Do you constantly worry?

upSNUP · Sep 27, 2011

I don't think it's silly to worry about your license. It's important to have some amount of regard for the seriousness of your actions because people do lose their licenses. I'm in my last year of my BSN and whenever I perform an intervention or chart, I'm thinking about why I am doing it and how it would appear to an outside observer. I think this is especially important when you first start off and thinking clinically isn't yet second nature, but I think the worry probably dissipates more as you become more comfortable and have been doing it for a while.

If this is really what you want to do, I wouldn't let your fears get in the way, but if you're not all for it, then I would be sure to really reevaluate before you jump in head first. Nursing school is a long road when you're in it.

merlee · Sep 27, 2011

How often do you worry about losing your driver's license? Every turn? Every time you pass someone on the highway? When you are texting while driving?

Nurses perform many, many tasks every day. If loss of licensure was common, no one would be driving, or working as a nurse.

Everything in perspective.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Sep 27, 2011

No, I have never worried about it.

brownbook · Sep 27, 2011

I was so scared as a student nurse. I knew nothing about hospitals or nursing when I entered nursing. I believed hospitals were where REALLY REALLY sick people went who could easily die if something wrong was done or happened.

I dropped out 1/2 way through my 3rd semester of nursing but ended up reapplying and being accepted back to redo my 3rd semester.

When I got my first job in an acute care hospital I would walk down the hallway to the time clock telling myself "I hope I kill a patient tonight so I lose my nursing license."

Now after 25 plus years of nursing I love it. I would work for free. I have been nurse of the month several times and nominated for nurse of the year. I haven't killed anybody.

There are a lot of safeguards. As one poster said, are you afraid of killing a motorist every time you drive a car? Automobile accidents happen every day, way more often than nursing or medical mistakes. Being cautious, double checking, being alert for "what could go wrong here," is still on the back of my mind when the situation warrants.

hopefulwhoop · Sep 27, 2011

Personally, I think people worry too much about losing their license and for many of my co-workers who worry so much, it definitely shows. It is a horrible way to practice. I am cautious, but I don't worry all the time. That is my advice to all nurses--be cautious.

Woodenpug, BSN · Sep 27, 2011

I don't worry about losing my license. I worry about hurting someone. All the time(24/7), I've been doing nursing for a long time. It has not happened (as far as I know), but I can think of nothing worse than harming a patient because I missed something or did something wrong. If the only result of me being "a bone head" was to loose my license, I'd be happy.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2011

It really is all in your perspective.

Yes, we have serious jobs, yes we are responsible for the lives of our patients and ensuring that we render safe care to each one we are assigned to. Pilots are also responsible for the lives of their passengers. Teachers are responsible for the safety of their students. Doctors are responsible for maintaining not only the safety of their patients, but the safe practices of the students and residents working under them.

Each of the professions mentioned above are legally and ethically bound to maintaining the safety of the populations they serve. There are ramifications if mistakes are made, sometimes very harsh ones.

The wonderful thing about nursing is that we are able to collaborate with each other. For example, a key safety measure is implemented when we must have another RN witness insulin drawn up prior to administration. We also must have a witness for narcotic wastes.

Most of the time, nurses are more than willing to support each other.

Yes, you must be very careful in practice. You must chart everything as if you are being deposed. Patient safety must be the FIRST thing on your mind at all times. This will come with training.

I encourage you to reconsider nursing. With the proper education and the proper training, this will become second nature to you. I won't say that you will not have angst once you start your first job; everyone does, no matter their field. However, once you get to the point where you feel confident, you will LOVE nursing, if it is truly what you want to do.

If you are lukewarm about nursing, then go another route. You will face many challenges on the road to becoming a nurse-none of them unattainable, but many of them will have to be overcome with a strong sense of dedication.

In short, if it is truly what you want and if you have a strong will, you will succeed.

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2011

I worry every day. Not for what I CAN control, but for what I can't.

Mrs. SnowStormRN, RN · Sep 27, 2011

Makes you hypervigilant

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2011

i am reminded of the time i took a student on a preceptorship for a semester, working my 40-hour schedule in the cardiac surgery and general med/surg icu combined unit for four months (great idea for a preceptorship, really, great program she was in). before she was to start, i invited her for a tour to see the place and meet me. we walked around the unit and she was getting antsier by the second, looked so agitated she couldn't sit comfortably in the break room to talk, so i took her downstairs to the cafeteria and said, "what? adrianne, is it something i said? what's the matter?" and she blurted out, :eek:"how many cardiac arrests do you have in a day?":eek:

i stared at her, and then said, "well, we are in business to prevent that sort of thing from happening. as it happens, we haven't had a code on this unit (26 beds, too) in, oh, lessee now, five and a half months.":cool: she relaxed visibly, and she went on to have a really good experience.

as a former instructor, i feel a little like relating this experience to your question. dang, girl, your faculty is in the business of preparing you to be a nurse. give them some credit for being good at it :) believe me, if they don't think you have what it takes, you'll hear it from them. if you're not hearing it from them, you'll be ok.

kellyc034 · Sep 27, 2011

I have only been an RN for a little over a year, but my answer is no, I don't worry all the time. I have a friend/co-worker RN who stews about stuff so much it keeps her up at night sometimes.

I worry about my patients when I'm at work, but I really do not bring it home too much. Life is too short. I'm not saying I don't care, that is certainly not it, but you just can't live your life with that much stress. If I came home and stewed about every thing that happened during my shift, fretted over my charting, etc. I would end up in the hospital myself.

I do the best I can with what I've got. I try and take the best care of my patient, cover all my bases, chart the best I can, and then come home to my family.

Kelly