I am a new grad nurse recently out of orientation. I was hired for a rotating position (to learn as a new nurse), equal time days and nights. On nights, I feel good. I am still scared as a new grad, but I feel that I am able to safely give care for my patients... And, after lots of self-reflection, I truly feel that I am meant to work nights.
When I oriented on day-shift, my anxiety level was off the charts. And I am not an anxious person. I always felt behind, and I despite very positive feedback, I feel that I was not a good nurse on days. I was unable to sleep, and would constantly think about work even on days when I was not working or had some time off. I had this pit in my stomach that would not go away, and my heart was racing whether I was working or not. On nights, it was not and is not like this at all.
I feel that I really need to talk to my manager about this. I have come to this decision because I went to schedule myself for the next scheduling period (on days) and I burst into tears just thinking about going to days again. I know I would learn a lot by being on day shift (and I definitely did while orienting), but I feel that my mental health would suffer.
My question is, am I right that I should talk to my manager and ask them to go to straight nights? And, how should I go about this? I am thinking that honesty is the best policy, but I don't want them to think I am crazy. I am also thinking about confiding in my nurse educator, who I feel could give me some good advice.
Any advice or feedback would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!
You say you're a new grad -- are you still on orientation/preceptorship? That makes it hard to control your schedule (in my very limited experience) so you might have to tolerate more day shifts. I'm also a new grad going through terrible anxiety at work (it seems to shut my brain down) about to get my first batch of night shifts. I really hope that they're much calmer and manageable for someone who still has so much to learn.
Thank you everyone for the honest feedback! Now I feel that I am more torn. I am just scared that if I request straight nights with no explanation, the answer will be no.
I am just curious, perhaps it is because I am new... why is confiding in my manager a bad idea? At my hospital, management and clinical leads are overwhelmingly supportive on our unit, and I know this from my own experience and from talk from other units. I suppose i understand that I wouldn't want to be labeled as "high maintenance", but I also don't want to hide or bottle up my concerns.
Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!
First, look at the years of experience of those advising you. Shouldn't you give a little more weight to those who have worked long enough to have a long-term view of the situation?
If I've learned anything over the years (in nursing and in life in general), it's that I owe no one an explanation for the things I say. If I'm invited to a party and I don't want to go, I don't owe the hostess an explanation. "Oh thank you for the invite, but I won't be able to attend." The End. If I decide that I want to change shifts at work, all I need to say is "I'm applying for this shift." No explanation necessary.
In terms of not wanting to "bottle up your emotions." I hate to break it to you, but your place of employment is never the place to uncork your emotional bottle. Save that for friends and family outside of work. Waaaay far away from work.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I am a new grad nurse recently out of orientation. I was hired for a rotating position (to learn as a new nurse), equal time days and nights. On nights, I feel good. I am still scared as a new grad, but I feel that I am able to safely give care for my patients... And, after lots of self-reflection, I truly feel that I am meant to work nights.
When I oriented on day-shift, my anxiety level was off the charts. And I am not an anxious person. I always felt behind, and I despite very positive feedback, I feel that I was not a good nurse on days. I was unable to sleep, and would constantly think about work even on days when I was not working or had some time off. I had this pit in my stomach that would not go away, and my heart was racing whether I was working or not. On nights, it was not and is not like this at all.
I feel that I really need to talk to my manager about this. I have come to this decision because I went to schedule myself for the next scheduling period (on days) and I burst into tears just thinking about going to days again. I know I would learn a lot by being on day shift (and I definitely did while orienting), but I feel that my mental health would suffer.
My question is, am I right that I should talk to my manager and ask them to go to straight nights? And, how should I go about this? I am thinking that honesty is the best policy, but I don't want them to think I am crazy. I am also thinking about confiding in my nurse educator, who I feel could give me some good advice.
Any advice or feedback would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!
Many managers won't let you go to straight nights without a year of rotating. The reason for this is twofold: one, you learn a lot more on dayshift. And two, they want a good skill mix on night shift. If this turns out to be the case with your manager, tell yourself to just suck it up and get through the year. Then ask for night shift again. Even after 27 years of experience, when I changed jobs my new manager wanted me to rotate for a year before going to straight nights. The senior people were on days, and they wanted to make sure I was safe, self starting and not going to be a problem before they put me on nights where I wouldn't be watched as closely.
