Brand new graduate, brand new job, and I am a stress case!

[Nugget]

Hi all,

This is a rant-y e-mail, so be forewarned!

I guess I am in need of some coddling/reassurance from fellow nurses on the internet

I just graduated in April (yay!), passed my RN exam (yay!) and have a job in a teaching hospital, in Toronto, Canada (double yay!). I am working on the nursing resource team (NRT), so I will be floating all over the hospital. I did my consolidation placement at this hospital on a surgical unit (mostly ortho), and was able to manage pretty well. My preceptor pushed for me to get the job on the NRT, so she obviously thought I was doing something right!

My first day is on Wednesday, on a medicine unit with emphasis on nephrology. I am petrified to start. I still feel like a weeny little student, and though I know I will be experiencing a steep learning curve for at least the next year, I am terrified I will screw up and lose the job. My unreasonable nerves were transferred into a clinical skills lab I went to today, where we had to demonstrate various tasks performed on PICC lines. I had never even touched a PICC line before today, as we are not permitted to do so as students. My manager was the one certifying me and I was so nervous, I was shaking. She said "remember, you're not a student anymore!" and I just about puked on my poor mannequin.

I know I am being irrational and that I cannot be expected to know everything as a new nurse, but I can't seem to talk myself down. I do not want this anxiety to run the show. I am such a stress case! I have spoken to friends who say "ohhh, you're so smart, blah blah blah, you'll be fine", but it doesn't allay any of my fears. I am scared that something will go wrong with my patient, and I won't know what to do.

I would like some solid advice from all the awesome nurse-ies out there! Is there any advice for how I can be as best prepared as possible, and not feel like vomiting/crying/panicking? Any anecdotal points would also be welcomed. :)

End rant.

Thank you to whomever got through reading this, and any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Good Morning, Gil]

We've all been in your shoes. I was nervous when I first started (almost 2 years ago now) because it is a big responsibility, and you really don't know what you're doing when you first start lol. You have book knowledge, and some clinical knowledge, but you'll definitely be building on your clinical knowledge, prioritization, etc.

The fact that you are nervous is a good thing since hopefully, it will cause you to be more cautious/prudent. Not being a little nervous demonstrates that one does not realize all that they don't know yet. Be confident in what you do know, though. It just takes a little time to build confidence, and you'll get to a point where you feel comfortable going into work....you really do learn quickly. I started in an area with a short orientation, lots of patients, not much support, but I worked with great people, and felt comfortable around the 6 month mark. You really do learn quickly; you'll see what I mean. In no time, you'll be the one helping new nurses. I wanted the ICU, though, and have only been an ICU nurse less than a year, but I'm already helping new nurses. Not a preceptor, not ready for that yet, but it feels good being able to offer support, and help someone else prioritize while managing my own patients. You'll see...in no time. And, I still have questions sometimes, but that's part of knowing your limitations; any good nurse will ask what he/she doesn't know, and no nurse knows it all.

Best of luck to you! Just wanted to say: we've all been there, and you have a great opportunity to make a difference in patients' lives ahead of you, and you will know what to do when the situation arises. At first, it might just be: get a more experienced nurse to help, and that's okay :).

[sauconyrunner]

I have to say, I think it is going to be tough on you to be floating all over the hospital. I personally think its kind of a bad place to start a new grad. BUT here's the real low down. What I think does not matter, you have the position, and you can do it.

You have finished school, passed the board exam!, gotten through your orientation.

You are doing well.

Something will probably go wrong with a patient and you won't know what to do. It happens to experienced nurses too. You will have resources on each and every floor you go to, eventually you will figure out whats what and who you can go to and who you can't. Hopefully for the most part they will give you average patients, not super heavy ones...

Take a deep breath and always just remember Airway Breathing Circulation...You can do it. It will be tough and kind of scary at times, but you CAN do this.

[sbostonRN]

We have allllll been there. I'm just a bit past this stage right now. The best way to get through this is to just work through it. There isn't really much you can do to prepare for it...you just have to work hard, learn as much as you can, and ask lots of questions. A good employer will slowly start to build up your workload so you feel comfortable and confident. I've been told that it takes about 6 months to a year to feel totally comfortable in most situations, 2 years to feel comfortable in all situations.

Good luck and remember to take lots of notes and ask lots of questions!!

[Nugget]

Thank you all for your kind words, encouragement, and advice! I will be fine, I just need to get into the swing of things and study on my days off. Sauconyrunner - I agree with you about being a floater as a new RN! I am preceptored for the first 14 weeks as I rotate through the various medicine/surgical areas and I won't go into any acute areas for the first while I believe (I hope)! On the positive side, I will see a lot of different clinical areas and hopefully this will make me a stronger nurse for it!

Thank you again guys, I needed some nurse-y coddling and I got it! haha

Cheers,

Michelle

[itsnowornever, BSN, RN]

Michelle--lemme say I am JEALOUS! You will do GREAT! This will give you a ton of experience! Good luck and PLEASE let us know how it's going!