think it's actually a good idea to get a part time job that a "nurse" would never think of doing: dog walking, floral arrangement, gift wrapping for a department store, etc...

Hey there! I totally understand how you feel. I struggled through nursing school not academically but emotionally. I was always stressed during clinicals and became depressed during school. Let me tell you that it didn't get any easier for me as a RN. I still feel anxious coming to work. Mostly it's because of difficult patients, difficult family members and staffing issues. I'm still trying to find my nitch after 2 years but I am determined. Good luck!

Well, I am currently a 16 year LPN (which is actually a nurse and not a precursor to being a nurse...common mistake of new grad RN's who actually think there is a difference other than pay scale). I never wanted to be a nurse at all, and was sure i would absolutely hate it. Until my first day of actual clinicals. Of course i was anxious and scared to death. We all were. (and if you werent scared you were going to hurt someone, quite frankly, i would put you in the category of dangerous...blind self confidence kills). BUT, i ended up really liking it. Clinicals DO NOT get you ready for the real world of nursing in any way, shape or form. When you get on the floor under your own license, you just really have to grab onto someone who's been there for a while and knows the ropes. I've worked in Med / surg, BHU, ICU, ER and OH. Each area was completely different, and i felt like a complete moron for a minimum of 6 months. I was sure i had made a mistake in transferring. The more you learn, the more confident you'll feel. When you come across something new, ask questions, go home and research it. There will always be a list of things that you remember on the way home, or as you're falling asleep that you didnt get a chance to do or had planned to do, but ended up forgetting. You cant be everything to everyone at all times. Ask for help if you need it, write yourself notes. Make a list of priorities at the beginning of your shift. Make general list of MUST DO things and check, check and re-check to make sure those things are done. Which ones can you safely delegate if youre getting behind? Delegate to people you think you can trust to get them done. Dont be a micro-manager, but check to be sure that they were ACTUALLY done. Its not that you dont trust them, but it is YOUR licence, not theirs and youre ultimately responsible.
Llike i said, if you were completely confident just coming out of school, then you would be a dangerous nurse. The fact that youre scared and unsure of yourself is a good thing. It means you are ok with questioning and have actually taken into consideration the gravity of the profession you have chosen. Those are the kind of nurses that learn the most and are the safest. Your friends that came out knowing it all, have probably already made LOADS of mistakes. Hopefully, they were small (if there is such a thing), and didnt seriously hurt someone. And at some point, you WILL make a mistake. But yours will be a long time coming if you remain on the cautious side. Good luck.

it gets better once you're out of the fishbowl.