have you ever lost it at work?

Most nurses if they were completely honest would admit to losing it at work,at least once. We are ONLY human afterall.

I loose it at work once a month. I blame it on PMS.

Swtooth

Absolutely! I know I've been at the end of my rope many times. I like the suggestion above about taking a couple of days off. It may help.

Listen to your preceptor. Don't run. You can do this. Try to hang in there because it won't be better anywhere else.

Yes, I've had a more than a few "moments" myself. We all have, especially at first.

Take care and nuture yourself.

Take care and nuter yourself.

BWAH! Do you know how funny that looks in the context of this thread? (Yeah, I know it's not quite spelled that way, but it's mighty close!)

Everyone has times when it's all too much. Yours was probably compounded by coming in sick, so your defenses were already down. We've all been there, trust me.

Yep - "losing it" does happen. The biggest thing that helps me: Don't be afraid to ask for help from your coworkers and preceptor when you feel the stress starting to snowball.

had the family from hell. nothing worked couldn't get an iv in, orders got lost...you name it.

i still have those damned dreaded off days where nothing seems to go well; thank goodness for these days. why?... they give you good reason to be grateful when you have a pleasant shift.

almost every night after work i can barely walk and i'm brain dead but i usually feel like i did ok. i'm almost offf orientation.

i still have nights like these. important thing is to remember not to schedule yourself when your off orientation for five nights straight!

once i started crying i just couldn't pull myself together. i could no longer function.

been there done that! you'll find you're less apt to do this the more experience you have and the more things you can anticipate happening before they actually go awry.

i should have never gone to work sick. now i'm worried that i was doing so well on orientation but now they'll think i can't do it. does anyone else ever feel like this?

[color=olive]being at work sick, especially in a health care setting, makes the work that much more stressful; besides, your patients are wondering, "if this person is coughing, wheezing, and slurping juices back up into nasal passages, this person is using poor judgement to show up for work, is s/he going to be able to judge rightly when it comes to my own health?"

[color=#808000]please be positive and consider all the reasons why you entered this field, before condemming yourself to outer mongolia; you can do this work! everyone else was in the same boat you find yourself in!

Every nurse, new or old, loses it sometimes. It is just a matter of getting back in the flow, remember we are all human and subject to stress and emotional changes sometimes. Good luck.

Please see someone that you can talk to fully and honestly - a friend, parent, therapist. Whatever the cause is, it's leading to panic and anxiety symptoms. You may find it's not your job at all. I, too, would listen to your preceptor - she can see things that you may not. And when you find that things seem to be moving too fast, or you feel overwhelmed, that is the time to slow down, not to hurry. Take a step back, take a deep breath, and ask for help. I still do this after 30 years. No one can do it all.

Since you mentioned that you are nearly off orientation, may I assume that you are a new nurse and this is your first nursing job? If so, remember that nursing school is just the beginning, it's the diving board from which you jump into the wide wonderful(?) world of nursing. Every time I change jobs I get that feeling like why in hell did I do this? Early in your career you don't have the years of honing your time management skills, your organizational ability, and your nurse radar to support you through change. So you are developing those now in addition to learning a new job, a new unit, a whole new set of coworkers, a new facility, strange patients every day, need I go on? Take a deep breath and listen to your preceptor. Ask her to reinforce to you in detail her perception of how you are doing. Presumably as the experienced nurse, she can step back and see how your skills are developing. For crying out loud, girl, take it easy on yourself!!