Do all nurses feel like this?

World UK

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Hi everyone, I qualified a year ago and have had a whirlwind experience of a year. I started working in a specialist ward and was told before starting I would have good support systems in place and would be appointed a preceptor to guide me. when I started work the reality of the situation hit home. I felt like I was left to sink or swim. I felt the massive change in role from student to staff nurse and my entire personality changed to allow me to be more assertive.I have also had more sleepless nights than I care to think about wondering if I could have done something better today or if I forgot any details to hand over. I have cried(in private) about the outcomes for some of my patients and continue to think about their families. I have also done this with very little support from my line manager and without a preceptor despite asking. I enjoy my work but I have had personal fails where I have forgotten or needed prompting on issues,none life threatening and most of which are paperwork.I find myself staying at least an hour after my shift has finished which is exhausting but I cannot seem to find a routine to encompass all aspects of care and ensure I don't miss anything. I question my capability to do this job all the time as I need prompting and regularly have to phone when I get home as I forgot to hand over something. The staff I work with expect me to be at their level but I don't have the training or the experience to do so and I am considering a career change. I suppose what I am asking in a long winded way is "is this normal or is a career change wiser?"I would greatly appreciate advice.

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

What your feeling is absolutely normal.

I've been nursing since 1988 and stoll need to phone the ward every once in a while to check I've done everything I should have or that a patient I'm concerned about is Ok

It sounds like your conscientious and caring

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

certainly agree with XB9S that you are just going through normal changes. I too even now after qualifying in 1988 have times when I think I have not done enough, ring because I can't remember doing something etc.

Thanks for caring because that is what you are doing

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Yep, I too qualified in the 80's and still occasionally call the department after I am home. You said you are in a specialist ward - this is added pressure. I work in A&E and I always tell new staff it will take 6 to 12 months to turn an experienced nurse into an A&E nurse. You have no experience to fall back on.

In short, yes it is normal and hopefully you will get better as experience kicks in. Wait until a new person starts, then you will see just how much you actually do know.

Good luck.

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Do you have any words of encouragement for a newly qualified nurse? It just feels so scary doesn't it. You don't want to mess up but sometimes it can happen and you end up beating yourself up. I think some preceptors are better than others but i've experienced that horrible feeling of nurses getting short tempered with you and either mutter at you or roll their eyes when you've dared to ask a question.

I think it can take time for any newly qualified irrespective of what ward they are on to actually feel good about themselves and sleep at night without having a full scale panic attack!!

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I feel the complete same way! I just started my first job out of school and I feel so overwhelmed, I only got 2 days of orientation and tonight is my first night alone :/ I'm pretty scared, but I'm sure I'll get comfortable in no time...at least I hope so! Haha

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2 days of orientation? That has to be a joke right?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
2 days of orientation? That has to be a joke right?

I suspect the member doesn't live in the UK

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Specializes in ICU, ER, OB, Hospice, House Sup, Float.

I think it's safe to say that a very good majority of us have had frustrating/scary new grad experiences at some point. My new grad experience was similar to many.

I was hired by the hospital that I had done my clinicals in. They hired 7 or 8 of us at the same time, pledged that they had come up with a great orientation, and that we would have preceptors throughout the whole process. The orientation was something like 2 weeks of classroom and then up to the floor...that's when things fell apart. When we hit the floor it was exceptionally busy. Our promised preceptors and exceptional orientation, turned into 1 day of, "your assignment is 3 patients, let me know if you have questions," followed by 1 day of, "we're really busy, let's fill out your skills checklist at the end of the day...tomorrow you're on your own!". Whoa! Wait! I'm what?!

I didn't like it, it wasn't ideal, but I did it, and ultimately I figured out that I knew a lot more than I thought. No matter how lost I felt sometimes, I knew that the basics could get me through those moments.

Here's the deal. If you haven't figured it out by now, you will soon...nursing school doesn't teach us how to be nurses. It ultimately teaches us how to pass our boards, and we pick up skills along the way. We learn to be nurses by having hands on experiences Living and breathing it, is why each and every one of us have completely different knowledge bases. Every single day you will learn something that will make you a better nurse.

Some nurses are great with new grads, others...not so much. Remember this...they all have things that you can learn from them. You also have things they can learn from.

