About to start orientation/I need encouragement!!!!!!

[RN~Abby]

Hi Guys,

I am about to start my orientation next week and I am so nervous. I couldn't sleep last night I just keep having nightmare how I am going to mess up. I graduated December of 09 and I feel like I have forgotten everything that I have learned. I haven't even start working and I am feeling like this I just don't know how things will be when I start working. I just need some encouragement I will be working at a busy med-surg floor. Did any of you new grads feel like this before start of orientation? What could I do right now to make things easier for me? How should I approach my orientation? I am not organized and I know this will be a problem. What could I do to be organized and to have good time management? I always want to be a nurse but right now I feel like I got what I want and my nerves are getting the best of me!!!!!!! Feeling very emotional by the whole proccess :crying2:!!!!!!!

[cebuana_nurse]

Everything that you are feeling is called New Nurse Syndrome. I had the same feeling when I started my orientation at a LTC facility. It could be overwhelming but you know what, the beauty in nursing is that learning never stops. Take every experience everyday as a learning process. Being human, we are susceptible to make mistakes but don't beat yourself up. Because everybody makes mistakes and hopefully not that bad that you would end up killing your patients. Take it as a stepping stone to become a safe and effective nurse. If there's something that you don't feel comfortable about or doesn't know, ask. Those who doesn't ask, will not know anything. Grab a nursing book and read it on your days off. It will help refresh the memory of things you learned from school.

I know it's easier said than done. The first year of nursing is hard but it does get better. (I'm still waiting on this to come. :))Nursing school haven't really prepared everybody what to expect in the real nursing world. You just gotta find your niche and learn everyday. Good Luck!

[NC Girl BSN]

I started my new grad position April 09 and I felt the same way you did. What your feeling is totally normal. I have 1 yr under my belt and my confidence as a nurse is pretty high. I have done a ton of procedure repetatively and it has gotten easier over time. I still have some "What would you do in this situation?" questions but I go to some of my coworkers and together we problem solve for the appropriate solutions. Good luck on your new adventure in nursing. Start out your internship being a sponge and soaking up as much information as possible. They will not expect you to know everything in the beginning. The more you work, the better it will get. Take care and keep us posted.

[MntnGirl]

I graduated the same time you did and started on a med/surg floor in february 2010. I had the same feelings you did and still have those feelings of nervousness before my shifts. Been off of orientation for 1 month now - now that I no longer work 1:1 with a mentor I've been able to start forming my own pattern of doing things. Finding a way to manage your time and stay organized is VERY important - I'm still working on this area of my job and I seem to 'tweak' things every shift. My nervousness and stress level has decreased since my first day and every shift my confidence goes up just a little bit - I'm very excited to get a year under my belt because I think by then I will have developed a routine that works for me and I won't be so focused on getting tasks done and will be able to focus more on looking at the 'big' picture with my patients. Good luck and be prepared to go through some sense of 'reality shock' when you hit the floors running.