New nurse OVERWHELMED

[leapof faith]

Hi,

I am a new nurse that has been on my own for 1month. I feel incredibly overwhelmed! I pray before I go to work that I don't hurt/kill anyone or make any huge mistakes. I have so far made tons of mistakes. I've been losing sleep b/c I wake up in the middle of the night thinking "i could've done this better/I should've done that." I also feel like other nurses are upset/frustrated with me b/c when I forget or don't know that I'm suppose to do something they have to pick up what I didn't do. I FEEL TERRIBLE!!! I feel like crying everytime i come back from work. There's a fairly new nurse at my floor as well who is a nice person and i wound up getting her upset just the other day b/c i forgot to do something. aargh! i get so mad at myself. I do stay after a little longer to make sure that the next nurse doesn't have to do anything that I was suppose to do. everything has just been too much for me. I feel like quitting everyday i come back from work!!! it's too much! i emailed my manager yesterday if i could possibly be set up with a mentor. but still, i'm so sad. Nursing is something that i wanted to do for sooo long. I felt so happy when i passed nursing school and boards, and couldn't wait to start working. I heard that the transition might be difficult, but I didn't think it'd be this TOUGH!!! I have lost all confidence in myself and I don't like that at all. i feel so incompetent and useless. Just venting! thanks for listening! :)

[larniegrl]

When I read the OP thread, I thought it was me posting......my floor is too fast, too busy, not enough time to teach a new grad.....guess med surg isn't for me. I gave it my best. I like all the people I work with, but med surg literally ate my lunch.........talk about TOTALLY overwhelmed!!!

I DON'T think that med surg is for new grads, just my opinion, unless you are born an adrenaline junky. Too many new things to learn all at once and not enough time to learn it.

Med-Surg is TOTALLY for new grads. I was heading for the ICU straight out of school, and my mentor told me to get a few years of MS experience under my belt to learn time management, organization, and bed-side nursing. She was right. It took a year of "adrenaline", but I learned a HUGE amount.

After four years, I am still grateful for her. It was hard and my brain, more than once, felt like it would explode...but I learned more in 1 year working 7a-7p on a busy MS unit, than I would have in the ICU.

[Spoiled1, MSN, RN]

I too am overwhelmed and having some similar experiences. You can see from these posts you are not alone. I am trying to "tough it out" but often self-doubt and anxiety make me wonder if I'll make it through this first year. I wrote the following to try to calm my nerves before my shift.I hope it helps:

Prayer of an R.N. (Rookie Nurse)

Lord, I am a Rookie Nurse. As your servant, I begin this shift with the desire to do your work and care for my patients' needs in body, mind, and spirit.

Be with me today. Inspire my thinking and guide my hands; help me to set priorities and respond to competing demands in ways that will be of maximum benefit to my patients.

Give me humility and openness; allow me to learn from each person I come in contact with. Help me communicate your love and acceptance; let me embrace all of your needy souls with equanimity.

When I am overwhelmed and discouraged, lift me up and refocus my energies onto my patients. Steer me away from the pettiness, personalities, and politics that can distract me from your work.

I pray that more experienced colleagues, doctors and nurses, will remember the early days of their own careers and be generous with their knowledge and gentle with their criticism.

And when my rookie days are (finally) over, help me to maintain the ideals that led me to the noble profession of nursing as I endeavor to do your will.

Take care. Hugs from a fellow rookie. JD

This is a GREAT prayer, it should be made a sticky for future reference

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

This is common among new nurses--nursing school does not adequately prepare us for what a nightmare med-surg is--pill, pills, dementia, wounds, falls. The nicest jobs are in endo. outpatient, hospice, home health, or urgent care centers. Leave med-surg as soon as you find a less stressful position. I don't agree with some nurses who say you have to do your time first or hone your skills on med-surg. I've known plenty of exceptional, talented nurses who never set foot in any large hospital --and they are happy they didn't after hearing horror stories from their colleagues.

[Angel79]

I don't know if anyone is still reading this post but I'm a new nurse also and was let go. I have been working at a rural hospital in the town I went to school in.I have been working there for 3 months. I was a tech there for 1 month because I was waiting for my license. ( I have been a tech before, but not at that hospital) Within that 1 month time, I was often called off work due to low census. When I got my licensure as an RN my nurse manager came to the night shift and worked with us for 2weeks(me and two other new nurses), and then I was left on my own with 4 to 5 patients a night, praying that I did not get any more admissions. My charge nurse had about 5 patients themselves, no tech on the floor and no preceptor. This is a busy acute floor and it seemed like all through the night the ER would send these patients to our floor. I was told before I took the job that it was extremely hard and the nurse manager was not a good person to work for. I would often get overwhelmed with prioritizing, admissions would throw me extremely behind, I was getting better at passing my meds (at least I thought I was.) Every night when I came to work, the day shift nurses would be behind and its hard to fix the mess when you don't know where to start. I wish today I would have listened to the people who were trying to tell me not to take the job. My friend who started with me has already quit and moved to a new job(and its not in med-surg) The turn over rate is horrible, I was getting trained by nurses that have only been there for less than a year themselves. I feel disgusted, hurt, and sad. I cried almost everyday when I came home from work and feel like I have ulcers the size of baseballs in my stomach. I have never been fired from a job before, I feel like I let myself down and wonder if nursing is even for me anymore. I'm scared to apply to other hospitals in fear that the same thing will happen again. I don't know what to do now? any suggestions out there?

[nsue]

Wow I am sorry to hear about what you are going through! I just want you to know you are not alone.

I feel the same way. I am super stressed and afraid I'll make a mistake. I just don't have any confidence right now. Last night it was one thing after another all night long and I am sure there are things I forgot to do : ( I just don't want others to get upset with me for not doing something or not doing it right! I am sure the other nurses are convinced I am a complete idiot and that is pretty much my opinion of myself right now. Some days I wish I would have just stayed a CNA....life was simple then : (

I don't think there is anything we can do but try our best to learn the job. I know there are other new nurses who are confident and sure of themselves but maybe they aren't as good of nurses in the end because they don't think they have anything to learn.

I would be happy just to be an average nurse at this point. There is no way possible to be perfect. I just want to feel like I did what was right at the end of the day.

I think it will just take time. The more we learn and have experience the less overwhelmed we will be. I am also realizing that we need to act confident even though we are scared to death because we don't want others, especially the patients to pick up on it.

Hope it gets better soon!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

the first year of nursing is overwhelming. it sucks sometimes, and other times you're so excited that you just can't stand it. as you progress in your career, you'll have more of the latter and fewer of the former, but there's no way to get through the first year of nursing other than to just go through it. good luck.

[nsue]

Thanks Ruby

We newbies just need a little reassurance now and then! By the way do you think I can use my age as an excuse. I am in my 50's and think it makes it harder to learn. What do you think?:)

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

thanks ruby

we newbies just need a little reassurance now and then! by the way do you think i can use my age as an excuse. i am in my 50's and think it makes it harder to learn. what do you think?:)

i think there's already enough ageism in nursing.