Leaving bedside

[ap99]

Hello everyone, 

I've had this thought on my mind for a while and I would appreciate your advice on it. I've been working on a med-surg/telemetry floor(we are a small hospital so sometimes I float) for about 6 months. Over this time I feel like I have gotten a good grasp on the day-to-day skills and I am building my confidence every shift. Everyone in my unit is very nice and helpful and overall it is a good work environment compared to the stories I have heard. However, the thing that has been troubling me the most is that my anxiety and stress continues to be at a all time high. I don't eat as much anymore and because of that I have lost weight. The days that I am not working I am worried about going back into work. I have been consistently having hand tremors and eye twitches too. The anxiety mostly comes from not knowing what I will be walking into whether or not I will have admissions/discharges, will we be fully staffed, do we have CNAs to help us, the kind of patients I have, are they stable or unstable, whats going in the ER, etc. 

I feel like whatever unit/speciality I go to within bedside setting I will have these things to worry about. I also thought that as time progressed it would ease up but I'm still having these feelings. I feel like I do want to try to wait it at least a year so I have a good foundation and better chance to get another job. I have thought about making the switch to aesthetics or possibly going into case management where there may be less stress, weekends/holidays off, better lifestyle overall. 

I'm asking if anyone has had similar experiences and has thought of leaving or has left and what has happened. Also if anyone with only one year experience has tried to make the switch and how it turned out. Any advice, recommendations or thoughts would be appreciated.

[NurseLy, BSN, RN]

The stress and anxiety you feel is normal and we have all felt those same feelings.

The general rule of thumb is it takes 1 year to feel comfortable, 2 years to feel competent. 

Regardless of where you chose to work there will be increased stress while you are new and learning, so maybe spend a little time brainstorming ways to manage/ease the anxiety. 

Hang in there, the time goes so quickly and before you know it you will be the one comforting the new nurses. ?

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

The poster above me said it all. You gotta give it more time, 6 months in is still pretty green and the longer you stick with this unit more than likely the more your anxiety will decrease at times. Generally speaking, positions in case management require more than 1-2 years of experience because the case manager must have an excellent grasp on not only hospital care but post and pre hospital care as well, and that simply takes time and exposure to learn. Aesthetics is an extremely competitive area of nursing and there aren't an overwhelming amount of opportunities for this specialty compared to others. I'm not trying to discourage you, and if you see the openings it never hurts to apply.

The tremors and eye twitches can certainly be related to anxiety, but usually eye twitches are caused by eyestrain which is usually caused by fatigue. How is your sleep? Are you resting on the days/nights you work in addition to your off days? If not, you definitely should address that because sleep is so important to everyone, but especially if you're at the bedside working long shifts under stressful situations. As far as your anxiety goes, a lot of nurses get that pre shift anxiety and dread, I always thought it felt similar to stage fright, it's miserable and there's no need to suffer through it, make an appointment with your doctor and get this addressed! 

It took me a long time to learn that the problem wasn't the job, it was my anxiety and stress in response to the job. That's very common among nurses, we run from job to job hoping things will improve but that anxiety continues to emerge.

Good luck to you.