New GPN needs advice

Well, first of all, take a deep breath and relax. It is normal to feel the way you do. My first LPN job (mind you this was more than 10 years ago) was a charge nurse on 3-11 with CNAs of my own age and 36 residents to care for. My length of orientation was similar to yours. The sad fact is that MOST nursing homes are too short of help to allow a long orientation period. Anyway, I remember many evenings in the beginning when I would be there 2-3 hours after my shift to finish charting, so you are not alone. I would venture to say that this is typical and actually, give yourself some credit. At least you are willing to do the job right, there are some that would just leave. No matter where you work, it is going to take you some time to get your routine down. If I were you, I would just hang in there and try your best. My bet is that you'll be just fine in a matter of weeks. Just another word of advice, don't wait too long to take your state board test. I understand about the financial issue, but seriously, the longer you wait, the more time there is to forget what you have learned. If you MUST wait, be sure to continue taking practice exams. There is a thread on here that has some great advice to new LPNs, if you haven't already read it. Never do anything you are not sure of, or feel uncomfortable with. Get another nurse to either show you or precept you through it. Trust me, even though I am an RN working in ICU now, I and my fellow coworkers don't and never will know everything and we rely on each other for clinical decision making every day. Chin up, good luck. You will make it!

I want to echo that you should not take long to take the NCLEX. In fact, one of my professors told me that she really doesn't advise it (but understands that people have financial situations that must be addressed), because we pick up the bad habits of the real world, thus increasing the chance of selecting a bad answer for NCLEX based on life experience rather than what they want to hear.

I do understand, though, the money situation and that at least, you are putting yourself out there. As suggested, continue to do practice questions and read your text or comprehensive review books. Good luck!

Don't feel bad. I have been a nurse exactly 2 months 4 days and work on a skilled unit. I have 3 tube feeds, several breathing treatments, countless accuchecks, insulins, trach care, the whole works. There is not a day that goes by I'm not at least a little worried about how I am doing and wonder if I'm making the right decisions or what-have-I-gotten-myself-into, but I, and the residents, survive each shift. (Well, the ones that are expected to, anyway). And with each shift I learn a little more, gain a little more confidence, and can sleep a little better. It does get better, so hang in there. Also, I graduated in July '07 and didn't test until Nov '07. What helped me pass was remembering what I was taught. I would do things the "real world" way I was taught at work, but think about what the "NCLEX way" of doing things was at the same time. From what I understand, most facilities idea of training is what you do on the floor. Just trust you're gut and never hesitate to ask someone if you're not sure about something. Even if that means waking up the on-call person. Remember: Your residents are far more important that someone's sleep. They'll get over it, and your residents will thank you for it.