If you could go back and tell your new grad self one thing, what would it be?

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Jan 2, 2022

It's not going to feel like you know what you're doing for a while - and there may be a little bit of that with every new job you start. That doesn't mean you're a bad nurse.
It's a 24 hour job, and sometimes you will need to leave things for the next shift. In turn, someone may need to leave something for you sometimes. Be gracious in both situations. Sometimes people try to take advantage, but I think for the most part we're all doing our best and don't intend to leave a to-do list with our patients at report.
Don't pick up overtime unless *you* want to, and don't ever feel like you have to justify that decision.
Same with calling out sick - you do not owe them any details or reasons.
Use your PTO! I cannot identify with hoarding vacation hours for no reason - they are there for you to use! Enjoy your time away from work and get refreshed by using it; don't let it sit there until you quit.
(Seriously, one of the first things I do at new jobs is find out how to request time off, and I will schedule something for a few months in the future. It is so motivational throughout my orientation and first few weeks on my own to know that I have time off coming up. It seriously keeps me going.)
I say this as someone who didn't always take this advice - try not to job hop or quit within your first couple of months at a new job. Obviously there are extenuating circumstances sometimes (I just didn't get paid for two months at my first job, for example), but in my experience the first few months of any job are really tough. You will probably not love what you do at first, but a lot of the time it is worth sticking it out long enough to get comfortable. I didn't always do that, and I realized I wasn't giving myself enough time to grow into jobs that might have been okay in the long run.
Ask for help when you need it and most people are happy to help you, but don't go into it expecting to be handed the answers. If you're asking a question, try to have an idea of what you think the answer is and why. That's how you'll learn.
Help your coworkers when you can. There are great learning opportunities in that, it's a way to get to know who you're working with, and it's just the right thing to do. Especially help your techs - take that patient off the bedpan, grab the fingerstick while you're in the room anyway, whatever little things you can do. As swamped as we are, I feel like nursing techs are possibly drowning even more than we are sometimes, and we can either help or just pile on more.
Find a brain sheet that keeps you organized. There are a bunch online you can try. I eventually took my favorite elements from each one I used before and made my own, and it makes a difference both in keeping up with tasks and giving a decent report at change of shift.

Sorry, I know you said just one thing, but I couldn't decide what was most important, LOL.

Davey Do · Jan 2, 2022

"Finish each day and be done with it. You did what you could. Some absurdities and blunders no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." -Ralph Waldo Emerson