Anyone else still get nervous??

[Seashine]

I was wondering if anyone else had my "problem". I've been a nurse for 4 years now and traveling for most of them after my year or so on staff on a med/surg floor. My assignments have all been pretty much med/surg and they've all been pretty ok, I've been treated well by the staff I worked with, and I made it out alive. Yet, I still get so anxious everytime I have to go in! (Yet I keep signing up and getting excited about new places, faces, and opportunities!!)I feel so intimidated by the nurses and staff that work there regularly, feeling like I shouldn't ask them for advice or direction since I'm not "new" to nursing, just to the facility and some procedures I haven't yet seen or been around very often. I want to enjoy the months and take away everything I can from the assignments.... but this dang anxiety ruins it for me!!! :uhoh21:

[GOMER42]

Maybe once you actually ask your questions and receive positive responses a couple times, you won't feel so anxious

[SoundofMusic]

That's a tough one. I would think that it would take enormous confidence to be a travel nurse, having to switch and adjust all the time to new places and personalities. We were staffed with travelers for a long while and most of them were pretty loud and obnoxious. I was nervous even the one night I was floated -- so I can't imagine.

However, I think it's your right to ask questions on a unit, and any nurse who wouldn't help would really be a jerk. Our travelers asked questions all the time and also received some sort of orientation. You could tell they weren't ALL experts or really experienced. Some had really only been nurses a couple of years or so.

I say ask away and heck with them if they don't like helping you. You could actually be a future staff nurse, so they should be descent enough to realize that also. Look around until you find the helpful and friendly folks and just stick with them.

I miss many of our travelers now that we are totally staffed. I had so much FUN w/ these folks and many of them precepted me to be the type of nurse I am now. I miss a lot of them.

[mykidzmom]

i was a nurse for 5 years before i stopped feeling like an idiot! you might want to spend a year in one place to get a little confidence under your belt. i am wound pretty tight--i know how tough anxiety can be!