Confidence in your RN skills

RNperdiem, RN · Jun 16, 2014

All the time. You can have a string of good days, but you seem to remember the bad stuff more. I transfered a patient out. His condom cath came off during transport, and the oncoming nurse noticed that his IV had infiltrated. It cast a pall over the rest of my day and beyond. I don't like to think of myself as the sort of nurse who transfers a patient to the floor dirty with an infiltrated IV.

Sometimes you will not always be the great nurse. You just can keep on trying. Some people tend to be more self-critical than others.

Bezoars · Jun 16, 2014

I think I'm more self critical then others. I was trying to do a female foley cath on a 15 yo the other day. Could. Not. Get. It. Now granted, she was wiggly and whiny.... but I was like "what the heck?". I had another nurse go in and do it after torturing her a bit. I've always been able to get them... from babies to 90 yo's. Ugh.... I hate those days.

sistrmoon, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2014

We all have our weaknesses and strengths. It's easy to dwell on the weaknesses. I'm always in awe of float pool nurses, jumping around from specialty floor to specialty floor while I safely stay on my home Onc unit! I've been a nurse 7 years but will never stop learning. I learn something every shift.

ArtClassRN, ADN, RN · Jun 17, 2014

"but I still always feel "less than" because the experienced people know more then me"

Experienced people will always know more than you. That's what experience is. You have more experience at taking patients in many different environments. That is where your experience is.

This doesn't sound like a problem, but if you don't like the situation - change it.

ukjenn231 · Jun 18, 2014

Wow, this sounds a lot like me! I have been a nurse for 4.5 years, and had 2 staff positions that were for 6 months each. Otherwise, I have been on travel assignments or float pool. I do often feel as you describe: lacking experience and lacking the ability to gain "expertise" in one particular area. I have been feeling this way particularly over the last year, and I started considering either going back to school or pursuing a certification so I can learn/reinforce some knowledge.

However, I think that we have a lot of qualities that most people don't: adaptability, and being that jack of all trades, master of none. A lot of people on the cardiac floor will admit they would freak going to the ortho floor, and vice versa. But we can bounce around, do a good job, and rely on the experts to teach us new things every day.

Sometimes I find that I'm the one that nurses come to when they have questions about a patient or procedure that's not normally on their floor. Don't feel bad - there is a lot of respect to be had for us floaters!

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Jun 18, 2014

I wonder how many of your fellow co-workers are thinking "lets call Benzoars" when they have difficult sticks, foleys, something they have never encountered, or other situations where your skill level is invaluable.

Yes, we all have off days but that is not the whole of practice, just a very small portion. I can recall days that I couldn't hit the side of a barn with an IV--and other days that I could nab the deepest vein that you could hardly feel. That happens with non-floaters too!

There are also some "frequent flyers" who I am sure will ask for you to start their IV or do their foley--

Lots of respect for those who can do it all--and nothing wrong with being a jack of all trades--keeps it interesting.

Anonymous666 · Jun 18, 2014

Yeah. I feel like this a lot. I think if you don't, you are doing it wrong.

newohiorn, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jun 19, 2014

Bezoars, I could have written your post nearly word for word. I have been in the float pool for four years and before that only did 15 months on a spine unit and 15 months neuro critical care. Like you, I am a jack of all trades and master of none, and some days barely the jack. I do finally feel a little more confident 8 years into nursing but any given day can make me feel like a complete moron who knows nothing. I feel like I had little preceptoring and have been flying by the seat of my pants and learning as I go for eight years. I think it's good that you (and I recognize) that you're a master of none. That's okay, we aren't going to be masters in what we do, we are masters of floating, i.e. flexibility, wide ranging (but not necessarily deep) knowledge base, ability to prioritize care in 4-hr blocks, etc. I absolutely do not hesitate to ask the experts around me. I use my charge nurses and long-term floor nurses to answer questions and help me just about every shift. Don't know if that helps but you are most definitely not alone.