Anxiety on my days off!

[NurseBerter]

So I've been a nurse in my first job for just over three months. I am finding it impossible to relax on my days off. I just can't stop wondering and worrying what I might have forgotten the last time I worked, and what I'm going to find out I'm in trouble for when I go back. I've only gotten one "warning" since I started (I didn't do a thorough enough assessment, a mistake I won't repeat!), but I still stress out all the time.

I wonder when I'm going to develop enough confidence that I'll be able to drive home after a shift feeling like I know without a doubt I did a good job.

Is this why (I hear) a lot of new nurses cry all the way home from work? I should be enjoying my four days off, but my stomach is just in knots - arrgghhhh!

[Guest219794]

Eat well, excersize lots, and do fun stuff when not at work.

Other than that, try and set reasonable expectations, and expect to make mistakes.

[azilliRN]

Try and relax and have some fun on your days off. There is nothing you can do about it once you leave work. Believe me, I have the same feelings some nights when I drive home - did I...forget to chart, tell the night nurse, and did I pass out all my medications, etc. You did the best you could, you can't ask for anything more.

[tech1000]

I don't think anything we tell you will change it! I think you just need to realize that IT'S OKAY! Nurses are people too. Nurses DO make mistakes, so even if you do make a mistake, it's not the end of the world. Shall we make a list of things I've been warned about?

I forgot to label my insulin drip with a med label.

I forgot an allergy band on a surgical patient.

I once gave Imitrex IM (it's subq ALWAYS).

I once sent a lady back to her assisted living home and forgot to call report first because we were so busy. The place had put all of her belongings in the driveway and refused to take her back when EMS got there.

I gave insulin subq and not IM.

I once gave 7000 units of heparin as a bolus (which WAS the doctor's order but was over the max dose for the patient- it's 5000 max).

I once hung rocephin to gravity thinking it was over 20 minutes. I went back in 2 minutes later and the lady had fully straightened her arm. No more rocephin!

I have given 1mg of dilaudid instead of 0.5mg.

I have forgotten to give important information in report PLENTY of times.

Moral of the story is that you will make a mistake. It just WILL happen. Have you ever done something for 36 hours a week and never made a mistake? No. But you will learn what needs to absolutely be checked and double checked. If I gave a 50 year old stable man another 0.5mg of dilaudid, is it the end of the world? Can heparin be reversed? Yes. Did that subq insulin do anything more harmful than IV insulin? No. Try not to make mistakes. Be the best you can be. You are going to evolve and be comfortable with what you do eventually. It just takes time. And everybody makes mistakes. And everybody learns. And you'll feel bad when you make them (sometimes). Just own up to your mistakes if confronted or if you do something dangerous but until then, relax. Even the best nurses forget stuff.

[tech1000]

(or Imitrex is PO- but don't inject it in any way other than subq)

[NurseBerter]

Thanks for the comments and the help! :)

[Nurse_Jessie]

I think that this is common for all nurses. I've found that if I'm tired my anxiety is worse, so I work hard to get to sleep after my last shift of the week so that I don't have exhaustion adding to stress. Try to find hobbies and activities outside of nursing, and try not to take criticisms to heart. Learn from your mistakes, but don't dwell on them. You will make mistakes, you will miss things on assessment, and you will forget to pass on information during report. All you can do is to work hard on minimizing your mistakes.

My first month off orientation I started looking at what other places were hiring because I was so worried about getting fired that I wanted a back up plan. The stress will slowly go away.