I am new to nursing but I don't want to do this anymore

Nurses New Nurse

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Hi, I have been an RN for about 6 months now. I am in a residency program and have been on my own for a month now. I am having a really rough time and have been thinking of quitting. I can't eat, I can't sleep. I have been wondering what other career options I have since I have only been out of school for a couple of months. I really need some advice.

Specializes in Neuroscience.

Thank you for clarifying where your difficulties lie. You are one person with five patients, a new nurse, and you feel overwhelmed. First, this will pass usually after a year. Every single day you are going to improve in prioritizing, recognizing a decline, calling and speaking with doctors to get what you need, and providing great care.

If you want to learn how to play a sport or an instrument, are you good the first six months during the sport? Are you good the first year? No! It takes practice and time to become proficient at anything, including nursing.

Talk to your PCP about your stress and inability to fall asleep. Otherwise, give it time. You will be a completely different nurse in 12 months than you are now. Hang in there!

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
Like other than bedside nursing what other type of job would I be able to get with only 6 months of a bedside nurse experience

This is not uncommon (as previously mentioned). You need to be kind to yourself. It takes a good year to transition from task-based nursing to the very edge of competent nursing care (and longer to push yourself into the middle of competent care). You have a high-acuity specialty job - yay you! Stick it out for six more months. Learn all that you can. At that point, yes there are a lot of non-bedside jobs. Don't sell yourself short. Also consider scheduling a physical to make sure there's nothing clinically wrong with you (thyroid, depression screen, etc.) Hang in there. I promise you'll feel different in a year.

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Being a new nurse is SO hard! But you have to give yourself a break. Give yourself at least one year in your current position. I used to do a quick review in the car ride home of all the good things I did at work and the things I would have liked to do better. I also made a conscious effort to process emotions before walking in the door (before taking out on loved ones). Hang in there and it will get better. If after 6 more months you don't like it then consider switching and you will have a year under your belt, which looks better than 6 months. Also, consider taking a few days off to help relax.

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That first year is terrible but it calms down and then one day you realize you are fine, getting your breaks, charting all done, etc. After the first 30 or 40 times I came home and said, "What a day!" I realized that what I was experiencing was baseline and not worth commenting on to my spouse.

Don't forget your self-care: Enjoy your days off, get exercise, pack good lunches when you work, and generally be kind to yourself.

You will ALWAYS think abut how much more you could have done if you weren't so busy. One day, two of my patients were off the unit for procedures and I spent a lot of time doing education with a whole family about a new diagnosis. I won a customer service award! BECAUSE I HAD TIME.

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry, Cardiac/Renal, Ortho,FNP.

Generally speaking...you're freaking out too early. EVERYBODY feels overwhelmed the first year even if they say they don't. Heck, I felt overwhelmed year three! I got anxiety the day before my shifts started. In a way that's good-you don't get complacent but it does age you a little. Nursing is everywhere and pay depends on your level of competence or risk so you have options. Bedside care ain't for everybody but if you are doing a good job then I'd say stick it out for at least that first year, you are already done with half or more, then move on. The job is supposed to be intense-people live or die by what goes on there so it's not for the faint of heart. If you decide to stick it out then know that you will change and adapt if you just let it happen, I experienced it and saw it happen time and time again. It's the nature of the job. Good luck.

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Specializes in as above.

why did you get into nursing in teh first place?

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

Any field you go into will be different from what you thought it would be. I would stick it out for a while, because if you jump into something else too soon , you might not like that either.

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You should talk to education if you feel you need more time on training. I didnt get a residency...my first job out of school was in a nursing home.. on a dementia floor..with 50 residents..and I was the only nurse..with 2 techs. You can imagine how stressed out I was & how much I cried. Then I got into a pediatric vent unit caring for 4-6 at one time. After that I joined an ED where I get anywhere from 8-10 at one time and patients often wait 2 days for a bed..mostly tele pt's. But I stuck it out and stayed with it so I'm not afraid anymore like I used to be. Take it as a challenge. You went to nursing school, you are smart, you will get through it and you will find your niche.

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Whoa, whoa, whoa...

You have to take it easy there!

You mentioned "even though the most patients I've had is 5"...do you understand how crazy it is you're even able to do that? Taking care of five acute patients for 12 hours is badass, no matter how well you pull it off. Like other posters have said, sometimes you won't deliver the care you want, but who cares? The system is set up against nurses, and set up against providing good care -- we do our best and remain proud of what we're able to accomplish.

It took a solid year, but probably more like 2 years to feel completely confident about walking into any at day work. It'll happen for you, you just gotta pay the entry fee.

Hang it there, keep it real.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

You can probably get a job in home health. Where I live, there are so many opportunities for this and they love to take in new grads. The pace is slower. One patient at a time.

I am telling you that because you can leave the hospital if you choose. Sticking it out for a year may be what you choose, but you don't have to.

I started in inpatient psych. I found that I often mentally took my work home with me. I would wake up thinking I was still in the hospital and had forgotten my patients. I had dreams about work. I lay in bed at night ruminating about what I could have / should have done to prevent this or that. It got better for me over time, but I left the inpatient setting after 11 months.

No matter what you decide, learn some ways to clear your mind and take time for yourself. Exercise, yoga, meditation, reading, music, a hobby, something. This helps to prevent burnout.

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It's not abnormal to feel overwhelmed when starting. Have you considered asking your manager to assign you a mentor that you can talk to? Perhaps it will help alleviate some of the stress you are feeling if you can talk about the cases that are bothering you with someone?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

I'm not going to over complicate this answer. You don't know me but trust me all of us here have been where you're at. Soooooo, trust me, it gets better. You will become more efficient and learn your own way of getting things done. You'll learn that you can't do everything and you'll make peace with that. In less than a year you'll be a sarcastic jaded nurse like the rest of us. Lol, hang in there, I promise you're going to enjoy the freedom that being a nurse gives you when you're not at work.

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