Easing Into Nursing?

[missjennmb]

I have seen so many horror stories of starting nursing and getting thrown to the wolves. Is there a way to ease into it? Would it be better to work at a LTC facility instead of going right into the hospital (my goal is to work at a hospital) to have some skills before being expected to hit the ground running?

Or is it really not as bad, as far as new nurses being eaten alive, like it seems here on the forums?

I can handle the patients I think, and I can handle the families I think, but if I don't know what I'm doing and am treated like garbage by my coworkers just for being new (when I was hired with that being an upfront part of the deal) I think I might have problems.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Something to check out: Are there any hospitals that offer nurse internship programs in your area? This is often a good way to learn new skills and assuming progressive levels of responsibility.

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

I think the best way to learn is to jump in and start doing--but that is my opinion. When you interview inquire about how long the training/orientation lasts. Better yet, ask about job shadowing so you can actually experience 1st hand the unit you want to work in. During clinicals I was on a unit I despised so much you couldnt pay me enough to work on it.

As far as my personal exp I did not feel that I was thrown to the wolves at all. I think more people post about their negative experiences vs their positive. People get on here to post and ask for advice or to vent, typically not to brag or share their joy. So dont let the few posts you read defer you, just read them and be aware that bad things can happen, keep your eyes open and learn from those around you.

But as far as "easing into Nursing" I dont think there is such a thing.

Best of luck!!

[elkpark]

Keep in mind, too, that, just like with the newspapers and TV, only bad news is considered "news." Lots of people who are having bad experiences come here to vent about what a bad experience they're having and how unhappy they are about it. All the new grads who are having good experiences don't bother to start a thread about hi, just thought I'd let y'all know that my orientation is going pretty well ... :) I think one gets a fairly skewed version of many nursing-related issues on this board, for that same reason -- you only (or mostly, at least) hear the bad side of things.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

A couple of friends who did internships the summer before their final year did seem to benefit considerably. I didn't find that feasible, but in retrospect, I think it was merely inconvenient. If I had it to do over, I'd have found a way to make it work.

Even so, while orientation was very hard, I never felt "thrown to the wolves." It's clear that some are, and some are outright abused, but as elkpark noted, there are probably many who don't post that things have gone pretty well.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many times today's horrible ordeal is tomorrow's amusing anecdote. Despite a very supportive environment, there were times in my first year when I felt like giving up, and no amount of assurance from mentors that "you're doing fine," can quite outweigh ones own feeling that one isn't doing as well as one would have hoped. I fully intended to come out of school an excellent nurse, so it was tough finding myself struggling to be marginally competent.

Fast forward a couple of years and I now realize excellence is not achieved overnight, or without a lot of hard work. I'm much better than I used to be, and even pretty good at some things. Mostly, though, I've learned how to muddle through and who to turn to when I'm not 100% sure, and many of the shifts when I struggle would be challenging ones even for more experienced nurses. They might not struggle, but they'd definitely sweat.

It's an inescapable truth that nursing isn't for everyone. For some, the transition from student to nurse is too difficult, and for some it just isn't worth it. All too often, nurses who find that they can do the job come to realize that they just don't want to. That would happen even if conditions were ideal, but in the far from ideal world we live in, it happens more than it should. For most working nurses, it seems to be the case that conditions could and should be better, but some of the negatives are just inherent in the job. So you try to improve what you can, make the best of what you can't, and at the end of the day feel that on the whole, it's worth it.

Unfortunately, the only way to know where you'll wind up is to try it. I do believe, though, that even those who eventually discover that nursing isn't for them can take away important lessons that can serve them in their future careers. Heck, I still use some things I learned flipping burgers. Mostly, though, even though right now I'm playing on the computer and stalling getting ready for work, by morning I'll most likely feel I've done a useful night's work and got paid reasonably well for it. And I'll probably buy a lottery ticket on the way home.

[al7139, ASN, RN]

Nursing school does NOT prepare you for the real world of nursing. I really thought that I would be fine, but my first day on the floor was a rude awakening, and our hospital has an awesome preceptor program. I thought many times about quitting. I felt incompetent, and intimidated.

I lucked out in my choice of places to work and got good mentors, and a great work environment. One of my teachers from my school works at the hospital, and I used to joke with her that I wanted to be a student again, because students are so sheltered and protected. Out here, it's scary. Now that I have been a nurse for almost a year (11 months), I feel more confident, and ready to deal with the crazy shifts, staying late, irritable patients, angry families, and new situations, because I have a great team for support.

This unit welcomed me as a student and encouraged me to learn. They did not treat me as a burden. They encouraged me to apply here, and I was actually hired before I graduated.

Find a unit like that to get your feet wet. I went to where I was most comfortable as a student, and have never regretted it. I have help when I need it, the doctors respect me as a nurse, and those "difficult" patients are usually not so bad if I can get time to really talk to them and find out their needs.

It's not always wonderful, but I am never alone.

Amy

[missjennmb]

Thank you so much for the fantastic advice and feedback. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I know that there will be some place that I fit, I just had a feeling that the learning curve would be pretty sharp off the bat. I hadn't considered that there would be an issue of people just coming here to vent and the numbers being skewed, so that makes a lot of sense. Hopefully I just don't end up in one of those statistics. :)

I'm going to take the advice of seeing how things go during clinicals and going where I feel comfortable if they'll have me too. Maybe it wont be so awkward if I can do it that way.

The best thing about nursing, that appealed to me, was all of the options. I hope that I enjoy hospital nursing as much as I think I will, but I know that I can always do psych or doctors offices or whatnot, if thats not my cup of tea.

[elkpark]

It is true that the transition from nursing student to "real" nurse is notoriously difficult and frustrating -- there's no way around that! Just keep reminding yourself that all of us survived it, all the nurses you're working with survived it, and you will, too. The first year is murder; but grit your teeth and keep doing the best you can, and things will slowly get better as the year goes by.