Man in a womans world =/

David's Harp · Nov 14, 2007

How long have you been on orientation? Is your preceptor approachable re. what you need to do to improve? Is a lot of this criticism internal, from your own perceptions?

There is a lot of "I'm dumb" in orienting to your first nursing job - it comes with the territory. You just have to try to put some faith in the idea that you'll get up that learning curve and that today's goof-up and subsequent correction will become tomorrow's learned concept. From what I hear (I'm one week off orientation), we should get used to this feeling, because it lasts ~ 1 yr, give or take. If it's true that it takes 1,000 repetitions for any action to become second nature, and you figure you're learning....how many actions and pieces of data not only about nursing but about how your institution works, as well as how the different personalities on your floor work?, then you see what we're all up against here.

Sad to say, but nursing school prepares us for none of this, because it really can't. They do all they can to teach us the equivalent of basic, "English 101"-level vocabulary, and now we're expected to hold a conversation in English, and it's a whole other ballgame. How many English 101 classes taught us what "whole other ballgame" means, anyway?

The "man in a woman's world" is just another element among many. It's significant, sure, but it's not the whole thing, and it shouldn't be a barrier to you doing well in this capacity. If it proves to be a barrier, I'd say the problem rests more with that institution than with you, because it's not like that everywhere. I say this because women who are starting out are going through a lot of the same feelings of being overwhelmed, out of one's depth, etc. So try to stick it out. Hopefully you'll get some better-informed answers from others who have been at it longer than I have!

-Kevin

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2007

It's not just you, or being male. Stick a test in front of me, and I kick ass. Put me on the floor where I have to apply all that stuff I know, and I'm stupid. I don't know where it all goes, but it goes somewhere. I'm just so thankful for the experienced nurses that help me out when I am out of my depth. What helps me is to remember that they, too, were once stupid like me, and that they are only so good at nursing because they have experience. I'll get there some day, and I will be one of those experienced nurses helping out the new stupid nurse! :nurse: You will too! Hang in there and just accept that for the next year, you are going to feel like a blithering idiot and a completely inadequate fool! But it'll all sink in before you know it.

And I don't really mean to imply that new nurses are stupid...its just that I feel stupid, and I'm gathering that most new nurses feel pretty stupid too!

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2007

It's not 'cause you're a guy. My peceptors found my tuchis to be pretty tasty, too.

:)

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 14, 2007

we should get used to this feeling because it lasts ~ 1 yr, give or take. If it's true that it takes 1,000 repetitions for any action to become second nature, and you figure you're learning....how many actions and pieces of data not only about nursing but about how your institution works, as well as how the different personalities on your floor work?, then you see what we're all up against here.-Kevin[/quote']
(It's so gratifying to see one's own words issuing from someone else's keyboard!) This is so true, and I think all newly fledged nurses should have it tattooed somewhere prominent so they don't forget it! You're never going to be as quick and automatic at tasks as someone who has been doing them for 10 years, until you yourself have been doing them for 10 years. All the facts and theory you learned in nursing school are just that until you've had time to integrate them into your real world and to begin to make sense out of it all. It's very difficult to understand concepts until you are able to apply them to something you can see, hear and touch. Before I started my current job, I could spew facts about fetal circulation at you until your eyes crossed, but it really only began to make sense to me when I started caring for babies with messed up hearts. I've been at this job for more than 5 years now and I still learn something new about the human cardiovascular system every day. So please, give yourself a pat on the back for being out their swinging every day. Eventually you'll hit the ball out of the park and won't even realize you've done it, because it's just what you do.

callmekipling · Nov 16, 2007

y'know, my mom calls me jordo. Everyone else is afraid to :devil:

Socrates claimed to be the wisest man in Greece. He argued that everyone knew nothing, but he was the only one wise enough to realize that he knew nothing.

That is to say, don't be shocked when you spend a year in school being told "this is how it works" and it doesn't work like that.. at all. Stick to it, don't freak out, this is sponge time. BE the sponge.

So ends the lesson. oooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm.....

MistyDawnRN06, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2007

I think most of us feel stupid directly out of school. I think I spent the first 6mos to a year out of school feeling stupid in one way or another. Your memory and knowledge will improve as your comfort level improves. It will all fall into place given time.

I have a shift sheet I use for time management purposes, and on that sheet is the reminder to sign MARs, sign chart, etc., etc. - all the little things that I would sometimes forget. It's now become second nature, but in the beginning it was a struggle. You have to find your own groove and routine. Ask the others on the floor how they developed their time-management skills and how they avoided making errors.

Hang in there. Don't trip over your gender. I'm not going to worry that I didn't sign off the MARs because I'm a blond!

mcknis · Nov 19, 2007

I have a shift sheet I use for time management purposes, and on that sheet is the reminder to sign MARs, sign chart, etc., etc. - all the little things that I would sometimes forget. It's now become second nature, but in the beginning it was a struggle. You have to find your own groove and routine. Ask the others on the floor how they developed their time-management skills and how they avoided making errors.

Would you be interested in posting your time management sheet online? I would like to look at it to better deal with my time on the floor.

thanks!