did you ever think it would be like this?

Nurses New Nurse

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hey new nurses nurses,

did you ever think:

--that you would ever feel so tired (both mentally and physically)

--that you could not go back another day (because your confidence was shaken)

--that you are so afraid to make mistakes

--that you'd lay awake going through the day feeling like you forgot to do something or that you did something wrong

--that you're preceptors haven't prepared you for having a full load of pts

--that management/HR recruiters/educators/professors have lied to you, promising all these great opportunities but really nursing is full of horizontal abuse and has a crazy learning curve

--that you will never learn how to manage your time/organize your day

--that you were thrown to the wolves

--that this profession is harder than anything you've done in the past

--that you wish that staffing ratios were more fair

--that the floor gossip would be this mean

???

i have been a nurse for 5 months and i already feel such a lack of confidence, security or hope. i was wondering if these thoughts were common, or if it's all in my head.

please tell me that i'm not just a crazy newbie.:idea:

Is there room for one more in there? I think I need a padded room. I am so tired every day. I don't know if I can keep up with the pace. :o

I'm with you there!

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Specializes in Peds HH, LTC.

Add me to the list. I'm exhausted. I feel so overwhelmed. I felt like you were describing me in the original post.

How long do you give a place - to be fair - to determine if you are meant to be there or not?

I'm in LTC, and wondering if I made a mistake. If I should have gone to a hospital first.

But then again, some days are better than others ...

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Specializes in Geriatric, Medical/Surgical.

I have to say that at first I felt the same way! I didn't even take breaks because I spent the whole break worrying about my patients. I would have nightmares, and constantly be thinking about work on my days off.

I just switched from days to nights, and I like it better so far. There are less people around (no doctors, social workers, PT/OT, secretaries, managers, etc.), so I feel much less "lost in the crowd". I have been on orientation 4 1/2 weeks now, and I was about ready to quit, but making the switch to nights definitely changed my mind.

I still don't LOVE it, but it's ok now...but I'm sure I'll have my bad nights too. If you hate it maybe consider changing shifts, or get a new preceptor if you are still on orientation? Both of those helped me a LOT.

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Specializes in LTC Occupational Med,Internal Med.

Im sure it can be a bit much at times but i believe the key is to focus on the positives, we all wanted to be nurses(hopefully) to help people and if you have done that (im sure you have) then that will be enough to carry you(and us) through your learning curve, because that is all it is a LEARNING CURVE!! YOU WILL MAKE IT TO THE OTHERSIDE OF THE NEW GRAD........EXPERIENCED NURSE. GOOD LUCK!!!!

"The Hopefull one"

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I totally agree!! I have been out of nursing school for a little over a year and have had several jobs. The people, other nurses and others, that I have worked with, for the most part, have not been supportive, and it has made me have a very bad attitude about this whole thing. I tried working the 12 hour hospital shifts, 8 hrs nursing home, home health and now am trying to figure out what I want to try next. I have wound up being miserable in every job mainly because of the attitude of the other nurses. Most of them, it seems, are unhappy so they spread it around. Most of the facilities are short staffed or the others that I work with just don't want to get up and show me, that I don't feel any more experienced than when I got out of school. People have said it's the rural area where I live, the lack of opportunities, but I don't know. It's like, you get out of school and you ARE thrown to the wolves, the wolves will stand there and watch you struggle and maybe mess up!!

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Hello!

I have also been a new RN for a short time-- I graduated 5/19 and couldn't wait to get started out of school. Now at times I wish I could go back-- but for the most part love what I do.

I have also been faced with the need to change jobs, push back on seemingly lazy co-workers, fight for better preceptors, and at the end of the day sometimes I just want to cry. :(

But... I am changing jobs, going back to a hospital environment (I worked in one as an LPN while in school) and determined to make this job in OB in a small community hospital better for myself. My best advice: do consider changing jobs, shifts, preceptors-- something to make things better for yourself. Do your homework-- ask about staffing ratios, number of beds, nurse turn over rates, etc. before you change facilities or fields... sometimes in my expereince the grass looks greener but is just as brown underneath. Good luck-- I hope that you don't give up on nursing!

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Well if your crazy Then so am I! Hospital nursing is so challenging and I also wonder if I will ever get the hang of it.... Always short-staffed and It is so hard to be everywhere at once. I left feeling like a complete Doofus this weekend(noc's Wkends). No unit Secretary,Pharmacist I think sleeps all night; 8 patients with 3 transfers/admits 8 pages of new orders to input into the computer plus meds charting and lets not forget the DM pt with a glucose of 671 who refused to stay in bed and demanding to have the IV disconnected so she could wander around the Hosp @ 4am!:idea: OHHHH! I was just looking for jobs before I found this thread.You all are such a lifesaver in this sea of Chaos! THANK YOU:up:

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Hey Tencat - How long into your nursing career before you switched over to hospice? I am a brand new nurse and I have always been interested in hospice and wonder how long I need to be in med-surg before I can entertain thougts of changing to hospice?

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I've had a very interesting day here looking for a "new" job!! I am a new nurse as I said in a previous post and work on an ortho/neuro unit and I am just DONE with it! I'm too old for "that" kind of stress! Short staffed...awful preceptors....I'm just not cut out for the hospital life. However, I was offered two positions today. One in an Assisted Living Villiage and the other hospice. I think if you present yourself well in an interview that these days, the employer doesn't care if you have hospital experience. I was told from both interviews today that I will be "trained" for the job I hired on as. Oh boy...now I need to decide which route I want to take.......Much happier tonight that I was last night!:monkeydance:

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Specializes in retail NP.

well, i interviewed for 2 positions: one neurotele, one cardiac tele.

i'm so nervous to think about starting all over again...being the new kid on the floor, praying for a good preceptor/orientation, etc.

it's hard to get back up, especially because this will be my THIRD job in 6 months. i know that seems ridiculous, but seriously, finding the right 'fit' is a giant challenge.

at least this time i knew 1,000 questions to ask the managers.....

so, here i wait. anxiously.

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Good luck to you, hope everything works out. I really think that it's not unusual for new nurses to move around until we find what we want. I have had 5 jobs in a year and classmates that I have stayed in contact with have done about the same. There's no reason to be miserable in a job, there are so many out there.

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It's a HUGE challenge but I'm right there with ya! If you ever want to vent or share stories PM me! I am feeling really down about this whole thing but something will work out! It has too! I didn't go through 4 years of school to reach my goal and have this happen! Gotta think positive!

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