Hesitantly excited!?!?!

[angelfire280]

Hello, I'm a recent LPN graduate. Well, kinda. I graduated July 28, 05. I passed my boards in early october and then moved to a different state. It's taken this long to get my license transferred over, and now I face the daunting task of entering the medical community.

I can't help but to think that:

1. 1 year didn't seem quite enough time to cram in all the info necessary to function as a nurse (not to knock lpn's... I am one... but it is just such a serious job, ya know).

2. I've been out of school for half as long as my educational program was, and this drops my confidence. (I've spent this time waitressing for rent, and not buried in my books or practicing my skills. My scores on these tests the interviewers are giving aren't where they should be. I mean, I'm passing but... heck I topped my nursing class. Where'd the info go?)

3. Employers are eager to hire new grads and send them out with little to no orientation. (I've even had 2 agency offers.... how does an agency feel safe hirinig a new grad who is alread out of practice???)

So, i guess my question is, isn't anyone scared by this? I know a big part of this can be chalked up to new grad gitters, but has anyone else been scared out of their mind. I feel like I'm totally unprepared and this break has worsened my anxieties about it.

I thought about taking a refresher course or one of those remedial courses for students preparing to retake the nclex. Is this a good idea? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[clee1]

Hello, and welcome to allnurses.com.

First off.... take a DEEP breath and relax.

1) One year in school is NOT enough time to learn all you need to know to be a nurse. Keep it in mind that the NS stuff is just the foundation - you will keep learning for a LONG time.

2) Your interview test scores are reflective of the time you have spent away from the material - dig out the NCLEX prep stuff again and you'll quickly get back up to speed.

3) Ruh roe, raggy! Stay AWAY from a job that would do this to you. It is YOUR license: you'd best protect it because it is a sure bet that your employer won't.

In any case, I'll say it again: R - E - L - A - X !!!!! You've been through school and passed the NCLEX. Take a refresher if you think you should, but all that will do for you is get you back to pre-NCLEX readiness. What you REALLY need is a GOOD new-nurse orientation program.

Best of luck to you, Nurse.

[LoraLou]

you're right one year of school is not long enough to learn all you need to know to be a nurse, but on that same note neither is four. Just make sure you watch for a job that will give you a good orientation, and once you start watch for helpful coworkers. No matter how long you have been working as a nurse, you will always have those off days where you will have to double check something with another nurse and you don't want a coworker who will not help you out.

[mediatix8]

I wouldn't take any refresher classes... even then you likely won't feel "fully" ready. It's being orientated at your new job that teaches you the most. I would look for a job somewhere where they will offer you a long orientation. I would bring that up on your interview with the manager and tell them you might need a longer orientation due to your time away from nursing after graduating. I had a 2 month orientation, which is fairly long. I had to ask for it to be extended to get that 2 months, but it was no big deal. During the beginning part of my orientation, I would totally fumble with people's IV tubing and the pumps, had not even tried IV insertion once, had no idea how the hospital really worked, blah blah blah. Even after that was done, I didn't feel fully ready... I still had plenty of questions to ask and on some occasions had to as another nurse to see my patient for some reason or another. Nurses are a lot nicer to new graduates that they will be regularly working with than they are to students! But yeah... even my manager said that there is no way to learn everything after you're done with orientation and expected us to ask questions.

So, my advice is to get a job where the manager tells you "you can have as long of an orientation as you feel you need." You can study up on things you need to after work, when something comes up and you can identify it as something you need to learn more about. This way, your studying will be focused more on actual real life situations.