help!

FreezeRN · Jul 24, 2008

I have been working on a telemetry unit for aprox. a year now. The patient ratio is usually about 6 so its not as bad as yours but during my orientation period at the end of two months I got a phone call from HR asking me how i was doing and if I thought another floor might suit me better. About an hour later I was called in my nurse managers office with the nurse that had done the majority of my orientation. I was told that I was not picking it up as fast as I should and asked if I wanted to try a different position within the hospital. I went home that night spent a couple of hours making my own "Brain" Sheet. Then I spent a little while longer just thinking about all the things that I could do better and ways to improve my ability to handle all the information that was swirling around me all day. Then I spent a few minutes crying on my wife's shoulder.

If your not religious or are offended by religious stuff skip this part. The last thing I did was to open up my bible and go to The last chapter of Philipians 4:4-7 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The hospital I work at has what they call prayer rooms that were generally empty when I came on I would go to that room and pray and focus my thoughts and energies before I hit the floor.

Within the next week the nurse orienting me told me that I was doing much better. In the past year I have been nursing I have had my up's and down's but I finally feel like I have my feet under me most of the time.

mggmy7 · Jul 24, 2008

Thank you for your words. I am going to use the words of God daily. I have not been calling on HIM as I should.

RN1989 · Jul 24, 2008

Here's the problem:small critical access hospital. Patient load is too high for an experienced nurse, terrible for a newbie.

These small hospitals despise spending money on orientation and the longer you are on it, the more money they are out. So of course, they want you off orientation ASAP.

Not a lot of choices for you. Even some larger hospitals don't give good orientation. You can suck it up and keep trying or see if there is something better within driving distance.

FreezeRN had excellent advice and quoted my favorite verses. Prayers for you. Good luck!

angelwingsamy · Jul 25, 2008

FREEZERN,

your words are so comforting to me right now. that phrase that you chose lifted me.

you see, today i took my nclex-rn. i feel so terrible. i feel like i failed it. it was the hardest thing i ever went up against. i remember during school i would feel as if i would fail an exam and i would pray to God to give me the strength and wisdom to pass. He has never let me down. i prayed over a hundred times that i would pass today. i prayed while i was having a difficult time DURING the exam. i was in panic mode and i felt like i was going to throw up and i really felt like i was gonna pass out. after i prayed i was much calmer.

suanna · Jul 25, 2008

My experience with my first job was very much like what you describe. After 6 weeks orientation and 8 weeks on the job I was told I was going back on orientation since I wasn't picking up the job as well as they thought I should. I solved the problem for everyone concerned by resigning. I went back to a bigger medical center with protocals/charting/MARs that were much like where I did my clinicals. In 6mos I was orienting new staff. I you are feeling ineffective after the amount of time you have spent on this floor it is likely you need to find a different nitche. I got lucky and made the right move with my first job change. I've been here about 22 years. By the way, at the time I had another position with a different hospital lined up. It fell through at the last minute leaving me with no job and a wife and two daughters to support. I was a bit miffed with the Lord for leaving me is such dire striaghts- but another door opened and it worked out great. I did my share of praying the first 6mos in practice but I never expected to end up where I did. I just got sort of pushed into where I needed to be. I'm glad that sometimes God ignores my requisitions and directs my path as he feels is best rather than the way I intend to go. It's sometimes kicking and screaming but I end up where need to be every time.