Feeling lost.

Hi everyone,

Just looking for some advice and somewhere to talk.

I just graduated from a psychiatric nursing program last December, and I'm feeling inadequate as a grad nurse. I feel fairly confident with my psychiatric nursing skills like doing one to ones and running groups etc, but I am feeling overwhelmed when it comes to the medical side of things, and I'm not sure if this is because our program didn't have enough med-surg or if it's because I'm new and being hard on myself or...

For example, the other day our psychiatrist came up and asked me to describe to him what delirium is and how it differs from dementia/depression. I got so flustered and all I could remember was that it presents with acute confusion and can sometimes be mistaken for other illnesses and that it can be cause by something like a UTI. Anyways, he didn't seem very impressed that I didn't know what it is, and I felt incredibly unprofessional not knowing.

I also still have to look up medications often, to double check for side effects and interactions etc. Is this normal or should I know better by now?

Should I be able to describe illnesses and medications off the top of my head without having to look them up or am I overreacting?

Thanks in advance, just feeling like a terrible nurse and looking for some honest feedback =(