Am I where I should be???

Nurses New Nurse

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Hey Everyone,

It's good to come here and view the other posts by fellow new grads. I graduated in June, accepted a position on a med/surg & isolation floor which also has dialysis on the unit. I passed my board the first time in August and started on the floor a couple weeks later. Right now I'm finishing up my fifth week of orientation and am taking on 5 patients usually 2 of which are isolation. The first few days of the five patient load was extremely hectic and I felt so unorganized! However, yesterday was a good day, but then of course I remembered something I forgot as I was driving home. I'm just wondering if I am where I should be 5 weeks into orientation on my unit??? The nurses on my floor say we should be a stepdown unit, due to the acuity of our patients. Actually one of my patients yesterday was a transfer from CCU. I'm trying to stay positive, but I feel I should be doing more by now.

jules:uhoh3:

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Specializes in nicu.

You sound like you are doing well! Do you ask your preceptors how you are doing? I always ask my preceptor for feedback to see how I am progressing. Good luck with your orientation! It is normal to forget things. I sometimes feel like I forgot to do something when I leave my shift. I create cheat-sheets and try to update them often to help me remember to do all my tasks. Just keep staying positive and learn as much as you can! :)

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how long is typical orientation?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Yes, sounds like you're doing a great job. There definately are going to be a lot of days that you feel disorganized and out of sorts. That's completely normal.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
how long is typical orientation?

On our unit that is similar to the one described here for a new grad it's 12 weeks.

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