Does It Ever Change

Well...a wise nursing instructor once told me "you are a baby nurse for your first 5 years..after that you either walk or keep on crawling...use those five years wisely!".

I felt she was right, and it took me 5 years to get settled into what it was I wanted to do, gain my confidence and prefect my ability to stand up for things I believe in (because the more I worked, the more I understood and learned...so I could make better judgement calls), learn some great pearls of wisdom from other nurses, and really get my skills toned into certain aspects of care. Also learned my time management skills...which takes time as you experience different days and loads.

I am pretty sure I am walking now..LOL! But I am still humbled by what I still do not know I know...and enjoy learning every single day! I think it is this mindset that has kept me from much of the emotional probelms of the job.

You will never know it all, no one expects you to, and learn each and every day, because with each day is a new adventure... That is my motto! :)

I think you may know the answer to your question already! Confidence and skill are the only things that change. BUT I have found after three years of total unhappiness where I am, this last year I have attempted change in so many ways. Every nurse has a voice and usually the older nurses have so much invested in the company that they are with that they don't want to "rock the boat" so to speak. Many of them have been there and done that and have complained for years with no relief.

So, as new/newer nurses I think it is our responsibility to change things. After you get settled in, after you have a bit of confidence, after you can hold a conversation with an attending without stuttering, and after you have survived your first year in nursing boot camp then use that voice. Personally everything you mentioned in your post is true but how I choose to deal with it is what makes us all different. Yes, I complain, and curse, and moan, and even cry sometimes. But I also joined every committee I can including Shared Governance, I have gone above my managers head on several occassions and I have gone to the Director in Nursing just last week. Sometimes the "suits" in charge loose sight of what they are doing...it's more about money than patients. If every nurse participated in committees at work and worked with officials on improving laws and standards then we would see change. Don't get me wrong...it is exhausting to keep stating your concerns over and over but we just have to keep trying.

The first year you have so much self doubt, with gained experience comes confidence. After a year you should have developed a better handle on coordinating care, knowing when a patient needs something not ordered by a doctor, etc... Think of it like learning to play an instrument, at first you are learning so many things, your first concert is laughable but after a few years you sound pretty good.

I seem to be noticing that they typical response to each new nurse is "give it a year". It seems that the culture shock of too many patients, not enough time to chart, angry nurses who eat their young, nasty doctors, inadequate supplies, your own confidence level, medication errors, and all the atrocities experienced by the new nurse will seem to pass after a year. My question is this? what changes after a year? Or is it that we simply become used to the poor conditions we have been struggling to succeed with? I, mean, if you keep getting pricked on the arm over and over you eventually become immuned to the pain. Is this the same scenario? I don't doubt that your own confidence level will increase and that part of the stress that we are experiencing will pass. However, what about all the other issues. Do they pass? Or, again, is it that we simply learn to accept it. When, in reality, we shouldn't. Thanks.

well, after a year you would probably know what you want, or don't. the saying that angry nurses eat their young is true sometimes, the other part of that is: angry nurses get sick and burnt-out after 22 years and have to leave the profession. confidence levels increase over time and routine, just as in any job.

good luck! one leaves, another comes in. my advice to you is this: don't let yourself become burnt-out, keep yourself alive, take care of you. you cannot care for another if you yourself are not well. if you are tired don't work a double. spend less, save more and don't let them use you up. when they do they will find someone else to replace you quickly. drink water, take breaks. eat properly. pamper yourself at home, at the spa, whereever and whenever you can. don't let them drain you.

i am on a 30 day leave of absence that i have taken, due to nursing's contribution to stress and a possible early demise. i refuse to be on another telemetry unit as a patient. my personal physician has written for xanax...it has come to that. at the end of the thirty days i will retire from nursing after 22 years. fortunately i have an art degree that i am using, so i can move on.

good luck!

crispi:angryfire

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What gets me is that during this year of "settling in" you are responsible as a fully functioning nurse. No wonder all the stress and guilt that new grad nurses feel! The lucky new grads get several months of preceptoring but even then, given that most experienced nurses are often struggling to do everything, there's no way the new nurses are giving the kind of quality care that they feel responsible for!

Preceptorship! I wish..it was sink or swim with me...thank goodness I had a very capable medical advisor at home to talk to...my hubby (paramedic).

I learned from 'be eaten by the lions or do a really good dance and either distract or for the love of GOD make it!"....I made it!

But really...even though my first job was in an area where they certainly did eat their young..I was able to use my communication skills to my benifit and learn (yep...the old kiss bottom, give homage frequently...learn much!).

LOL! Oh man if I made it..anyone can! Honest! I went in thinking..if this works great...if not heck with it...if I can't do it it wasn't meant to be! (I got a grant btw!). I did it!!!!!!!!!!