Advice welcome!

You should have a couple of blue or black pens, a red pen, a pencil, an eraser, a calculator, scissors, tape, scrap paper, a stethoscope, a penlight, and your hospital ID. Thsoe are the essentials. I also carry a line level on a chain for leveling transducers, although general nursing floors don't have transducers, so unless you're working in ICU you shouldn't need one.

Yes, orientation really is that hard. Nursing school only gives you the tools to learn how to be a nurse. Working with patients is where you actualy become a nurse. The learning never stops. Ever. How long it takes to get into the swing of things will depend on a number of factors: what kind of nursing unit you're working on (acuity), how many patients you're expected to care for, how heavy the workload is for those around you, how confident you are in your skills, how organized you are, how well you manage your time, so many things. There is no "one-size-fits-all" orientation. It'll be what it is. I wish you the best of experiences, and remember that we're all here for you.