I need advice

Nurses LPN/LVN

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Hey everybody, I just joined on here..I read a couple of these threads and they seem comforting. I am here because I feel like I need advice from someone with more nursing experience than I have. I recently received my lvn nursing license in May. I haven't worked as a nurse yet. All throughout nursing school I just felt like I never had enough time to really soak in the material I read. Of course I learned a lot but I don't feel like it's enough. I've had my life planned out since middle school...I became a CNA after highschool and worked in a rehabilitation center and nursing home. Now that I'm here, and I can actually get a job as an LVN, I find myself too scared to try. I did go and apply to two places but they both weren't hiring...that was a month ago. I feel like the longer I wait..the more material I've learned in nursing school is escaping my mind...and I put up my defense mechanism of withdrawing from reality and staying at home just living day by day doing nothing other than binge eating, stressing, and losing a lot of my hair. I want to be a nurse, I've always wanted to..but I'm scared. You know, what if I mess up my first job so badly and lose my license? I'm especially concerned for my parents, they are aged and I have to take care of them. I am just 22, I will be 23 in 9 days. I just never imagined my life would turn out like this. I'm scared ********...if you have any advice please tell me. Thank you for reading.

Specializes in NICU.

Let me just say, I would not want to work with a new nurse who is not afraid. A healthy dose of fear makes us careful. I can honestly say, I didn't learn how to really be a nurse until after I graduated and started working. Just try to find a job that will give you a good orientation. Search for mentors and people who you can go to, when you have a question. Then ask, ask, ask (my pastor says to, "make an ASK out of yourself" :-) ). Whenever a procedure you have not attempted before comes up, ask if you can do it under supervision.

I was your age when I started and was scared to death as well. You can do it, don't give up on nursing!

Being too scared to try is a red flag, along with binge eating, losing your hair, etc.

It appears even though you have earned the licensure... you are NOT able to apply your knowledge or skills.

You need counseling before you will be able to do so.

I fear the work environment will push you over your edge. It's brutal out here.

Good luck.

i'm in the exact same boat. i'm totally terrified. i actually got a phone call today for an interview next week at a neuro-rehab unit & i'm so excited, yet completely nervous (that's if i get the job). but when you look for jobs, ask how long the orientation will be. i remember my program director telling us places orientate up to 3 months! that sort of eases my anxiety. but don't stop looking. just fill out the applications/send out resumes, BREATHE, & hope for phone calls for a job!

What if you do mess up your first job and lose your license? What if you don't? What if you go to work and feel in over your head a lot of the time, make a few minor mistakes in which nobody is harmed and you learn and improve, and after your first year, you finally feel like you're getting your legs under you and maybe, just maybe, you can do this? What if you stick with it and end up being one of those nurses that everybody goes to with their questions because you've been there/done that?

Think about the story you are telling yourself. You can change the story. You can tell yourself a different narrative. In the end, you will never know what you are capable of until you try.

Sometimes the first step is the scariest. But you won't go anywhere until you take that first step.

[COLOR=#003366]TeenyTinyBabyRN is right, as a new nurse its always scarry, but thats normal. Here are the things you need to really know (I'm newer to the RN world as well). If you have a question ASK, if someone belittles you for it they have the problem not you. Asking a question has never killed anyone, but not asking may.

Mistakes are going to be made but if you learn from them you will get to a point where you will feel confident in your job. Almost the vast majority of the time the mistakes will not result in an issue where your license can be called into question.

DOUBLE check those meds. In the hustle and bustle it can get easy to skip the steps that safe guard you, make it your priority to follow the guildlines. I always run through the list quick and then double check myself. Even working in the ER I check again, the doc orders something stat, I call out the order just before pushing to verify thats what he wants pushed.

These are my opinions, some may disagree but I feel that this has helped me. By the way that feeling will get better, your gonna realise that its just a slow process of learning all the steps. The ones that scare me are the ones that feel that they have learned everything already. EVERYONE should feel that they need to improve and have something to learn.

I remember having that fear...you are not alone. I have to tell you that I learned more in that first year on the job than I did in school. I was lucky to have supportive co-workers who encouraged me to ask questions and if I felt I was in over my head at any point I said so. The first step is the hardest, but in a year this fear will be a distant memory! You can do it!

I agree with many of the comments on here. I remember when I got my first nursing job I was pretty scared too. If you do your tasks slowly and carefully, double checking your work if you have to, you wont to anything to jeopardize your licence. Anyway my main point was that when I first started, I was anxious for a while. What helped me though is I worked at a teaching hospital with a good training program. All the book study in the world will not prepare you for the real world. That is just the way it is. You loose the nervousness, and gain confidence through experience. When I first started, I was stressed out a lot and was really slow. I was constantly encouraged to move quicker, and told I had to move faster. It was a struggle for a while I am not going to lie. However I knew I could do it and slowly it got easier and faster. The nurses who trained me were so proud and impressed with how much better and faster I had gotten with my tasks. Yes it is really hard, but nothing really worth it is ever easy in my opinion. You can do it! All it takes is a bit of a kick in the butt, and confidence :)

Have you decided OP?

Specializes in Med Surg.

From speaking to many many new nurses who have gone through orientation at their first jobs, I can tell you that nursing school really doesn't teach you much about how to be a nurse. It's just a foundation on which you can learn from your preceptor. What you have already learned from your experience working as a CNA plus the hands on experience you will get during orientation as a new nurse will be the things that really prepare you to practice independently.

even experience nurses have fear and concern in our everyday practice, its ok to make mistakes, that's how you become better, but don't make it a habit, you hurdle the first step, books are good, but its not the only reference you need, we're in computer world, medication, there's lexicomp, micromedex, the internet, your pharmacist etc. diseases, same thing, even the MD's using it and the patient look at it too before they ask questions. don't let fear go in front of you, its your life and its up to you how to handle things right, well not really, we just borrow it from above, everyday I pray to have a safe practice, and let Him decide what kind of day you'll gonna have. goodluck, hope you'll find a job soon.

Close your eyes. Breathe in focusing only on the movement of your diaphragm. Hold it. Now breathe out slowly feeling the air escape your lungs. Open your eyes. Take a couple seconds to collect your thoughts then get back to your life's calling of helping those in need. What if Florence Nightingale had felt the pressure and backed off? You don't know what you are capable of until you are faced with a challenge.

I felt the exact same way when I got my LPN license. My advice is get a job, and jump in to work! You'll learn a lot on the job anyway. Nobody knew it all the first day! Maybe try something in a clinic setting part time or PRN, until you feel comfortable. You made it through nursing school, and got your license! That says a lot already! If you can do that, you'll do great when you start working! Good luck... :)

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