I am scared of being fired as a new grad

[DH1234]

I just started working on a med surg floor and I am on my 4th week of orientation on the floor. I am currently taking care of two patients on my own with my preceptor looking over me of course. And each week it seems that I have a different preceptor which kind of sucks in my opinion because I really wanted a person to see my growth over the period.

That is beside the point. I am always leaving work with major anxiety. I have thoughts such as what happens if I put my patient in danger, and something happens during night shift and it was my fault. Or what happens if I forgot to chart something or I charted something wrong. Or what happens if I missed something in general like a order or missed giving something in hand off report. For instance, I had do my first admission and I was all over the place. But my preceptor helped me but she kind of rushed it, so what happened if I missed a question. And when I got home I realized I forgot to document his height and weight in the chart which is crucial because he is a CHF pt. And I just remembered I needed to get him wristbands that id he is a fall risk and has allergies. I probably forgot other things too but everything was happening so quickly at the end of shift , and I am so slow it took forever do things. And I felt bad because I set my preceptor behind because she had to help me which set her behind.

Another incident that happened is I had a pt fresh from cath lab, which means I have to document his groin sites every so often. I was doing good following the orders of when to assess it but when my new admit got there I forgot to assess the site of this pt. Therefore he probably went about 2 hrs without getting his site assessed. Even though his site has been looking good, I just feel like I neglected to follow orders. Oh and to top it off I had to give hand of report and I was so flustered and my brain sheet was so messy the night nurse almost got the wrong report ( so embarrassing for me), but thank god my preceptor was there to correct me.

Do you think these mistakes can get me fired or worse can I lose my license because of these mistakes? I do not want to be this incompetent of a nurse? Also, do have any advice on how not to forget things like this?

[Monkey Nurse, ASN, RN]

It sounds... normal. And on a bad shift these things might happen to me. We prioritize and do our best but patients sort of get in the way of the “ideal” we hope to provide. Your preceptor should be helping to mitigate any major mistakes.

Just know all new nurses and even seasoned nurses go through a very clumsy stage when starting a new position. Nursing school teaches you ideals but it doesn’t prepare you for naked patient falling on the floor with poop all over when you are supposed to be doing an hourly round while your new admit came up quicker than expected. S*@$ literally happens- and we just do our best! You will get faster. You will get more confident. You will never be perfect!

Take a breath and do some self-care. What are you doing well on? Tell us your strengths as a new nurse ?

[VykingboyRN]

You don’t have to believe me, I know that tearing feeling that you’ve chose the wrong profession, this is all nuts, everything is going wrong...

You’ll look back and laugh(internally) one day watching a newbie clawing their way to keep their head above water...

As for now, make a cheat sheet, put every thought of a task down, even if it’s a fleeting thought that hits you when finally get to pee, lol. Do not leave until all those tasks are checked or highlighted.

Trying to balance all those tasks and goals in your mind will burn you out with just a couple admits and discharges.

You can only do one thing at a time, but you CAN eat a whole elephant!!! Just ONE BITE AT A TIME!!!

Once it’s all down on paper, on a cheat XY grid (room=x, time/1 hr increments =y) in front of you, it’s much easier to prioritize your time on a rolling basis, and get tasks done on time in each goal’s hour window.

I typed mine up, by the end of the day it looked like a War Zone Map. I developed my own shorthand with symbols and marks. By the end of the day I could give an accurate report off it.

Organization and Time Management will get better with experience, but planning can start right now, and will get you there much faster!

best of luck!!!!