How to transition from nursing school to first nursing job

nyteshade, BSN · Aug 25, 2011

I'm going to be honest...there really is no way to prepare for that first day or night. Trust me, the nurses training you will know that you need help. My only advice is to not be afraid to ask.

Casey, RN · Aug 26, 2011

I agree, there's really no good way to prepare. I'm in my first job - still orienting. If you are in a specialty or a certain type of floor you might brush up on that area, other than that, just be ready to work hard and like nyteshade said - ask questions :-) Good luck!!

APatriganiRN · Aug 26, 2011

I'm 7 weeks into my first job, still orienting, and still learning things every shift. Most preceptors are great resources, and you should be asking them a lot of questions (after you have already tried to find the answer). Also, you want to be prepared and willing to take the reins and be independent, but always run things by your preceptor if you're not completely sure--much better to take the extra couple of minutes to run it by a more experienced nurse than to put your patient and your license at risk. Also on my floor, there are 3 other new nurses orienting, and I've found their preceptors to be approachable as well during times when my own is off the unit or with another patient.

Honestly, the hardest part for me is figuring out what MD/PA/APRN I need to call (I'm at a huge inner city hospital, so we have so many different care providers, it can be quite confusing at times!)

No one is ever 100% prepared for their first job out of school, though I've never heard of anyone dying from it either. Soak up every learning opportunity you can, and find your go to people to ask questions.

you will succeed :yelclap: