Stress and anxiety

Nurses Stress 101

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I've been a nurse for just under a year and worked at 2 facilities. My first job was great! Then hospital put patients first..it wasnt all about money. The values they held up were actually carried out and it made for a pleasant work environment. I had an excellent orientation period and my coworkers were fantastic about helping me learn the ropes and we all worked well together as a team, helping each other out when things got crazy.

My second job was awful. A rehab-nursing home facility where it was clearly all about money...the administration could care less about patients so long as they could avoid lawsuits. I was given 20-25 patients as a norm. I spent my shift passing pills, then staying after for hours to finish dressing changes and charting and other various tasks. My 8 hour shifts often became 12s. I felt I barely had time to do more than smile and greet my patients as I handed them their pills and I hated that. And in spite of that, many of the patients told me I was the best and most thorough nurse there. It makes me cringe to think of what they must have experienced on a daily basis from the other nurses. I would come home to my husband almost every night and cry from being stressed and frustrated with work.

I'm a hard worker. I'm not slow, I'm not lazy, and I will give my patients nothing less than my best. I asked my coworkers if there was any way for me to improve and finish my tasks more quickly? if there was anything I was doing wrong? My answer was that administration knew the assignments we were given were impossible and that I needed to "quit caring so much" because I would never get everything done - it was just how things were. It was meant to be helpful...but it wasn't an acceptable answer for me. I resigned shortly after that.

I'm a brand new nurse and I'm already burning out. Even though my first job was wonderful, I lived under the constant weight of worries: what if I make a mistake? A med error? Forgetting to do something for one of my patients? Missing a sign of potential problems? What if I make a mistake and one of my patients is hurt because of it? And in the second job, it was worse, the patients weren't high acuity, but it made me realize that there are employers out there who don't care, they don't care about patients, or staff or integrity, they care about filling their pockets and staying out of legal trouble. And if I end up working for another place like that, where we are understaffed and expected to do impossible work loads I know the mistakes I worry about making are just a matter of time.

My husband and i agreed that it would be good to take a few months off after my second job experience but now I need to get back to nursing...and every time I think about hitting the floor again my heart starts racing and I feel sick to my stomach because of anxiety. I know I need to just suck it up...but anyone have tips or words of wisdom on dealing with this?

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Working in a facility can be rather challenging. I too work in a facility and it can become quite stressful. However, I love working facility. I do understand you have many concerns and are a very caring nurse. This is just a question, have you ever tried home care? It's just a thought. I also work in client's homes as well. In fact, I wirk with pediatric clients and I love it. I usually wirk 8 or 12 hr shifts. Home care is very flexible. You can work 2 hours or 16 hrs. It's much slower paced, you only work with 1 client at a time usually. You can give excellent care without feeling guilty about the othe 20+ patients. You seem very caring. Just thought I'd offer another option. Good luck and best wishes to you!:yes:

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

The first year of nursing is HARD. It's just HARD. If you are prone to anxiety,

it's ten times HARDER.

You sound like someone who will be an excellent nurse, but you have to get

through that first year or two, and then from there I promise you, things

will get easier.

Did you quit that first job? Sounds like you were in a good place. Can you

go back to it?

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I moved away because of my husband's job and we aren't moving back :(

Thank you so much for the encouragement though...it helps to hear that.

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It's kind of nice to hear this... I'm in my first year of nursing, very prone to anxiety, and im having a difficult time adjusting

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