Was your first solo shift toxic?

[danenurse]

Hi, 20 year old LPN (I) here and I just finished my first solo shift at a retirement facility and well, it pretty much sucked. I had 4 orientation shifts (2 days 2 nights) and last night was my last orientation shift. Little did I know they were gonna call me to cover the AM shift that morning too.

I was nervous, but mostly excited. I was put in a floor where I was never orientated to, so I know nothing about the residents. The good thing was I just had 13 residents, unlike in other floors where there are a little less than 40. I was confident because I knew I'd have a lot of time. Boy, was I wrong. I started my med run but I feel like I did it slowly as the patients didnt have any identifiers on their body, plus a lot of medications that were not in their personal med box (ie. Inhalers, injections, prn narcotics) so it took time to get everything prepared. Behavior was an issue too. I had people refusing taking their meds and yelling "go away." Plus in this facility, you chart a lot so I had to do a lot of charting too. It didnt help that my care phone kept ringing and ringing, mostly family who wants an update on the residents. Plus the management called for a meeting in the middle of my shift too. Now I'm stuck worrying if I did everything right, most especially the narcotic count since I might have put the wrong amount. I swear i wrote everything down but still, its still a possibility i made an error. Any tips? I felt like crying. I tried my best to prepare the med cart/ emptied garbage plus restock supplies for the next nurse. Is the first shift really hard for brand new nurses?

PS. This is my first job ever!

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Sorry your shift was so crappy. I have been a nurse for, gasp! 35 years!!! and done perdiem in LTC for 9 year. I still have days like that!!! Patients should have some identifier, either a wrist band or a photo. It takes time to get organized. Best of luck!!