Re: Need advice: I have bad anxiety before I go to work.
I was a new grad to the ICU also... I can totally relate. I remember praying in the shower getting ready for an "easy" assignment... I was so scared of making a mistake and looking like a fool, saying the wrong thing to a family member, or even worse- harming a patient. I can remember thinking-
how are they letting me take care of an actual patient?? But they did because I was ready and able- and so are you!
I can also remember going through a peroid(right around 9 months into my first year) thinking that I had made the wrong choice and kinda hating my job too. I wanted to have "jucier" assignments but I was still not confident in myself that I could handle it. I compaired myself to fellow new grads that started before or after me and wondered why they were chosen for a specific assignment and not me. I wondered if I had to prove myself. I wondered if the experienced nurses thought I asked too many questions or not enough. Did the docs take me seriously? I remember going through a phase where I thought screw this- and I started looking at the posting for floor and clinic positions. Then, I realized that ICU was what I really wanted to do- so I decided to tough it out. Well 14 years later..... I can't imagine working in any other area. I think, for me, it was gaining confidence and that takes time!
I think for new nurses in general it takes 1-1.5 years to get into a groove... and I think for
ICU new grads it is more like 2-3 years before they
really built that confidence. Hang in there.
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