Graduate nurse struggling

[pam64]

I have been working for 11 weeks as a graduate nurse in a very busy general/medical ward and I am feeling lost, alone and scared. I have made 2 medication errors where I forgot to give a medicine - unforgivable. I got pinged for asking too many questions of fellow nurses, but before I started nursing I was told to ask questions because if you don't know something you need to ask. Some days I am great with my time management, but others I am sitting back doing notes after my shift. I do a time planner, but it isn't always easy to stick to. When I ask for assistance with things like a patient roll, hoist or a DD check there are a few nurses that always are too busy to help me, and yet I always help them. There are many procedures done in the ward that I only did in labs, and now I am so scared to ask for help I don't know what to do when I am next asked to do something new. I am sick in my stomach at going to work now - I want to learn, I know my deficits and I don't want to do a procedure where I may make a mistake. Any suggestions, I don't want to leave nursing but am thinking about it

[gromit1084]

Hey Pam64,

I am so sorry to hear you are having such a hard time! That is awful!! You did not say what type of unit you work on but honestly, it might be irrelevant. It sounds like a toxic work environment. I was in a toxic work environment once and finding a new job was the best thing I did. Every day I would go into work dreading it, feeling a sword was hanging over my head the entire time. At the end of the day, I realized that if my work environment was that toxic, that my license was at stake.

As a new grad, you need a supportive environment- one where you can feel free to ask questions, to reach out for help (and get it) and to make mistakes without feeling like its the end of the world (Because WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES!!) even nurses that have been doing this for 50 years make mistakes and if they say they dont, they are lying. As a new grad, you are just starting out and they can not expect you to be perfect.

I know it is probably what you don't want to hear, but I would consider looking to see what other jobs you might be able to get. If you want to stick it out for a certain amount of time, it will be challenging but its doable. I would just keep your head down and do the absolute best that you can. Try to focus on keeping a good attitude, your spirits up, and on learning as much as you can off-shift. If they are really that mad that you are asking questions, try to tap into other resources such as pubmed. micromedex or uptodate. Perhaps there is another nurse there that is sympathetic to your situation who will be open to being your mentor?

Sorry that is happening to you. You can always PM me if you need to chat!