How long was you on orientation? Did you get enough time? Did your preceptor teach you well? If not, I would talk to the manager about getting more orientation or getting a different preceptor. But if you know your preceptor is not the problem, you've gotten adequate orientation, and its your nerves then I'd go to night shift. Get 6 months of experience then attempt to go to days. Just talk to her and tell her how you feel. I know your manager would not want to put you on days if you are not ready. Night shift should not be a problem, because night shift are more under staff than days, at least during my bedside nursing experiences.
I did the same thing. I think that new grad anxiety is pretty much standard for the first year. I did go to nights for that reason. I was on days for the first 4 months. Nights were more laid back. I didn't feel as overwhelmed, and I feel that I was able to read the charts more thoroughly and become familiar with our doctors and surgeons order sets in a more relaxed environment. I'm on days now, at the request of my husband. I was really anxious to go back to days, but really, the transition was just fine. They are busier, and it can be overwhelming at times with doctors orders flying like dodgeballs, but I sleep like a normal person. I didn't get much sleep on the night shift, and if I may say so myself... was a total basketcase. I need sleep :) I do think that nights were good for awhile as a new nurse and I would recommend it to anyone struggling on days.
I learned a lot at nights before going to days because it was a slower pace and I had my senior nurses(God bless them) to teach me and they were helpful references until I was confident to handle issues. But it depends it on everyone's situation. If nights are just with new grads and no senior nurses, then no, I would not go to nights. If your senior nurses are during days, then I would stay.
Specializes in Inpatient/Outpatient/Telephone Triage.
IV_Espresso,
I was in charge of a busy 32-bed med/surg unit, in a teaching hospital, for 3 years. During that timeframe, there were 2 new-grad RNs who requested straight nights exactly for the reasons you stated in your post. Because their anxiety levels were so high on days, I placed them on nights with the understanding that once they felt more comfortable in their positions they would try days again. Eventually they improved, their anxiety lessened and they were able to work dayshifts...but it took about 6 months for one, and 7 1/2 months for another.
In my opinion, individuals placed in leadership positions should be approachable and trustworthy. If you trust your manager, approach her/him and discuss your situation. Like other posters stated, night shifts are often harder to fill than days. So I bet your nurse manager will be receptive. I doubt it's the first time your manager has heard of this type of situation from a subordinate. You may also want to give your manager a timeline to try days again...perhaps 6 months or so?
As a new grad, I'm sure you're adapting to your new role and over time your anxiety will decrease. You have to give yourself time to adapt. Hopefully you're not too hard on yourself. Also, you can talk to the unit educator as well!
I wish you the best. Please let us all know how it goes!!!
I had the same issue. Discussed with manager, they refused to let me go straight nights, heres why: Working straight nights is not going to make you better on days. Period. Bottom line. If you want to work nights because its what you want to do long term, sell that. IF you're doing this because you're anxious on days, rethink it. If/when you decide you want days again, guess what? You've lost all of those day shift skills, and the same for the reverse.
I think having this discussion is important... its important to let your managers know you're anxious and the struggles you're having and ask for tools to help you get through it, not walk away from it. You think you're the only new grad more comfortable on nights? Trust me you're not alone. It's stressful because its demanding and there are lots of responsibilities. But soon, you're going to have to take on more responsibilities on nights too... harder patients, more patients, bad staffing, less resources, being charge, managing staffing.... and you CAN'T switch shifts to get away from those things...because they're everywhere...because it's nursing.
Management and clinical leads already know how incredibly stressful nursing is/can be. It's their job to gauge how their employees are doing, and be supportive. It will not surprise or phase them if you discuss your anxiety, especially as a new grad. I can't possibly imagine that they will use it to bite you in the butt. I find that the people who are always sincere and speak from their heart are heard. Listen, they've gone through all this work to hire you, so they definitely won't fire you because you said you were experiencing anxiety as a new grad. It is not high maintenance to say that you need more time, or a more mellow shift to continue your orientation process as a new nurse. It is high maintenance for a veteran nurse of 15 years to wine and moan because she got 4 patients and the other nurses only got 3. Huge difference. Reminder: your instinct is correct 99/100 times, so go with your gut.
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vespera186
5 Posts
You say you're a new grad -- are you still on orientation/preceptorship? That makes it hard to control your schedule (in my very limited experience) so you might have to tolerate more day shifts. I'm also a new grad going through terrible anxiety at work (it seems to shut my brain down) about to get my first batch of night shifts. I really hope that they're much calmer and manageable for someone who still has so much to learn.