The initial nervousness of being a newbie probably will show up again each time you start a new job for your entire career. THIS IS A GOOD THING!!! Being a little anxious or nervous makes us ultimately pay attention to details. We catch things, we learn more, we listen to our gut feelings. Those are things we always want to do...every single day...

I have a lot of times I call back when I get home to double check things. It isn't reserved for new grads. We all do it...it means we care...that's why we are nurses!

Welcome!

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Oh my god, university really doesn't teach you much at all and I didn't feel overly confident when I finished. Now I would like to know whether that is my fault that I didn't feel confident or I didn't take the lead enough or that my mentors were too protective and stepped in a lot but I didn't have that much involvement in making clinical decisions.

I also think some people CLEARLY shouldn't be preceptors as they need to sort their own attitudes out and believe me i've seen a lot and it ain't pretty.

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I used to wok in laboratories after doing a chemistry degree and changed to nursing and have now finished my first year of my degree training. I have the same problems as the original poster especially on a busy ward. I'm working as a band 2 HCA to help with my money situation as well (I can't get a student loan because of the previous degree).

In terms of changing career, you would need to think about how happy you would be in different environments. Is it just the ward you work on, the hospital you work in, or is it really the career?

Your struggles with getting all the paper work done and the related anxiety I feel a lot of too, but I have the added complication of having Attention Deficit Disorder and dyslexia. Think Dory the Fish from finding Nemo. I do have some work arounds that help, but I've found the more structured a ward is set up (and how well it keeps itself stocked up) and the more accessible the paper work is at the point of contact, the easier I find it to keep everything up to date and accurate.

At my hospital each ward keeps a MS Word document as a handover sheet which really helps, but each one has a different design and can be cumbersome to leaf through. I'm thinking of printing my own templates for HCA shifts, but when I get to nursing... Well I'm praying that more of the system will be digitised by then or I'll be working in a hospital that is. When I was on placement I found printing them off 2 or even 4 to a page (I'm gifted with great eyes!) was a great help because then I could see more information at once and felt less flummoxed.

I also try to keep myself more organised. I have a pocket organiser that keeps scissors, pens, highlighters, medical tape, mini single-hole-punch and mini sellotape in one pocket, and a compact/pocket filofax in the other. The Filofax keeps a lot of information like SBAR, pressure sore info, phone numbers, some anatomy and acronyms in place (as well as a diary of course). I can also keep timesheets and other daily forms in it so I don't have to go looking for bits of paper all the time. The compact size with no pockets in the cover is best because then you can use your own clips to keep these sheets neatly on the inside cover. I also use it as my wallet with a zip-insert. The amount of time I save by not having to look for things all the time is amazing - it's a shame we can't get pocket sized pads and bedsheet packs!

The other thing I have is an iPod which I've been given dispensation to keep on me on the wards. I have a copy of the BNF on this and (if I had a newer model) would also be able to access my uni notes and reminders. I know other staff use similar devices to keep themselves organised too.

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Specializes in ER.

School teaches you the clinical stuff, but i think that when you start any new job, its the 'local' stuff that is challenging.

The 'who's who' of the department and the hospital is daunting to begin with, but makes so much difference to your confidence when you figure it.

I'm an ER nurse, and every now and again I find I need to ask advice of a specialist nurse, or 'acquire' a piece of kit we don't have down here. It might be that a palliative patient has questions about storing their pain meds, or someone with a g tube needs supplies, or needing to refer someone for chronic wound management.

Knowing who to call will really boost your confidence, even if you can't help with the clinical issue yourself. Having a list of numbers for the wound care/stoma care/ palliative, etc, will help you feel more efficient and in turn is appreciated by your patients who are reassured that you want to get specialist help for them.

Preceptors don't always have a choice, we all get churned through the mentorship course, and not everyone has a gift for teaching or mentoring. But if they are not answering your questions, then time to flag it up and find someone who will.

They are not there to answer questions about stuff you learned in school, that is taken as read. They are there to help you apply it to your current situation, and to find your way around your new working environment.

I hope it gets better. I just started a new job, (I qualified over 2 decades ago so have done the orientation things quite a few times now!) But it still feel unnerving every time, as you adjust to your new context, the new unfamiliar faces, take a deep breath and start over.

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