help! tips for starting as new nurse

[bmsnyder]

So after 9 long months after graduation I have finally landed myself a job! This is supposed to be exciting right?... Well I start in less than two weeks and I am having panic attacks thinking about being a nurse and starting out. I got hired on a med surg type unit that has a nurse patient ratio of 1:5 and during the interview the manager told me how busy and hard the floor was especially for the 3-11 shift that I got hired for so needless to say I am beyond nervous. I just feel like I remember absolutely NOTHING and completely forgot what it is like to be a nurse and every time I start to look at material to review I close the book because I get so overwhelmed and don't know what to focus on because I was only just offer the job last week. Are there any tips people can give me on what to look at to review and how it is to start as a nurse after being away from it! Any advice is greatly appreciated

[kismetRN]

review your normal values e.g normal to abnormal V/S; your nursing resp and health teachings prior and after pt underwent to other lab inv/ medical imaging/; the suitable frenches for adult female/male for NGTs down to Foleys. You'll get the hang of it after constantly getting exposed day by day. I blew the first week of my hospital duty way back then when I endorsed my pt from ER to ward with a run-dry IV.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

First off, congratulations!!! Second off....BREATHE! Starting out as a new nurse is scary and in all honestly, you probably won't begin to feel comfortable in your new role until about 6 months to a year working. But don't let that discourage you! How long is your orientation? Will you have an assigned preceptor or different preceptors throughout your orientation?

The good thing about med-surg is that you get a taste of everything and you see a variety of things. You will be giving A LOT of antibiotics, antiemetics & analgesics, but you won't be limited to just those medications. Review pre-op and post-op care; since you will be working on med-surg unit you may frequently have patients going for and coming back from surgery. Review physical assessment & lab values. Review some of the medical problems that patients get admitted for. I don't work on a med-surg floor, but I tend to see patients with things like COPD, pneumonia, heart failure, DM, acute & chronic renal failure, abdominal pain, hip fractures, appendectomies, GI surgeries and genitourinary surgeries, but again the things you will see are not limited to this list.

I suggest purchasing Myers' RNotes to carry around with you. And purchase a storage clipboard. You can get them from Walmart for around $10. It opens up and you can store papers and things inside, and depending on the thickness, you might even be able to squeeze in those RNotes, as well. Some of these clipboards also have calculators on the top which can come in handy. Another VERY important thing is a brain sheet! Check out this thread for some examples, but there are a lot of threads with a lot of sheets. Or you can make your own.

[julz68]

Thanks for posting about brain sheets!!! I asked about them a couple days ago and nobody replied to where I could find them...except one person PMd me her personal brain sheet. I start on Monday and feel the same way as the OP! Yikes!

[Hkroeck]

Hello! I can't really give you any advice, but I thought you might feel better knowing that I too am in the same boat. I graduated in August of 2011 and JUST landed an offer after my first interview two weeks ago, and I have been in panic mode ever since! I'm starting my training on Monday and am scared to death. I feel like I would freeze up over something as simple as an assessment because its just been so long since I graduated. I too feel like I've forgotten everything and am too overwhelmed to study! Hopefully what they say about everything just coming back to you once you're back in a care giving environment is true. Good luck with your new job!!