First month off orientation...reflections..

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I'm sure that, since I know so many who were hired around the same time I was, there are a lot of new grads out there who are about a month off of orientation. I'd love to hear about your overall impression! Sharing makes me feel better. So far...it's going okay for me. Here are my reflections:

I work days right now. Every evening prior to a work day I feel like I'm going to be sick. Heck, every time I think about my next work day I feel a little woozy. I complained about this to a coworker and she said "Oh, that sounds about right! Completely normal." It made me feel so much better. I'm glad I work with people who will listen to these concerns.

Everyone keeps saying "Give yourself a year!" "You'll never forget this first year." I wish I could magically wake up next year - with all the experience, of course.

In a way, I think the anxiety is a blessing. My constant cross checking and self doubt drives me to ask for help when I need it. I've asked some really really stupid questions.

I'm not going to lie and say I have made no mistakes. Some days are worse than others. I know I'll make more mistakes in the future, though I go to work each shift and say to myself "Today - one thing at a time! Do your best!"

There's a lot I have to improve on. A lot. I get so mad at myself when I realize I missed information in the chart or look at the EMAR and see a med is late. I'm surprised by how time flies. I feel like there must be a wormhole through spacetime from the 8:00 hour to 12:00 because I sure as heck always look up at the clock at noon and wonder where the time went.

It's all worth it when I get one sincere 'thank you.'

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Thanks for sharing! I start orientation on Monday and I really appreciate posts like this. You sound very conscientious and this year will fly by. Before you know it, you will start to be comfortable in your own skin. Keep up the good work! :)

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Damask, thanks for sharing. I have 2 more weeks of orientation, and while I know I am an intelligent person and did well in nursing school, I have many days that I feel like like I am asking dumb questions or forgetting things. I think orienting into nursing is much harder than school ever was. I know it will all come together and I will be a good nurse, but this first year seems like it will have many growing pains.

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Specializes in ED, ICU.

Congratulations on your first month, it's quite the accomplishment! :) It's so true - the first year does in fact fly by. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting at a desk taking the NClex and crying my eyes out, convinced I must have failed. I have now been working a full year (which seems strange to say) and I have learned more in the past 12 months than I thought imaginable. My best advice is to seize every opportunity you can - if your hospital provides arrhythmia courses, ask to take them! And afterwards sign up for an ACLS class. The more certifications you acquire the more valuable you are.

Keep up the good work!

Oh and ps - that "sick" feeling you get the night before a shift does go away, just give it a few more months lol

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i'm sure that, since i know so many who were hired around the same time i was, there are a lot of new grads out there who are about a month off of orientation. i'd love to hear about your overall impression! sharing makes me feel better. so far...it's going okay for me. here are my reflections:

i work days right now. every evening prior to a work day i feel like i'm going to be sick. heck, every time i think about my next work day i feel a little woozy. i complained about this to a coworker and she said "oh, that sounds about right! completely normal." it made me feel so much better. i'm glad i work with people who will listen to these concerns.

everyone keeps saying "give yourself a year!" "you'll never forget this first year." i wish i could magically wake up next year - with all the experience, of course.

in a way, i think the anxiety is a blessing. my constant cross checking and self doubt drives me to ask for help when i need it. i've asked some really really stupid questions.

i'm not going to lie and say i have made no mistakes. some days are worse than others. i know i'll make more mistakes in the future, though i go to work each shift and say to myself "today - one thing at a time! do your best!"

there's a lot i have to improve on. a lot. i get so mad at myself when i realize i missed information in the chart or look at the emar and see a med is late. i'm surprised by how time flies. i feel like there must be a wormhole through spacetime from the 8:00 hour to 12:00 because i sure as heck always look up at the clock at noon and wonder where the time went.

it's all worth it when i get one sincere 'thank you.'

that all sounds about right. you didn't mention crying. i cried all the way to work and all the way home some days. the year is an approximate time. sometime in the next 18 months or so, it will all come together and you'll realize that you've come to work three days in a row without feeling like you need to vomit. and you're totally correct that anxiety is the blessing that drives you to double and triple check yourself and prevents you from making a really. big. mistake.

it sounds like you're doing great! keep it up!

