Ever feel "spacey" at work?

[chenoaspirit]

I was always so OCD with my work...everything had to be so-so for my patients. Well, lately Ive noticed how I take shortcuts (nothing major and nothing bad) but trying to get things done. Ive noticed that I feel "spacey" and so clumsy and forgetting things. I cant remember my patients' names and having a hard time making decisions and critical-thinking. Do you think its work overload? I mean, I consider myself a good nurse, usually. But lately I dont know and question myself daily. Has anyone else been thru this?

[RNperdiem, RN]

As a new nurse, I had an experienced nurse describe this behavior as "spinning". You try harder and harder to work faster and more efficiently and find yourself simply spinning in place getting less done.

Take a deep breath. Spinning is cured by finding a time management system that works for you. There is no shortcuts here since everyone's system is different, customized and learned by experience.

I keep a written list of things to remember. Once something is written down, I don't need to juggle another mental reminder, so I can focus on one thing at a time.

Another way I found to keep the spacey feeling away is to get enough healthy food to eat and drink so I don't get depeleted.

Best of luck to you OP.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Sometimes, but it's usually due to having a rough start to the shift, such as walking right into admissions/discharges/some other crisis. Once I get my bearings though, the feeling passes.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'm in nursing school right now, I feel like that sometimes, what usually helps you focus, didn't nursing school perpare you enough for the real world?

Nursing school doesn't prepare you for the real world. Nursing school prepares you for the world of ivory-tower nursing that you see only in textbooks and on the NCLEX.

NS does gives you the fundamental knowledge of nursing so you can go out there and be a safe entry level practicioner in the real world. But nothing prepares for you what you'll encounter in the real world other than actually getting out into the real world. The real world is very unpredictable.

There's even a name for all of this: reality shock. It hits most new grads upside the head in the first few weeks of nursing.