Re: New nurse OVERWHELMED
Things have been a lot better for me. The thing that was slowing me down the most was prioritization and just doing things faster with precision (ie starting IV's). Oh man, starting IV's slowed me down a lot. Now it is not as bad. I tend to forget easily what I have to do, so I need to have everything laid out in front of me before I begin my rounds. I use a time management sheet that has times written on the left hand side and I just fill in the blanks when I have to do something at that time. This has helped me a lot. There are things that happen all of a sudden (orders, pt conditions change) but then you just know that you have to do it and rearrange your schedule accordingly.
Life in the hospital has been a crazy one but slowly improving. I don't dread it as much. I do still have anxiety before I go to work, but I think that's normal for any new grad. What other nurses say is true, KEEP going and don't give up. I think a lot of new grads go through this "hump" where we just question everything and we're just at our breaking point; but if you keep at it and keep going for a little longer things start improving and you start seeing a change in yourself. I believe all those mistakes definitely served me good b/c now i know what not to do and what to do when things go wrong/standards. Hopefully, it'll keep getting better from here.
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! 
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Hang in there!
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