Inexperienced RN

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hello all. i'm new to this site. i'm currently unemployed, living at a remote base in belgium with my husband. we will be relocating to the us in a few months and i am afraid that i won't be able to get a nursing job because i lack nursing skills/ experience. i know cna's & cma's who have more clinical skills than me. i wasn't impressed with my nursing education even though i received good grades. they valued the importance of communication rather than actual clinical skills. so now i know how to communicate therapeutically, but i don't know how to start an iv and i absolulety suck at drawing blood, esp on a peds patient. after graduating in 2002, i landed a job at a peds clinc where i gave shots all day long, attempted caths, and did few blood draws. and now 2-3 years later i've been unemployed and away from the us for over a year. i'm at the point where i feel useless as a nurse...is this even the right career path for me? for those of you who work in a hospital setting, do hospitals provide training for new nurses or just feed them to the wolves? i didn't enjoy my hospital rotation back in college, everyone seemed too stressed and overworked to teach me. i never want to be one of those grumpy, mean, old nurses who like to bite the heads off of new grads...hehe

bentley

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

Hello and welcome to the wonderful family of allnurses.com. Enjoy your stay, and best of luck to you. :)

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

Don't feel bad you just haven't had time or the place to learn your skills, someone will hire you and give you orientation, probably like a new grad. Maybe when you get back to the states look for a nurse refresher course this should help.

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Look for a good nurse refresher course. It will help you get back in the swing of things and regain your confidence.

I think you will do just fine.

Good luck

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

Welcome to allnurses!!!!!

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Specializes in Behavioral Health.

I agree with sunnyjohn. Find a good refresher course when you get back stateside.

If you think about it...nursing school isn't really about the clinical "skills"...any one can learn them with enough practice (most people anyway :chuckle ).

Don't doubt yourself. We need a few more good nurses out there.

Is your DH Air Force??? I am a Navy spouse and my sis-in-law is in the AF and transferring to a base in Beligum this fall.

Best wishes to you.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
hello all. i'm new to this site. i'm currently unemployed, living at a remote base in belgium with my husband. we will be relocating to the us in a few months and i am afraid that i won't be able to get a nursing job because i lack nursing skills/ experience. i know cna's & cma's who have more clinical skills than me. i wasn't impressed with my nursing education even though i received good grades. they valued the importance of communication rather than actual clinical skills. so now i know how to communicate therapeutically, but i don't know how to start an iv and i absolulety suck at drawing blood, esp on a peds patient. after graduating in 2002, i landed a job at a peds clinc where i gave shots all day long, attempted caths, and did few blood draws. and now 2-3 years later i've been unemployed and away from the us for over a year. i'm at the point where i feel useless as a nurse...is this even the right career path for me? for those of you who work in a hospital setting, do hospitals provide training for new nurses or just feed them to the wolves? i didn't enjoy my hospital rotation back in college, everyone seemed too stressed and overworked to teach me. i never want to be one of those grumpy, mean, old nurses who like to bite the heads off of new grads...hehe

bentley

:balloons: hello and welcome :balloons:

when applying for a new position in a hospital, they will give you several weeks of orientation. however, i suggest to utilize some type of refresher course before applying. you will fare much better, i am sure.

i am sure you can do just fine.

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thank you everyone for the replies. i'm looking forward to joining the nursing force again =) i will look for a refresher class when i head back to the us. regarding your sister in law going to belgium, if she's stationed at mons/shape she will probably enjoy the tour since that is a larger base, but i'm at kb which is very remote and there are no jobs available.

bentley

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