Feeling insecure at times

Specialties PACU

Published

So I've been a pacu nurse the whole 5 years of my career, started in an outpatient surgery center and moved into a smaller community hospital and now I'm in a larger hospital pacu. I struggle wth working along side other nurses who have 20+ years of critical care experience. They are all amazing and I have never been in a position where I felt like I was totally in over my head. Pacu is awesome at having supportive staff right there when you need them. However I just have this occasional nagging feeling that I'm less than when compared to my coworkers. At his point in my career I love pacu though and moving to another unit, where I would have to work full time nights to start doesn't work with my family situation. (My husband works graves). Any thoughts would be appreciated.... maybe things people have done to get over such a hump? Is this just a normal feeling when you start to realize there is always so much to learn in nursing? Thanks so much for reading!

I have felt the same. But I'm an older nurse, I felt the younger nurses knew more, were more up to date. I sometimes think I manage to get by as an average nurse while co-workers seem to be brilliant nurses?

Maybe you could think of one specific area you feel "less than" in. Can you pick just one thing, procedure, drug, intervention, that makes you feel less? Hit the books or the internet and study, pretend you have to teach a class on the subject. Or is it something more general, assessing a patient, taking too long to do routine things?

Google feeling like you're faking it and you will get 100's of hits.

1 Votes
Specializes in PACU.

I felt this way too, and still do at times.

You can start simple by getting a great resource like Drains' Peri-Anesthsia Nursing ( Drain's PeriAnesthesia Nursing: A Critical Care Approach, 7e: 978

People are different. There will always be someone better than you are different jobs, but it's nothing to lose sleep over. Just do your job to the best of your ability and don't worry about how others are doing at it. Be professional, stay safe with your patients, and move them on to the next phase of care in a timely manner while minding their course pic care. The only thing I cared about in my Pacu colleagues is that they showed up on timex kept patients safe, and didn't dump on others (charted accordingly given the circumstances).

Specializes in CAPA RN, ED RN.

I would explore the CPAN/CAPA exam. It is a real boost to gain the knowledge base that you have to have to pass the test.

If you love what you do just keep doing it. One day you will notice that you are the person with 20+ years of experience who is helping others. And don't worry about what you know in relation to others, we are all learning. I have been an RN for almost 45 years, mostly in critical care areas, and I am still working at making my practice better. I love to help others when they have questions or need a "consult." I'll bet most of those people who have been a nurse for a while stay in it because they love it and want to help others be better nurses too. Keep looking for those people. You probably are already one of them. I'll bet people check with you when they want to figure something out for their patient.

Specializes in Surgical, PACU.

Normal feelings for most Nurses I would say. I have been in PACU for 15 years and am still learning, which is what makes a good Nurse. The nurse that thinks they know it all is a nurse who will potentially make a terrible mistake, that sort scares me, rather work with folk who know they don't know everything.

1 Votes

This is not necessarily a bad thing. I've been a nurse for five years with most of that time spent in the PACU but I do have adult and peds ICU experience as well. The nurses I work with never stop to impress me every day with their exceptional skills and knowledge. I think of this as a good thing because I can learn so much from them. Also, look at it from the perspective that when your patient starts to deteriorate it's much better to be surrounded by amazing nurses than the opposite. As long as you feel as though you are providing safe care to your patients I would not worry about finding another unit to work it. If you want to increase your skill or knowledge base talk to your manager to see if there are any classes you can take. Are you CPAN certified? This is another option.

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