I graduated in May and started my first job as an RN in July on a busy surgical floor at a local hospital minutes from my home. It was a perfect set up. The nurses I worked with were awesome, the supervisors were supportive and helpful, and as mentioned before, it was minutes from my house. The problem was I was about to be off orientation and I was terrified! I am definitely not cut out to be a floor nurse. The thought of taking care of 5-8 patients all by myself scared me to death!! I felt overwhelmed and worried that I was going to miss something when I no longer had my preceptor to catch me when I fall. The type of fear I was feeling wasn't normal new grad fear. It was clearly my personality and I can't change that. Anyone who has been a floor nurse should know what I mean. You either can do it or you can't. And it's not safe to "wing it." I recognized this was not where I belong as a nurse. I was always running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. So, needless to say, I decided to leave my job. Now I am unemployed and truly worried I have wasted the past 4 years of my life going to school for a career that I am not going to be able to do. My husband and parents think I'm a failure. I'm beginning to believe it also.
I love patient care and would work a lot better in an environment where I could spend more one-on-one time with my patient, but where are jobs like that when you don't have experience? And now I'm worried it will look bad that I quit a job after 3 months, but I truly felt like something bad was going to happen if I didn't get out now. I have applied at 2 dialysis centers, ECT, and considering correctional nursing. But again, all of those positions state experience required. I applied anyway, but not feeling too confident.
If anyone has any sound advice for me, I would greatly appreciate it.
Specializes in Emergency Room, Hospice/Palliative Care.
I agree with this post! Every nurse feels like a failure at three months. Every nurse feels panic after orientation is over. Shoot, I still woke up at night in a panic wondering if I did this right, or forgot to do something. Critical care is not a good place for a new grad to start, even after three months of orientation. Unless you are super nurse. A fellow ER nurse told me it takes about FIVE years to gain confidence and competency as nurse. Until then, you just have to bite the bullet and ask for help. Correctional nursing is no joke. It might seem easy at first, but if your clinical skills are not good, you will drown when that one time a patient crashes because you are essentially alone. Same with dialysis, field nursing, etc. You could try a SNF to get your feet wet, but you might be locked into that kind of nursing, depending on where you live. Believe me, I can relate to your feelings. We have all been there. Find yourself a hospital with a good orientation program, tell yourself you can do it, and don't give up. Those feelings of anxiety never go away, but you will realize they are what can make you a great nurse!
Have you looked into working for a managed care organization? They need nurses to do MEDICAL NEED LEVEL OF CARE (MNLOC ) assessments to determine if their members qualify for certain services.. You don't have direct patient care. It is usually a mon- Fri job 8-5. I work for one and I love it.
Specializes in Emergency Room, Hospice/Palliative Care.
agree with the post by Mrsboots87 Every nurse feels like a failure at three months. Every nurse feels panic after orientation is over. Shoot, I still woke up at night in a panic wondering if I did this right, or forgot to do something. Critical care is not a good place for a new grad to start, even after three months of orientation. Unless you are super nurse. A fellow ER nurse told me it takes about FIVE years to gain confidence and competency as nurse. Until then, you just have to bite the bullet and ask for help. Correctional nursing is no joke. It might seem easy at first, but if your clinical skills are not good, you will drown when that one time a patient crashes because you are essentially alone. Same with dialysis, field nursing, etc. You could try a SNF to get your feet wet, but you might be locked into that kind of nursing, depending on where you live. Believe me, I can relate to your feelings. We have all been there. Find yourself a hospital with a good orientation program, tell yourself you can do it, and don't give up. Those feelings of anxiety never go away, but you will realize they are what can make you a great nurse!
-Shame on your husband and family for making you feel that they think you're a failure. Nursing is HARD. It's understandable to have that deer-in-headlights moment like OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE. Don't let them put you down, and definitely surround yourself with people who are supportive.
-I don't get easily offended, but. I gotta say. It nagged me a little bit that you seem to have something against treatment for anxiety (that is how I interpreted one of your first posts, OP). I recently transitioned from inpatient hospice (which I did as a new grad) to a medical-psychiatric unit at a community hospital. Although I had about two years of experience, I had HUGE anxiety over this transition. I definitely needed a boost to get through it. There is nothing wrong with that.
-That being said, I knew through my whole orientation that I WANT this job in this environment. I won't do it forever, but this experience is very valuable to my future goals. For this reason, I encourage you to really use this time to reflect on what you want out of this career and what job you hope to have eventually. Then work backwards and figure out what experience you need to get there.
-I think LTC, psych, inpatient hospice, and hospital jobs with perhaps a lower nurse:patient ratio would all be good places to start, depending on the orientation you would receive and your coworkers and management. As I'm sure you know, your first job is pretty much never ideal. Remember the goal you're working toward and focus on building up to it.
-I'm not sure if you worked days or nights at your last job. I will say, despite that it can be rough on the body, I will recommend evening and night shifts as a pretty good learning experience for someone who needs to pace themselves dieting the first few months of a job. The staff tends to be more relaxed and work as a team, it's not as much constant activity as dayshift (usually), and it sometimes gives more opportunities for that quality interaction with patients. I would consider looking for that if I were you.
-You might really enjoy either diabetes education or wound care specialties someday, but those will require a little time in the hospital. Just something I thought as I was reading.
