How long does it take to feel comfortable being a REAL nurse????

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Specializes in Telemetry and ER.

I have been orientating for 6 weeks now, as of tommorrow I start my 12 hour shifts (what I was hired for) and will continue to orient for 6 more weeks. How long till I feel like I can really do this. Sure now Im very confident, talking to docs, passing meds, interpreting orders, etc. BUT I have someone I can run everything by and continually ask questions. Please tell me in the next 6 weeks will I feel as if I can do this myself??????? I am up to 4 patients and I pretty much do it all unless there is a problem, such as my pt was scheduled in 1/2 hour for a perm pacemaker implantation and was refusing to sign consent!!!!!!! ( this was a very last minute planned operation) Okay so call surgery, cancel, get a cardiologist to inform him of the importance, etc. I had my preceptor helping with this last minute change. Will I know what to do on my own. Im starting to get nervous. :idea: So how long does it really take.......

Thanks so much :nurse: :yeah: :thankya:

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I have been orientating for 6 weeks now, as of tommorrow I start my 12 hour shifts (what I was hired for) and will continue to orient for 6 more weeks. How long till I feel like I can really do this. Sure now Im very confident, talking to docs, passing meds, interpreting orders, etc. BUT I have someone I can run everything by and continually ask questions. Please tell me in the next 6 weeks will I feel as if I can do this myself??????? I am up to 4 patients and I pretty much do it all unless there is a problem, such as my pt was scheduled in 1/2 hour for a perm pacemaker implantation and was refusing to sign consent!!!!!!! ( this was a very last minute planned operation) Okay so call surgery, cancel, get a cardiologist to inform him of the importance, etc. I had my preceptor helping with this last minute change. Will I know what to do on my own. Im starting to get nervous. :idea: So how long does it really take.......

Thanks so much :nurse: :yeah: :thankya:

I've been a nurse for almost nine years. I'll let you know when it happens for me.;)

Actually, I'm just kidding.........but the truth is, the nurse who stays just a teensy bit nervous is almost always a safer nurse, because it keeps you on your toes and prevents you from becoming lazy and complacent.

I wish you the best of luck in your career.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/MICU/SICU/CTICU.

:yeahthat:

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

Mjlrn97 said it right....it's good to always have a "bit of fear"! = ) One of the things I remember my supervisor telling me when I was just about finished with school and my Apprentice Nurse program was that she felt comfortable hiring me as a new grad because I had a healthy fear. She said one of the things she was nervous about some of my fellow students who were also starting in the ICU is that they thought they knew everything. My supervisor stated they wouldn't ask if they were unsure and just "fake it". This made her have second thoughts about hiring them on. She told me that she had watched me and had feedback from the preceptors I had on how much I asked questions and that if I was ever unsure even 1%, I would hunt down the answer instead of just "winging" it.

There are a few RN's who started at the same time I did that I don't feel comfortable working next to because they truly think they know all about ICU nursing and what to do. It makes me very nervous. The ICU is no place to have an attitude of superiority (actually, superiority has no place in any area of nursing, IMHO).

Melanie = )

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Once you have experienced first hand EVERY situation you can possibly encounter, THEN you feel completely comfortable. :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

Truly we all have questions and situations that arise that we just have never had to deal with. I have learned that "improv" is a good thing. A good nurse told me once that while in orientation to worry about my clincal practice because the paperwork and protocols for everything else were secondary and could be perfected later. She was right. Hopefully you are on a floor where you can ask questions even after you are out of orientation. Eventually you will be the one answering the questions for the next newby.

Go easy on yourself!

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Specializes in PACU.
I've been a nurse for almost nine years. I'll let you know when it happens for me.;)

Actually, I'm just kidding.........but the truth is, the nurse who stays just a teensy bit nervous is almost always a safer nurse, because it keeps you on your toes and prevents you from becoming lazy and complacent.

I agree with this . . .I have always felt if I am afraid of making a mistake, it keeps my senses up and aware of what I am doing. I definately dont get sloppy then! Most nurses have told me it takes about a year before you feel more natural with what you are doing --

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hey, just got off orientation myself and feel the same way. everyone knows what is going on but me. my head nurse keeps telling me everyone goes through this, now i know it is true. i feel like such a drag, always asking questions and needing help. no one minds, though. it's just such a lonely feeling. i have also been told that it will take a good year to feel comfortable, i could kill someone by then!!! hang in there, we will make it. everyone else says so, it must be true. if they can do it, we can.

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