I need advice

[rubevicious]

Hey everybody, I just joined on here..I read a couple of these threads and they seem comforting. I am here because I feel like I need advice from someone with more nursing experience than I have. I recently received my lvn nursing license in May. I haven't worked as a nurse yet. All throughout nursing school I just felt like I never had enough time to really soak in the material I read. Of course I learned a lot but I don't feel like it's enough. I've had my life planned out since middle school...I became a CNA after highschool and worked in a rehabilitation center and nursing home. Now that I'm here, and I can actually get a job as an LVN, I find myself too scared to try. I did go and apply to two places but they both weren't hiring...that was a month ago. I feel like the longer I wait..the more material I've learned in nursing school is escaping my mind...and I put up my defense mechanism of withdrawing from reality and staying at home just living day by day doing nothing other than binge eating, stressing, and losing a lot of my hair. I want to be a nurse, I've always wanted to..but I'm scared. You know, what if I mess up my first job so badly and lose my license? I'm especially concerned for my parents, they are aged and I have to take care of them. I am just 22, I will be 23 in 9 days. I just never imagined my life would turn out like this. I'm scared ********...if you have any advice please tell me. Thank you for reading.

[AWannerLPN]

i have one thing to say to you and i hope it helps.... "The character of the nurse is as important as the knowledge she possesses." Carolyn Jarvis ..... its okay to be scared. Thats what will keep your critical thinking and common sense from making mistakes. Just remember you got your license and passed your nclex-pn for a reason... BECAUSE YOU GOT THIS!

just remember the world needs great nurses like yourself to make a difference in peoples life. Dont let your fear of striking out keep you from helping those people.

If you do feel you want to brush up on text book scenarios which honetly isnt going to help you in the "real world of nursing" other than scientific data and procedure then just get an exam cram and read the basics. Most of the knowledge obtained will be from clinical experience. If you knew everything there was to know then this would be the career for you. Alot of fellow nurses i have talk to have told me "There isnt a day that goes by that i dont learn something new!". Thats what you need to remember.

Hope this helps :-)

A

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Courage isn't the absence of fear. It is moving forward in spite of it. You made it through school. It will never get less scary as long as you are sitting home being scared. The only way to the other side is through. Face it down! You are no less than any other nurse who had to begin somewhere.

[just.me]

being scared is a good thing - it shows you take the responsibility seriously.

You can do it and it does get easier as you go along, there were times i did not think i would survive my first weeks, let alone months or a year - but i did and it gets a little less overwhelming and you gain a little more confidence each day. Just keep telling yourself you can do it, believe in yourself and dont be scared to ask for help, no one starts out an experienced nurse, everyone starts right where you are now.

"Courage isn't the absence of fear. It is moving forward in spite of it." I love this quote, says it all really.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

If you find these feelings are overwhelming and your anxiety paralyzing....maybe you should see your PCP ASAP and see if there is anything physical or maybe refer you to someone to talk to.

I wish you the best.

[slicksGIRL]

I totally feel you! I am in the same boat as you, I just got my license last month and I've just accepted a full time job. The thought of being by myself and doing it all scares me! At the same time, I am excited. I've been reading a lot about people's experience, and have been talking to a lot of experienced nurses. It is really comforting, to think that you are not alone with this. Just keep learning, constantly go back to your books if you feel like you've forgotten something. Everything we learned in school is embeded in us, we just have to dig for it. Best of luck to you! :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Whoa, let's back up here a minute. It's been a little while since there has been a "terrified to lose my license" sort of post, so you might not have seen them.

If i've said it once, I've said it a dozen times. There has been entirely too much moaning about "loosing (sic)/losing my license" on AN. I don't know if it's related to the general catastrophizing outlook on life that comes from the daily news and how it's reported ("if it bleeds, it leads"), or a general innumeracy related to actual statistics and risk assessment. Probably a bit of both. And maybe faculty that want your attention focused at all times.

You can go online and find out who suffered loss or restriction of RN and LPN license in your state. My state nursing association publishes them in the newsletter; it's maybe dozens per year, but certainly not hundreds or thousands. People lose their licenses for things like substance abuse at work, narcotics diversion, fraud, felony theft, patient abuse, and so forth. If you aren't planning on doing any of that, your risk of license restriction or loss is minuscule.

******* off the staffing coordinator, forgetting to chart something and doing an addendum later under established conventions, habitual lateness, getting the stink-eye from your supervisor-- these might cause someone to lose a job or delay a promotion, but they do not rise to the level of losing a license. Try to remember that.

Terror is not a useful emotion, and while we all know you never tell someone not to be scared (you never tell someone his emotions are wrong), you can say that there is no reason to be afraid once you know the facts. So if there are nonfactual reasons for you to be anxious, fine; if they really get in your way, see a professional counselor for a quick tune-up to put your mind at ease. But let's not worry about licensure loss unless you plan a life of crime at work. :) Good luck!

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

My advice would be to put out some more applications and get to work! You worked hard to get your license and now your scared? That is normal. You are right though, the longer you wait the more difficult it will become. This may be the part of your life where you grow up and I don't mean that disrespectfully.

Many of us take care of aging parents and our children as well. Nobody ever said life was easy. Sounds like growing pains to me. You can do this so go and do it! Good luck

[affroman]

If you have the ability to get your license, you will do fine.

[CyndieWillhoit]

can someone tell me if you give Vidaza and not give the pre med is it ok to give the anti emetic after to cover the n/v?

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

It's normal to afraid, but don't let fear paralyze you. Keep applying for jobs. I know nurses who searched for a couple years before finally getting hired or finding a good fit. Nursing school is just the first phase of learning to be a nurse. You will also learn skills during orientation and through experience. Don't be afraid to tell your coworkers you don't know something, but also let them know you will research "this" and get back to them. Also let them know you are open to learning, "show me what you mean". The first nursing job may be challenging at first, due to the learning curve. Just make up your mind to be strong, and to succeed. You should always think of patient safety first, but know, that you have to be very negligent to loose your license. It's not very common. We tend to think of the worse case scenario and give it power and allow it to paralyze us. But if your worse nightmare were to occur, you can still pick up the pieces and go on. Yes, people get fired. They get another job. If you can't be a nurse, you change your career. if you move forward,and start nursing, be prepared to meet some challenges and stay with it until you succeed. I have been nursing for 26 years. I remember being afraid.

[Tinker88]

I'm going to be real honest with you.

Everyone has a fear of something, and you happen to have a fear for failure. You can't be scared though! You have to take it and learn from your miscues because let's face it, your going to have some, but ...you learn from them and will become a better nurse.

You can sit at home, eat, sleep, do nothing and worry...

OR you can get out there and accomplish your dreams with courage.

Which do you want?