Feeling bad about self as a newer/unskilled nurse

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Specializes in LTC & Rehab Supervision.

I've been mostly on the LTC unit, sometimes the rehab unit at my job. I'm still fairly new, I only started as an LPN in October 2019. However, I just feel like I don't....KNOW....ANYTHING.

One of my former classmates works on the rehab unit regularly and she seems to know so much more than me. I know she is in BSN school, but I'm also in ADN school. I just can't shake this feeling that I am lesser and know FAR less than her, and other nurses.

They ask better questions. "Did you take the blood pressure again?" on a patient who had an abnormal BP the shift before. (In which I didn't even THINK to check the blood pressure again)

I just don't know what it is. I feel so stupid and incompetent. Is it because of my LTC environment? Or am I just struggling?

I've never been called to the office before or called out, but I feel so lowly of myself and it's starting to sting. I thought RN school would be elping, but it doesn't seem to be. I don't know basic values like H&H (In which now I'm learning on Youtube for starters....)

I feel like I need a refresher course or something. I feel like I know NOTHING, like I am so mentally slow or something.... Help! ?

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I was a physician in my country, very poor, so I got a nurse diploma and pursued the American dream. I have mental confusion, because I learned English on my late 30s. My confusion occurs when I speak English only at work, but everything in my mind is in Spanish. For the manner you write, I assume English is not your primary language, so my advice is to copy and paste your homework in Google translate, change to your language. Then, write your answer in your language. Once you finished copy and paste in Google translate. Your answer is in English now, then enter to Grammarly, and check grammar errors. When you do your exams, take your time to mentally translate the question and get the answer in your mind, then translate mentally the answer to English. Check the option more close to your answer, and VOILA!! you got the correct answer. I got 3.97 GPA on my masters, using that method. But because nobody speak English around me, I am forgetting English! 

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Specializes in psych.

Comparing ourselves to others NEVER ends well. There will always be people who know more than us. We also can't ever really know what is going on inside someone else.

As a new nurse you are on a steep learning curve and every time someone points out something (like retaking the blood pressure) it's a chance to learn. I bet you won't forget that lesson! Try to see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.

It seems like you are carrying a lot of shame about yourself. Shame is the idea that there is something wrong with you and that no one else feels this way. Try to redirect your mind when it starts telling you the story that you are no good. You are a beginning a new and challenging career, it takes YEARS before a good nurse feels competent.

 

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Specializes in LTC & Rehab Supervision.
On 7/25/2021 at 5:20 PM, Gumercinda said:

I was a physician in my country, very poor, so I got a nurse diploma and pursued the American dream. I have mental confusion, because I learned English on my late 30s. My confusion occurs when I speak English only at work, but everything in my mind is in Spanish. For the manner you write, I assume English is not your primary language, so my advice is to copy and paste your homework in Google translate, change to your language. Then, write your answer in your language. Once you finished copy and paste in Google translate. Your answer is in English now, then enter to Grammarly, and check grammar errors. When you do your exams, take your time to mentally translate the question and get the answer in your mind, then translate mentally the answer to English. Check the option more close to your answer, and VOILA!! you got the correct answer. I got 3.97 GPA on my masters, using that method. But because nobody speak English around me, I am forgetting English! 

Thank you, but I am a native English speaker! I'm not sure how you got that from my post. My apologies!

 

18 hours ago, Eileen J Glover RN said:

Comparing ourselves to others NEVER ends well. There will always be people who know more than us. We also can't ever really know what is going on inside someone else.

As a new nurse you are on a steep learning curve and every time someone points out something (like retaking the blood pressure) it's a chance to learn. I bet you won't forget that lesson! Try to see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.

It seems like you are carrying a lot of shame about yourself. Shame is the idea that there is something wrong with you and that no one else feels this way. Try to redirect your mind when it starts telling you the story that you are no good. You are a beginning a new and challenging career, it takes YEARS before a good nurse feels competent.

 

Thank you so much. I needed to hear this.

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Nursing is not for everybody.  I brought my sister to usa in 2012, she refused to study nursing, instead she studied computer science, associate, bachelor, and masters. Even though her english is hard to understanding, she is doing 100k in 2021. She is a software engineer, and earns very well. So is you feel that you do not grab health concept easy, maybe HEALTH CAREERS ARE NOT FOR YOU. LOOK ANOTHER CAREER IF YOU ARE UNDER 50. 

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”Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

As crazy and awful as it may feel, they say feeling this is normal at first. I'm a new RN looking for my first nursing job and I am so nervous about the learning curve; it makes me quite anxious actually. 

Give it some time, you're also in nursing school so you have lots going on. Maybe things will get better once you have been there for a bit longer. And if things don't become smoother, maybe look into a different specialty? Just because things aren't working out for us, doesn't mean we're dumb; we just haven't found the right match for us. Keep your head up!

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I helped a lot to a dominican new grad nurse, I thought her everything I knew, then she turned evil. Once I was ending my shift, the supervisor asked me to stay because the night nurse reported sick. I stayed, and the dominican appeared and said that always take my patients. I said that I was the afternoon with them and the supervisor asked me to continue night shift. She treated me so bad and shouted me that I took the other patient side. She was humble and courteos when she was new. After I thought her everything, she turned arrogant and very disrespectful. Then, I understood why nobody wants to train new RN. 

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Specializes in NICU.
On 7/24/2021 at 3:21 PM, Lynker said:

I thought RN school would be elping, but it doesn't seem to be. I don't know basic values like H&H (In which now I'm learning on Youtube for starters....)

No need to worry,you should buy some critical care books or read lippincotts  Nursing  how to book,read when you get home when the questions of the day are fresh in your mind.

I wanted to know more about OB so I purchased the bible Williams Obstetrics  and read it everyday after work.

Some nurses have other relatives in the family that are RNs  and can discuss ,learn etc,  but don't worry, open your eyes and ears ,read,look up videos, and learn,soon you will be ahead of your BSN friend.Good luck.

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Specializes in NICU.
On 8/2/2021 at 5:18 PM, Gumercinda said:

After I thought her everything, she turned arrogant and very disrespectful. Then, I understood why nobody wants to train new RN. 

As a courtesy when a nurse is doing extra hours past her shift, she agrees to it on the condition that she keeps same patients.A nice well run unit would  ensure this.

As for your Dominican ingrate ,don't let that stop you from sharing your knowledge ,because  anyway eventually she will run into the wrong nurse.

Interesting the way you did your papers due to language difficulty,our friend did something similar (pre -Google day) in medical school in Latin America.

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Thanks for share your thoughts. Actually, I am out of nursing because I stopped my work 2 years to study the FNP. I got certified by AANP after one year. Now, nobody wants to hire new FNP without experience. They expect at least 2 years of experience, so the applicant turned on "independient provider" and the company will save $$$$, instead to pay for "collaborative physician". Now I am applying for RN jobs, it is very difficult....my previous employer gave me the chance of being rehired, but after blood test, fringerprints, etc..and asking my highest degree diploma. They did not call back. I call human resources, and nobody answers. I think they are asking themselves why pay me 2 extra dollars per hour, just to do the same work I did 3 years back?? Hospitals need nurses with associates, one year of experience to pay 21-24 dollars. They do not need FNP working as RN because they will pay 30 dollars for perfoming the same work of associates. I can't find a job as RN neither FNP.I graduated the masters with a GPA 3.97, study serves for nothing. I totally regret to become a FNP.....for every new FNP position there are at least 400 applicants as per indeed reports

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