feeling dumb and usless :( help

tater tot · Sep 29, 2008

Hi nursealanarae-

I just wanted to send a virtual hug your way. I feel your pain. I've been a nurse for 2 years, so I can tell you that you will reach a point where you feel more equipped to handle the stressful situations. But sadly, it just takes time. I'm in a new job now and feel quite frightened and useless myself (and queasy too, at times). You communicated in your post just how much you care about your patients, which is the most important quality you can have as a nurse- new or experienced.

Just take some deep breaths when things get hairy. Don't replay the little mistakes over in your mind. We all make them, and it's just not constructive to beat yourself up over them. You do the best you can, that's all you can ask of yourself. Keep at it; the other nurses (even the ornery ones) will recognize your hard work and dedication to the patient. I'm sending positive thoughts your way!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2008

i am in constant worry that my patient is going to crash and i won't know what to do.

this is very easy to remedy. mentally go through hypothetical situations so you will be ready for them if they do occur. learn the code blue protocol. review the steps of cpr.

i worked on a stepdown and for months was scared to death of getting a chest tube patient that would get a complication. i finally went to a medical library and spent a couple of days buried in nursing journals looking up articles on the care of chest tubes. i got so interested and involved in it that i started volunteering to take on these patients. guess what? other nurses on the unit were more than happy to let me take them. turns out they were just as scared, probably more than me, of a chest tube falling out or plugging up. go figure! i started getting called every time something wasn't working right with a chest tube on our unit. fear will do a number on you.

when i gave report to the next nurse she just gave me a lecture on all the stuff that i didn't do.

when you go home evaluate yourself. assess what you did well at and what you could have done differently. cry if you have to, but also smile and reward yourself when you've done well (stay away from the high carbohydrate stuff). make a note to yourself what to do differently next time. this is how we improve our organizational skills. it takes years to become well organized. it takes error to learn.

i just don't want to make mistakes.

no one wants to make mistakes. remember the rules of nursing you learned in school. don't do something you know will deliberately harm a patient. if something makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up--stop--rethink what you are doing or ask someone for an opinion, check a reference. there are lots of people in a hospital to go to for advice. when you get home, research it immediately. none of us knows everything. what we can know, however, is who and where to go for answers when we need them. what do you think the president does to always come out looking like he smells like a rose?

zahryia, LPN · Sep 30, 2008

i am in constant worry that my patient is going to crash and i won't know what to do.
this is very easy to remedy. mentally go through hypothetical situations so you will be ready for them if they do occur. learn the code blue protocol. review the steps of cpr.

i worked on a stepdown and for months was scared to death of getting a chest tube patient that would get a complication. i finally went to a medical library and spent a couple of days buried in nursing journals looking up articles on the care of chest tubes. i got so interested and involved in it that i started volunteering to take on these patients. guess what? other nurses on the unit were more than happy to let me take them. turns out they were just as scared, probably more than me, of a chest tube falling out or plugging up. go figure! i started getting called every time something wasn't working right with a chest tube on our unit. fear will do a number on you.
when i gave report to the next nurse she just gave me a lecture on all the stuff that i didn't do.
when you go home evaluate yourself. assess what you did well at and what you could have done differently. cry if you have to, but also smile and reward yourself when you've done well (stay away from the high carbohydrate stuff). make a note to yourself what to do differently next time. this is how we improve our organizational skills. it takes years to become well organized. it takes error to learn.
i just don't want to make mistakes.
no one wants to make mistakes. remember the rules of nursing you learned in school. don't do something you know will deliberately harm a patient. if something makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up--stop--rethink what you are doing or ask someone for an opinion, check a reference. there are lots of people in a hospital to go to for advice. when you get home, research it immediately. none of us knows everything. what we can know, however, is who and where to go for answers when we need them. what do you think the president does to always come out looking like he smells like a rose?

very powerful post. i try to do the evaluation after every shift and it has helped tremendously. i'm my own worst critic, so while i feel i'm not doing well, i've been getting great feedback from my colleagues.

the key is to give yourself a break and see this as a continous improvement project (for lack of a better term). give your self daily and/or weekly small goals and reward yourself when you reach them. keep evaluating yourself as it's a cyclical process.

good luck!!