I felt the exact same way. It took a while for me to feel comfortable! It's a good trait to have to be worried and scared... those are the nurses who focus on the important details... you'll start to get the groove... ask your manager for a longer orientation period. It took me 3 years, but I'm finally feeling comfortable. There will always be those days that make you question why you did this to yourself... but then there are those that make you realize that there isn't anything else you'd rather do! Good luck and keep your head up
Hello my main concern is the work load of patient. When a facility give you 15 or 17 patient as a new grad it overwhelming. I feel like it impossible to perform adequate patient care to all these patient. What area in nursing do you think am able to work. Any advise is needed.
You could try a nursing home. You would get to know your patients. You would have great nurses aids and could find a routine that you could get used to. After a period of time you could then move onto either home nursing or in center dialysis nursing.
Try home health nursing. If you like educating your patients, and you already stated you want more one on one, hh might be a great option for you. Also, assisted living you get to know pts really well.
I read through a lot of these comments and there is some very sage advice here. OP, I found your replies to be very defensive. If you're going to ask a public forum for advice, you're going to have to have thicker skin than that. Seeking treatment, help, or even just for a professional to talk to is not offensive nor should it ever be viewed that way. Your response just perpetuates the negative connotations associated with psychiatric treatment.
Nursing is hard. Plain and simple. You are dealing with people's lives and things can change instantly. Bedside nursing is extremely difficult when you have unsafe patient loads. It sounded like you had a good team and wherever you choose to work- your coworkers will be your lifesavers. I think you just have poor time management skills from your response of getting caught in the patient's room and wanting to get to know them better. Yes, med-surg doesn't always allow us the time to love on our patients and get to know them as much as we'd like but that doesn't mean that that is always the case. I've sat in a patient's room for longer than I should have listening to his never-ending but sweet story about his wife. I've made the time to sit and chat and comfort my patients. It is possible but it's not going to come automatically. Time management is a skill that you will have to practice alongside all of your other nursing skills.
I would not suggest going into ICU because of the ratios. Though you have 2 patients, your ability to multitask goes up tenfold and you will have to call on those great time management skills. You will need to prioritize and you will need to do it quick. If multitasking and reacting quickly to changing scenarios do not sound like your cup of tea, perhaps bedside nursing is just not for you.
School nursing? Outpatient clinics are always a good option or perhaps go back for your masters and go into education. The beauty of nursing is that there are so many options if bedside isn't your thing. Good luck to you and stick with it. It's hard career but I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.
Ouch. As nurses we are (usually,mostly) genuinely (and expected to be) super kind and supportive. I believe there could have been a more PC, gentle, constructive way to make a statement like this.
Best wishes to the nurse struggling. You will find your niche and thrive I believe in you. We've all struggled at one time or another, whether or not we admit it.
Ouch. As nurses we are (usually,mostly) genuinely (and expected to be) super kind and supportive. I believe there could have been a more PC, gentle, constructive way to make a statement like this.
It would be most helpful if you would use the quote function so we know to whom you are responding.
I've read a lot of this thread and honestly, about a hundred similar threads. The fallout from school to the real world of hospital nursing is jarring. I did hospital nursing for 10 years and always knew it wasn't a great fit for me. I've now been an RN for 30 years. Just my take on a few of the suggestions:
--School nursing: Good luck. These are very hard jobs to get. Many are political appointments. I had 10 years of pediatric nursing, I am a sign language interpreter and had a former career as a juvenile probation officer. I could never manage to get hired over the mayor's niece.
--Correctional nursing: Oh my. I worked in a mid security prison with 700 inmates as the only RN, no MD. You do it all with no help. Never worked harder or more afraid of my license. Had to dispense meds from a pharmacy, answer every "emergency" call when a prisoner felt they were bored, Was expected to respond immediately to a 100 acre campus, do intake assessments, oversee ambulance runs. It was exhausting and very hard. Need razor sharp assessment skills.
--Case management: I don't know anyone in this field who will hire you without significant clinical experience. That's what they are paying for. Not for the inexperienced RN.
To OP I'd say see if you can get your old gig back (sounded like a very nice environment). Maybe they could accommodate you on another unit or shift. You can't fake or work around the experience issues, you really can't. And finally, all the easy breezy desk jobs where you answer an MD's phone or take vitals are GONE. They are filled with MAs or untrained people off the street. You will need to get clinical experience somewhere in order to have options.
I believe in you. We've all struggled at one time or another, whether or not we admit it.
nurselindah, BSN, RN
111 Posts
I agree with this post! Every nurse feels like a failure at three months. Every nurse feels panic after orientation is over. Shoot, I still woke up at night in a panic wondering if I did this right, or forgot to do something. Critical care is not a good place for a new grad to start, even after three months of orientation. Unless you are super nurse. A fellow ER nurse told me it takes about FIVE years to gain confidence and competency as nurse. Until then, you just have to bite the bullet and ask for help. Correctional nursing is no joke. It might seem easy at first, but if your clinical skills are not good, you will drown when that one time a patient crashes because you are essentially alone. Same with dialysis, field nursing, etc. You could try a SNF to get your feet wet, but you might be locked into that kind of nursing, depending on where you live. Believe me, I can relate to your feelings. We have all been there. Find yourself a hospital with a good orientation program, tell yourself you can do it, and don't give up. Those feelings of anxiety never go away, but you will realize they are what can make you a great nurse!