feeling unprepared after lvn school

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2007

I'm an LVN. I learned more within my first year of working, than I ever did during school. The clinical rotations of school are tremendously unrealistic, because it is highly unlikely that you'll be performing full-care on 1 or 2 patients any time during your career.

nghtfltguy, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2007

you will be fine...

you do learn more in your first year of nursing than you did in nursing school.

because you are actually doing it... the commuter is right~

you learn more by doing it... you are not gonna be doing that kinda rotation stuff unless you are a float nurse.. which you aren't... hospitals for the most part don't put new nurses in the float pool...

anyway....

welcome to your reality shock....

deal with it

live with it

learn to love it...

you will be fine~~

:cool:

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2007

welcome to your reality shock....
deal with it
live with it
learn to love it...
you will be fine~~

Hee heeeeee!!!!! So true! So far, I've dealt with it, I've lived with it, and now I'm learning to love it. Of course, I'm not loving it when I'm in the midst of the craziness, but I am learning to be very proud of myself for the bite I have chosen to take, and how well I am chewing it considering.

Sounds like you're getting there, too, eastxlvn! Thanks for the encouragement. It's nice to know that it really does get better, and they're not just saying that....

destiney · Dec 16, 2007

Well I am a new grad and I start my new job on Monday! I'm nervous and feel like my clinicals will be nothing like on the job. I'm sooo nervous because the DON changed my position from a med nurse to a charge nurse. I felt like running out to get insurance. But the DON said old habits die hard and she feels confident in training new grads.....but I guess in due time ill learn the job and become more confident.

lil' girl, LPN · Dec 16, 2007

i have been an LVN in texas for about a year now and just in the last six months i have starting feeling like i know what i am doing! after graduating i felt unprepared by lvn school. i understood basic concepts of pt care and factual information. i was definatley prepared to take boards but felt i lacked clinical experience. i actually felt like i learned more valuable information on the job after starting to work on a med surg floor. i am just wondering if anyone else felt this way after graduating from lpn/lvn school. is it normal to feel unprepared after graduation, there is sooo much knowledge we learn over 1 years time and only a couple of weeks are clinicals which cannot prepare you for taking care of actual people on your own. also did anyone else get a reality shcok when you actually started working. clinicals were nothing like really working and taking pts.

YEP! Felt like " I wonder if these people that hired me know that I don't know what the &*ll I am doing". I think we all feel like that when we first start. As I said before, nursing school only begins with that first job! :uhoh3:

LesMonsterRN, ADN, RN · Dec 17, 2007

A wise nurse once told me (a clinical instructor in my LPN program, I believe) to consider the first year out of school as the unofficial "second year" of school. You learn more in your first year of actual practice than you can imagine. I doubt anyone feels completely prepared to practice right out of school, so you fit right in. :)

pagandeva2000, LPN · Dec 18, 2007

A wise nurse once told me (a clinical instructor in my LPN program, I believe) to consider the first year out of school as the unofficial "second year" of school. You learn more in your first year of actual practice than you can imagine. I doubt anyone feels completely prepared to practice right out of school, so you fit right in. :)

Sometimes, I think they need to include the first year and 8 months as well:lol2:. When I look at myself now, versus when I started as an LPN a year ago, I see that I did, in fact, come a LONG, LONG way. I still think that there is loads more to learn, but, I do think better. I still criticize myself from time to time and wish that I was a bit more on the ball, but I learned to be patient with myself and keep the my ego in check. The Creator will bring me what I need to know when the time is right.

LesMonsterRN, ADN, RN · Dec 19, 2007

Sometimes, I think they need to include the first year and 8 months as well:lol2:. The Creator will bring me what I need to know when the time is right.

I think that's why we call it practice - every nurse should consider each time they perform a procedure another chance to improve their skill and knowledge. At least I do and I've been a nurse for a while. :penguin:

pagandeva2000, LPN · Dec 19, 2007

I think that's why we call it practice - every nurse should consider each time they perform a procedure another chance to improve their skill and knowledge. At least I do and I've been a nurse for a while. :penguin:

I know. There is ALWAYS something new to learn in the medical profession. That is what makes it very interesting.

djh5197 · Dec 19, 2007

I agree whole hearted. I'm a new nurse on a telemetry floor. Nursing school in no ways prepared me for the floor. I went through orientation with not one single problem (12 weeks). As soon as I finished orientation all hell hit. The tele tech was coming to me left and right with changes in heart rhythm, pt's having chest pain. I too felt overwhelmed. When I start to feel ok and say to myself I can handle this, something happened to push my confidence back a notch. I think my biggest problem is the adjustment from nursing student to RN. I have to understand that I've accomplished the goals that I needed to reach this point in my career and now I must have the confidence needed to suceed in the job.

I'm not sure if telemetry is my field of interest, but for now I will continue to strive everyday to learn as much as I can until my next adventure.