Got nightmares?

[RITA2007]

I'm a new RN on an orthopedic/neuro med/surg floor and frequently have nightmares about being on my unit with things spinning out of my control (probably because that's my biggest fear). I often feel that way because I'm pulled in all different directions. I do my best to prioritize but it's tough. I just finished a three day ETLA course (emergency treatment of lethal arrhythmias) and last night I was dreaming about EKG strips! Drove me nuts!

Just wondering, any new RNs experiencing the same thing? Sleepless or nightmare-filled nights?

[mamason]

I used to work the 7A-&p shift on a busy tele/stepdown unit. I had a recurring dream of running around all day and realizing at 6:45PM that I had not givent a single ordered med on any of my pts. I would wake up in a sweat and my heart would be pounding. Talk about STRESS!!!!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I regularly dream that I'm late for work, can't find a clean uniform to put on, the food I'd planned to put in my lunch has disappeared, my car won't start, and so on. Other times I dream about assisting with surgery in our unit (which happens all the time for real) and dropping things on the floor, pushing meds into an art line, and that kind of thing. No wonder I don't sleep well before a day shift!

[RNKay31]

OMG! That must be very terrifying for you, hang in there and try to be a little more relax,, wishing you the vey best.

[AB_NormalRN]

So many that I can't remember them all and so tired all I can do is sleep. I didn't go into nursing to become a psych patient. So while I am alot like others in the sense after 3 months I have second guessed my decisions about staying in nursing...I will stick it out. Altruism and caring for people is the reason I went into nursing, so I have to keep my eyes on the goal line.

AB

[Cardiac-RN]

I have nightmares about it being midway through shift and me needing to see four of my patients at least once every few weeks! lol. I try to explain it to my hubby, but he just doesn't understand : P ah well. that's what allnurses is for!

[lysh7777]

haha. this is a very interesting thread. I haven't even started my new job yet, but when I was still doing clinicals I would have nightmares all the time about running extremely late, and when I showed up everything was in complete chaos. I had way too many patients, and I couldn't catch up no matter how hard I tried. Then I would give the wrong meds to the wrong patients..and it just keeps going. It was awful!!

I hope I never have a REAL shift like that!

[BlueEyedRN]

I went to check on my patient's foley and found him sitting in a pool of blood. Another nurse had held pressure and applied a pressure dressing to a femoral site and two hours later, it just started bleeding. I had to hold pressure for 45 minutes to get it to stop finally. Anyway, that night I had nightmares all night that my husband was my patient and was bleeding to death and I keep grabbing him to "save" him and waking him up. I guess it traumatized me more than I thought.

[Nurset1981]

I had nightmares for the longest time until I talked to a friend who suggested that I keep a dream log. Set your alarm five minutes earlier and when you wake up just lie there for a minute and see if you can recall your dreams. Write them down in the journal. I bought a dream encyclopedia and looked up my dreams to sort them out. Turns out its not so bad lol. Somet- imes we misinterpret things. Sounds kinda kooky but it worked for me. No more nightmares.

[SkateBetty]

I'm supposed to be sleeping right now but I woke up with my heart beating out of my chest with anxiety over going back in to work tonight. Last night was like being thrown under a bus. I knew how to do everything, I didn't have time to do anything. I had a lot of 'nursing' nightmares during my first couple months too, and still occasionally have super-odd clinical dreams with bizarre situations and frankenstein-ish details.