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Damask, thanks for sharing. I have 2 more weeks of orientation, and while I know I am an intelligent person and did well in nursing school, I have many days that I feel like like I am asking dumb questions or forgetting things. I think orienting into nursing is much harder than school ever was. I know it will all come together and I will be a good nurse, but this first year seems like it will have many growing pains.

You're right! I swear, I have the hardest time remembering the simplest tasks some days. Those who tell you that, once you've made a mistake once, you'll never make it again are right. Every time I find out I did something wrong it ends up on a subconscious checklist.

The things I find most distracting were not taught in school. This mainly involves interdisciplinary interests...were consults done, who did them, where is this patient going to go next, etc.

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Congratulations on your first month, it's quite the accomplishment! :) It's so true - the first year does in fact fly by. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting at a desk taking the NClex and crying my eyes out, convinced I must have failed. I have now been working a full year (which seems strange to say) and I have learned more in the past 12 months than I thought imaginable. My best advice is to seize every opportunity you can - if your hospital provides arrhythmia courses, ask to take them! And afterwards sign up for an ACLS class. The more certifications you acquire the more valuable you are.

Keep up the good work!

Oh and ps - that "sick" feeling you get the night before a shift does go away, just give it a few more months lol

Thank you! Good ideas. I have found myself going back to my old Med-surg books from school, too. They seem to make more sense all of the sudden.

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that all sounds about right. you didn't mention crying. i cried all the way to work and all the way home some days. the year is an approximate time. sometime in the next 18 months or so, it will all come together and you'll realize that you've come to work three days in a row without feeling like you need to vomit. and you're totally correct that anxiety is the blessing that drives you to double and triple check yourself and prevents you from making a really. big. mistake.

it sounds like you're doing great! keep it up!

crying...oh, you're right. there are definitely days i feel like crying. i go to the med room and fight it off. sometimes i hope to cry when i get home because i think it might feel good, but i can't. it's not even that anything terrible has happened. it's more frustration than anything else.

thanks, ruby!!

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Specializes in Cardiac.

It's been a year for me and I must say, IT DOES GET BETTER! All of a sudden things that seemed so difficult, or shifts that seem to go on forever, will suddenly begin to be much easier. I hated, I mean HATED my job, I thought I made a mistake picking nursing as a career, now I LOVE IT ALL. I'd cry too, a lot, think about all I've done on my shift, call back If I forgot anything. Now I just come home and go to bed, although, I do think about my night all the way home. There were things I thought I'd never get right, inserting an NG tube, doing suctioning, dealing with chest-tubes, hanging and managing high potent drips, now I just do it. I am never over confident, however, at this juncture I am more confident then I was a year ago. Good luck, hang in there and realize this is so normal and this too shall pass. :)

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Specializes in Medical Oncology, Alzheimer/dementia.

I'm only into my 2nd week of orientation. I haven't cried yet. I had a parent ask my preceptor if I was new, and my preceptor said "she's new to this hospital." I really appreciated that, but I couldn't figure out why he asked her that. Replaying the scene over in my head, I didn't think I did anything to give away that I was new. Maybe because we came in a pair everytime we entered the room. IDK, he was a very anxious first time dad.

The charting is overwhelming, but my preceptor says I'm doing a really good job. Having been an LPN for 11 years, it's so different working within a different scope. Sometimes I tell her I need something co-signed and she reminds me that I'm an RN now. I really like my job so far, but I haven't encountered much yet. Haven't met all the nurses and different personalities...I'm supposed to have 10 weeks of orientation so I know it's coming.

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I just got off orientation as well! It was definitely not what nursing school has prepared me for. I am getting the hang of it now, We were made to do this if not we would not be here. Working out the kinks can be stressful at times but we will get to the point where we won't have to think about doing things. I had an awesome preceptor who let me do pretty much everything, she prepared me to deal with a lot. Now I can hang with the big dogs and they love that. Everyday that I go in I feel more confident that I am progressing accordingly. Thank you for sharing, it feels good to know we all feel about the same. Which area do you work in? Good Luck!

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I am finishing up my last week of my 12 week orientation on a Med/Surg floor, I only work nights. Let me tell you, I work with the best group of nurses anyone could ask for, you've heard the saying "older (more experience) nurses eating new nurses alive". That has been far from the case for me, each and every nurse I have worked with has been more than willing to drop what they are doing to help. Without these wonderful nurses I don't know how I would have made it through these last 12 weeks. No crying yet, but I'm sure it will come.

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