New RN, terrified of codes and emergencies

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi everyone,

I'm a new RN and have only been on my own as a nurse for a little over a month. I have anxiety, which I have had for a long time, that is starting to creep into other areas of my life.

I am constantly fearful of codes, emergencies, etc. I know the fear in general is normal, but I also feel that the level of anxiety I have about it definitely isn't normal. There aren't many codes on the unit I work, but the possibility of one happening is enough to cause me to be anxious. My greatest fear is to walk into a pt's room and find them unresponsive. Thinking of that makes me sick. I know what to do (in my head), but I feel like I'll just freeze or panic and be useless. I'm scared and it's starting to interfere with my desire to even continue being a nurse. I'm also on night shift so I don't know if that has anything to do with me feeling anxious and depressed.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Any advice?

Thanks guys!

So when I finished Nursing school I was so afraid of a code I majored in psyche, hoping I would never start an IV or run a code. I just wanted to talk to my patients. At the time of my graduation there were not many jobs in mental health and after waiting 5 months with an offer a day to go to the ICU, I finally went to the ICU, scared ...and loved it. I stayed in the ICU for 15 years and then became Administrative supervisor for the hospital for the next 16 years. I started most of the IVs, and ran all the codes. When I heard trauma call or a code blue or SWAT(rapid Response) I said a silent prayer and ran to it not away from it. It was a very rewarding career and I wouldn't change a thing. You'll see.. :-)

Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
I'm confused. You were the patient in the code, but your ACLS training helped you know what to do? Do you mean that you knew to call 911 for your symptoms before coding? In general, all the patients that I have coded have been pretty unresponsive and not really actively involved. I'm curious what your situation was, if you don't mind sharing.

Sorry, I was being a butthead. My participation was entirely passive. Pretty much everything I did up to and during my heart attack was wrong. Just trying to take some undeserved credit for still being alive.

Sorry, I was being a butthead. My participation was entirely passive. Pretty much everything I did up to and during my heart attack was wrong. Just trying to take some undeserved credit for still being alive.

That's awesome! í ½í±Œí ½í¸Š

Specializes in Critical care, Trauma.

I think what you're experiencing is normal. Until you've been in multiple codes and have a foundation of experience from which to draw from, you're not going to feel confident. I entered the hospital ~2.5 years ago and felt like I was walking on eggshells the first few months. I was not a brand new nurse but my 3 years of experience was in primary care so the most dramatic things we got were a couple vaso-vagals and one person that fell and needed stitches on their head while walking into the clinic (not even the patient -- the friend! But I digress...).

I spent my first 2 years in the hospital on a Post-Surgical/Oncology floor. I wouldn't really say that I got a LOT of experience with codes, rapid responses, code strokes, etc. Usually they were called a little prematurely and by the time everyone is in the room the patient has woken back up from passing out on the toilet, had just fallen, etc. I only took part in one legitimate, no-pulse code in those 2 years. So the experience you're getting is fantastic!

But one thing that I have drawn confidence from is in my experience with other things and I have grown to trust my own critical thinking. That, and I know that when emergencies happen, I'm *never alone*. What's the point of these different code situations? To get more hands to help and more eyes to assess and offer their opinion.

My confidence increased so much that I have transferred into Critical Care, which is an area that I *never* would have considered earlier in my career, and definitely not as that scared, timid little nurse that I was when I first started in the hospital setting. So the point is...give yourself some time. Ask questions. Let others know that you want to learn so that they can involve you in different learning experiences. Read up on things that make you anxious. I have found that watching lectures and videos of various emergency situations is more effective for me than it is for me to read about them, and it doesn't require that I wait until I happen to be present for an actual emergency.

You're on the right track!

I think what you're experiencing is normal. Until you've been in multiple codes and have a foundation of experience from which to draw from, you're not going to feel confident. I entered the hospital ~2.5 years ago and felt like I was walking on eggshells the first few months. I was not a brand new nurse but my 3 years of experience was in primary care so the most dramatic things we got were a couple vaso-vagals and one person that fell and needed stitches on their head while walking into the clinic (not even the patient -- the friend! But I digress...).

I spent my first 2 years in the hospital on a Post-Surgical/Oncology floor. I wouldn't really say that I got a LOT of experience with codes, rapid responses, code strokes, etc. Usually they were called a little prematurely and by the time everyone is in the room the patient has woken back up from passing out on the toilet, had just fallen, etc. I only took part in one legitimate, no-pulse code in those 2 years. So the experience you're getting is fantastic!

But one thing that I have drawn confidence from is in my experience with other things and I have grown to trust my own critical thinking. That, and I know that when emergencies happen, I'm *never alone*. What's the point of these different code situations? To get more hands to help and more eyes to assess and offer their opinion.

My confidence increased so much that I have transferred into Critical Care, which is an area that I *never* would have considered earlier in my career, and definitely not as that scared, timid little nurse that I was when I first started in the hospital setting. So the point is...give yourself some time. Ask questions. Let others know that you want to learn so that they can involve you in different learning experiences. Read up on things that make you anxious. I have found that watching lectures and videos of various emergency situations is more effective for me than it is for me to read about them, and it doesn't require that I wait until I happen to be present for an actual emergency.

You're on the right track!

Thank you!!

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I feel better knowing that how I feel isn't abnormal. I'm hoping that seeing a counselor for my anxiety will help me too.

No one survives a code and goes home with "no deficits".

Thats not always true, I've seen some who haven't even required cardiology f/u after they were worked up in hospital. My friends father at 86 years old was a full code, pulseless, apneic and unwitnessed. He was aggressively resucitated and came back after 45mins. He left the hospital a week later with no deficits, the hospital called him later and asked if they could study him to see why he survived without deficits. He declined. There are many that survivd codes without deficits, traumatic codes-had one on my unit and she wasnt even on tele, cold water immersions, immediate aed intervention pre-hosp., etc. Whether or not they have deficits post arrest, all depends on what caused the code in the first place in addition to comorbidities, and quality of CPR.

So I have been an RN for over 30 years. I wrote a poem about my first code. It was in nursing school and I was terrified but as the poem states. I had to jump in there even though I wanted to run away.

As a supervisor of a hospital and one who ran codes I still had a leap in my throat when I had the code blue call. Instead of thinking OMG they will die...Start thinking what you can do to help them live.. You will be fine and soon...it will be 30 years later and you will help a new nurse cope.

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