Ready to quit. Advice please!

Nurses General Nursing

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I've been a nurse for 2 years now and my second year has been much worse than the first. I find myself not wanting to go to work because I know I'm going to make some stupid mistake. I feel like I have been making a lot of mistakes recently and I go home feeling guilty after many of my shifts. It makes me wonder if my first year I was too stupid to see all the mistakes I was making or if there's something wrong with me? I'm ready to quit nursing and do something else before I really screw up something major and hurt someone. I thought I would start feeling more comfortable and more like a nurse at this point in my career. I actually feel worse because anytime I do something stupid I think I should know better. Has anyone else had feelings similar to this after atleast 2 year in nursing? Will I ever be a real nurse? I hate feeling the anxiety and guilt and like I am incompetent.

Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.

Two things.

I am not a nurse yet

Mmmm hmmmmm.

that bathroom break might be important but should it be the top of the list?

Yes they are important. In fact I think nurses should do what they can to make their bathroom breaks more important and stand their ground about it. Nurses already do too much for others and not enough for themselves.

I understand your anxiety around making mistakes. It doesn't help that when you are trying to concentrate, there are family members gathered around you whining about stuff like getting Mom extra Ranch dressing for her salad, when you are trying to focus on her medical care.

It fries my behind that it's the hotel experience stuff that patients and families complain about and take up most of your time with.

Chris ,where are you? people are comin up w/lots of possble solutions, but we don't know the caliper of your mistakes, I'm guessing youv'e not talked to anyone about your feelings,& to stay that long, takes alot of hutzpa, but can be detrimental to your all around health.please forward more info! sue

Natcat I was meaning a patient not the nurse on the bathroom breaks - implying the importance of prioritizing.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I am a little confused by some of them. I really don't have any anger management issues or issues with doctors and am not sure where that whole thread came from. I work PRN (maybe 6-8 shifts a month) in the hosptial float pool. As far as my "stupid mistakes" are concerned. They really are stupid, for instance the other night I gave 1mg of Ativan (0.5ml) instead of 0.5mg. Then another day when it was crazy busy on a tele floor with 6 patient and 2 waiting on me to discharge them plus one other that had an upset family, I gave a lady her metoprolol without first checking her blood pressure which was 90/58. I usually always check vitals myself and not rely on the ones the aide took at 7am when I pass my 9am meds. I could go on but nothing I've done has resulted in any injury to any patient and I'm sure they do happen to everyone. I just feel so bad when I go home after a shift when I've made a mistake. I'll think what if something happens to the patient, I should have done this or I should have done that, etc... I'll think about it for days and feel like work will be calling any minute to tell me not to come back. I've never been written up or in trouble so I really don't understand what my problem is. Maybe I do need to just slow down. (I would love to have the time to take regular bathroom breaks or even one in the first 9 hours of my shift). Who knows what I've done wrong and don't even realize it. I think I would like to try something other than hospital nursing but the schedule is so flexible and I can't give that up with regards to my family right now. Is it ever going to get better? Are there any nursing jobs out side of the hospital with the ability to work anytime 24/7? Should I get out of nursing and just dedicate myself to playing the lottery? I really do appreciate all of your input.

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