Becomming a new nurse make you literally sick?

[jessi1106]

So I have been an RN for 10 months now.

Shortly after I started orientation I got eczema on both legs.I thought about work all the time and when I left, I was a disaster - afraid that I had forgotten to chart or do some task. I also dreamed of work.

Thankfully that phase has passed. ~ well I still dream of work occasionally, but don't stress nearly as much. Still, starting my career had a huge psychological impact on me, as I thought about it 24/7 - not to mention the eczema.

We have had some turnover on my unit and there are a few new nurses ~ just off orientation. One of these nurses (who is GREAT) has stated that she feels that she has to vomit each day before coming to work. She says she questions her abilities to manage her time etc...(what new nurse didn't/doesnt?)

This same nurse has not been there for 4 days now. She has been sick, at her PCP who sent her to the ER. She has abd pain. They have ruled out several things....but this nurse is so stressed I am wondering if her actual new job is playing a role in this??:uhoh21:

Incidentally, we have another new nurse - off orientation a week, who now has a DVT.

Anyone here literally become sick during your first few weeks/months?

[november17, ASN, RN]

I work with a nurse that drinks half a bottle of pepto-bismo everyday before work - and the other half at lunch time.

One time she got pulled to a different floor and she was telling me she had to drink 2 bottles of it that day.

I dunno, I never really had psychosomatic health problems like that when I started.

[Morettia2, BSN, RN]

I work with a nurse that drinks half a bottle of pepto-bismo everyday before work - and the other half at lunch time.

One time she got pulled to a different floor and she was telling me she had to drink 2 bottles of it that day.

I dunno, I never really had psychosomatic health problems like that when I started.

uhh...I could never drink that much pepto. You poop black when you drink pepto.

FUNNY story off topic, but my dad a few years ago was really sick and was convinced:lol2: he had a GI bleed b/c he had black stools. I had told him that he had drank pepto, and if he bothered to look on the bottle it says "may cause black stools", I even went to the point of highlighting it on the bottle with a marker.He was not having any part of what I was saying. So he called his MD, the MD sent him home with a FOBT to do at home. He did it and OF COURSE it was negative. The MD said to him, "It is from the pepto you were drinking, it causes black stools". My dad said to me, "Oh I guess u are right, wow nursing school is really paying off", My dad never doubeted my advice agian, and espically since now he thinks that RN=home doctor...hahaha I love my dad, he's like Clark Grizwald from National Lampoons Vacation..hahaha

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I'd be far more concerned with salicylate toxicity than I would be with black poop. The maximum recommended dosage per day is 240 mL or 16 tablespoons of the regular strength or half that for the extra-strength. The economy-size bottles of regular Pepto Bismol contain twice as much as that, the maximum strength three times. There are a significant number of other meds that interact with bismuth subsalicylate that could cause serious problems. This nurse is treading on dangerous ground and could find herself barfing up blood, or worse.

[november17, ASN, RN]

Don't ask me, I'm just going by what she told me. I haven't actually witnessed it. Maybe she's exaggerating. The fact of the matter is that she gets a super upset stomach every day before work. I'll certainly bring it to her attention though.

[ybq2008]

I think I've picked up my first hospital bug too. Headaches, nausea, diarrhea, weakness, and a fluctuating low-grade temp. Luckily, I'm off three days this week.

I guess this is another warm fuzzy welcome to nursing, lol

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Yes, my first few months as a floor RN I developed depression, anxiety, scary high BP, tachycardia and palpatations. I truly thought that nursing was going to kill me. I left hospital nursing early on and have never regretted the decision. School nursing has it's own set of stressors, but it is nothing like hospital nursing!

My first few years as a school nurse, I did seem to get sick every other week with a cold or other virus...but now my immune system seems to have adjusted and I rarely get sick, knock on wood!

[noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP]

A new nurse, who works on the unit I'll be working on, told me she lost 20 lbs due to stress during her orientation. Hope I don't waste away.

[advsmuch08]

I've had some skin issues pop up with the stress. My friend actually developed shingles from the job stress!

[ackiepieRN]

I've been a nurse for 8 months and had to take 2 1/2 sick days ... we're only allowed 3 a year, but thankfully I can use my "earned time off bank" which currently has about 100 hours. In nursing school, I had Mono but it wasn't the type that went away after a few weeks ... I was still feeling symptoms for six months. My second day off orientation I had to call out sick. I had a high grade fever, sweat drenching my clothes, and severe body aches. Same thing happened again about two months off orientation. And three weeks ago, I had a NASTY GI virus ... vomiting and diarrhea every hour, so bad it would wake me up at night (now I have a new appreciation for my patients with incontinence! )

I fully believe in the formula: Increased stress + new environment + increased exposure to viruses/infections = illness ... something tells me with that increased exposure, healthy eating habits, and exercise will lead to increased immunity.

Too bad I'll be switching to a different floor soon. So with that will come, I'm sure, new found illness.

[Sarah G]

Yes, I graduated w/RN in Dec 2009, got my 1st job Mar 2010 in busy rehab unit w/ 15 pts daily. 1st wk of May got ear inf w/ ruptured ear drum & started an abx that I had allergic rxn to. I've not had ear inf since childhood. I had hives that would pop up for around 5 mons after that abt rxn. Stress can do crazy things!

[followyourbliss]

I actually laughed out loud reading these! I feel SO much better. It was like most people in my nursing class were determined not to let the stress show...but you knew they were experiencing "new nurse syndrome". I had days where I was so hot and flushed from stress that I said I take alot of b and multi vitamins! I had to regularly go to the b/r so take a small time out and breathe! I HATED morning report and had anxiety leading up to it,during it...lol...I had bad headaches and felt fuzzy and dizzy..I walked too fast and dreaded having a "code"...thank-god I never did.My whole time in acute surgical care I was terrified of code blues!! Still am! It is like some nurses remember and are sweet and others it is like they had a nursing student enema and forgot what it is like! Some days I felt like why the hell am i doing this again?Why didn't I pursue gardening or keep waitressing until my 40's....it all looked extremely appealing some days. I only have my interim license and just starting out but ,to me, hospital nusring is a cortislol casserole of stress and I am not ready to go back yet. I lost weight, I had bad nausea, GI upset....insomnia and bad dreams of everything going wrong. Ahhhhhhh thank-god I am done school and can be paid to be stressed now! Kudos to all of us out there-taking one for the team and providing public service and dealing with all the flushables in life! Take care everyone,thanks for the stories, made me smile in understanding.