A Nurse Who Knows Nothing

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I'm a new grad working in a med-surg ICU. It's been 4 months, I had a 12 week preceptorship including a critical care course offered by the hospital for new ICU nurses and taught by the physicians, and its been 4 weeks since I've been on my own. I absolutely LOVE my job. I love the people I work with and I love my patients (well sometimes) But I still feel like I know nothing. my question is how long will this feeling take? I constantly ask questions from everyone and anyone. I write notes and try to look up info pertinent to my patients when neccessary and even if not neccessary, I'm trying to register for a 12 week critical care course this Summer, but I don't want to overwhelm myself, and I don't want to lose my passion for nursing. help!!

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

Relax, It will take some time to find your comfort zone.

Ask questions... no one knows it all and the people that

get into trouble are the ones that think they know more than

they do. Those are the ones to watch out for...

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Specializes in Burn, CCU, CTICU, Trauma, SICU, MICU.

Comfort will come with time... and you will always find things that you didn't know. Over time, you will see a lot of new things and if you keep asking questions, your knowledge base grows. Nursing school teaching you basics in nursing - actually working teaches you how to be a nurse... and thats a process!!

I'm glad you are taking the time to look for more classes and education and that you are looking for more education. That is certainly the way to do it!! Keep up the excellent work!!

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Relax, It will take some time to find your comfort zone.

Ask questions... no one knows it all and the people that

get into trouble are the ones that think they know more than

they do. Those are the ones to watch out for...

Can not say it any better than the post by EmergencyNurse above.

You are brand new and experience will come with time

patience. Ask lots of questions of the more experienced nurses

and the MDs. Expand your knowledge by ceus, seminars and

certifications.

Best wishes to you, soon you will be mentoring others-times goes

by quickly! :nurse:

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

Mentoring the new grads in the ICU... I tell them from day one, depending upon the person it's a year to 18 months. Not being in critical care 6 months, you should feel comfortable with the routine and need help with the sick ones that go bad, going to the charge RN or rapid response...if you have rapid... stay in the room no matter how behind you are, help them and learn what they do to trouble shoot.

regardless, six months is just enough to hold your weight without anything going wrong, I promise you that if you plan for the first year, all your care will be done and you clock out late charting, you're close to on track. Ask other nurses how to minimize charting safely, read others notes and change yours as your comfortable with to decrease it. Utilize your help, your aides, learn to delegate, the hardest task of a new grad,... they WILL test you and leave you hanging more often than not, and you need to pull out the professionalism as they might sit, and say, answer that phone or the call bell and see what they need. The aides may say.. "they want their nurse"... ASK them,, "what do they need from their nurse that you can't do...".. this done many times over a month will stop them from messing with you.... get off your butt and go see, I'm busy here. If you can't do that, you can't nurse... you'll be an aid, a waitress and a call bell catcher and never have time to nurse. "And they will try you", so buck it up and fight back, because your patients will go without a nurse, while you act as the aid.

The aid will clock out as all your meds and treatments are late and your left three hours later charting due to poor delegation and supervisory skills. Learn these first to enable you the ability to nurse.

Then grab a mentor, someone midway through the seniority, not the least although it's easier and not the most, pick someone not burnt out who knows their way that is quiet and gets the job done and ask them, even beg them to be your mentor. Stick with this type of personality and learn everything you can.

16 years in, it's the best advice I can give you for success. If you follow it, you'll succeed.... it's too easy to take the path of least resistance and let the aids run you, and if you do that, you own it, I've told you otherwise.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

The day you show up for work and feel like you know everything is the day you should hang up your stethoscope.

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Specializes in NICU, High-Risk L&D, IBCLC.

You are being much harder on yourself than you should be at four months. You will feel like you know more in time, I promise! Until then, it sounds like you are doing everything right and feeling exactly as you should at this point in your career. Even the most seasoned nurses continue to ask questions and bounce ideas off each other, sometimes daily.

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thank you all, i know its going to take time, i just don't like feeling like i'm not moving foreward, but i guess i have learned so much since i first started.

The day you show up for work and feel like you know everything is the day you should hang up your stethoscope.

your comment made me teary eyed.....thank you

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It's only been four months dear.Give it more time and keep doing what you're doing- asking questions to know more.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

echoing everyone else here: i'd much rather mentor a new nurse who feels as though she knows nothing than one who feels as though he knows everything. you can teach the former, but no one can teach anything to someone who already thinks he knows everything.

somewhere in the next 12-18 months, you're going to start to feel comfortable at work . . . you may have an "aha!" moment where things just click and you realize that you get it, you really get it. or you may find yourself clocking out on time for the third day in a row and realize that you've made it through that initial adjustment period and you're really a nurse now. either way, it's much to soon for you not to feel as though you know nothing.

congratulations, newbie. you're right on schedule!

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

A year. I don't know why. I've worked the same critical care unit for most of my career and it always seems to be the magic period of time when everything just clicks for our new staff. Nurses that are "comfortable" with working in a new critical care area in less time usually a bit dangerous. Knowing that you don't know everything is your best asset for now. I would highly recommend "The ICU Book" By P. Marino. It is well organized and well written for new and experienced staff. A word of warning- the author constantly offers his opinion as the only hard and true fact as to how to manage any particular condition. As time goes along you will find some of his ideas will be contrary to some of your attending docs. Advice: always go with what your attendings want- they are in charge and don't want to hear how you read in a book that says they don't know what they are doing.

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I felt comfortable after a year. I work in Psych.

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