Don’t think it is for me

[Bananaman82]

I started working at my very first nursing job in Dec. Med/Surg in a small town hospital. We have about 20-25 beds. I have been having anxiety attacks and can’t sleep. Everyone says I’m doing good but I really feel like I can’t do it. I have never been scared to go to work before. I work nights and have been having 4 patients which isn’t even close to the 7 everyone else has. And I still get behind. I don’t think I can keep up with everyone. Should I abandon ship? Or just keep trying until something happens?

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

There are a bunch of discussions similar to this one, so I won't spend my post here reiterating them. All I have to offer is encouragement; that first year of being a nurse teaches you more about self-reliance than anything else I know of, so there's not much else I can do.

You are a brand new nurse, and being told that you are doing well. That's a great start for only a few months! No one expects you to be perfect at this right now - and it's impossible to give perfect care to seven patients at once anyway. All I can say is that as you go, you will become more confident and it's going to feel better (most of the time). We all have shifts throughout our careers that make us question this choice. Just by showing up and using what you know to help your patients get well, you're already doing everything you need to. As you gain more experience, you'll just add tools to your orificenal, which always helps. Hang in there!