May 2008 grads....how are things going?

Nurses New Nurse

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For those of us who graduated in May (or thereabout) how is the first few months of nursing? How are you feeling and where are you working? Thoughts?

I'm working in a PICU at a teaching hospital and I LOVE it! I learn something new everyday and my co-workers are the bomb! I feel supported and there is always someone if I need help/have questions.

There have been some days where I feel very overwhelmed and want to throw in the towel but most days I really enjoy it. I'm thankfully that I work on a very supportive unit to new grad ICU nurses. I had a 10 week orientation and that was adequate I thought....so far so good on my own.

Yesterday was funny for me, I have to share. Everyone had told me that new residents don't know anything but I never really believed it. Well yesterday was the first of the month and the new residents/interns came. The resident who was assigned to one of my patients (we usually have 1-2 patients per nurse) told me it was his first day and he didn't know what he was doing. So *I* the new NURSE had to show him the ropes....she him how our vents worked, etc. He then got assigned to pull back my patients PICC line to 5cm and I had to show him step-by-step how to do that and then I dressed it. ME a NEW nurse?! LOL He was so thankful and kept shaking my hand and telling me how thankful he was.....lol. Hopefully down the road he will remember the nurses who helped him when he didn't know what he was doing :)

Specializes in clinic nurse (aka family practice).

I graduated May 2008, license June 2008, working in a clinic by mid-July '08. I've worked for the same company for 4 years, a medical secretary, then CNA, after graduation they had an LPN opening...BAM!!:yeah: I was in the door!!!

I love being a clinic nurse, it's my thing...I :redbeathe my patients, the continuity is GREAT!!! It is easier to take the good, the bad and the ugly when you have such a wonderful relationships with your patients. So, what's the problem???

My dilemma...I don't have any hospital experience and I am going to RN school this June. I was told by every instructor (in LPN school) that I needed med/surg experience, it would be helpful for Rn school. I didn't listen. Now I am a little freaked out. What if I get in the program and don't remember anything? What if has been my worst enemy!!! I am scared to death :bluecry1:....so i need some suggestions...what to do to prepare for RN school!!!??? :banghead:

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

My first day on the job was very short. I showed up for a 9:00 am start, and they sent me home at 9:45. Apparently, a 16-hour nights position has turned into Per-diem nights, and they don't have the budget for 2 orientees at once. They want me to come back next Monday. I think I'm going to keep looking.

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Specializes in Cardiac Nursing.
My first day on the job was very short. I showed up for a 9:00 am start, and they sent me home at 9:45. Apparently, a 16-hour nights position has turned into Per-diem nights, and they don't have the budget for 2 orientees at once. They want me to come back next Monday. I think I'm going to keep looking.

Ouch. Good luck finding something else.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Psych.

well, i graduated in may of 08 passed nclex in july of '08 and i am having problems on my floor.

i work on a ortho-neuro floor that also serves as medical overflow. i just don't think this floor is for me and i constantly doubt my skill set. i got about 6 weeks of orientation, but my floor is very clicky and if you aren't part of the clique you get the most work without any help.

in addition, we have charge nurses who aren't helpful and we get yelled at for everything. so i guess the short of it is i am not doing well. but thanks for asking and i am looking to transfer to another floor.

janine :)

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I graduated in May and started working in a major hospital in P.R in Nov. and so far it has been a rollercoaster. There are a few good people in the hospital who would help you but there are other who would brush you off because you're new.I work in the ER and I see so many new and exciting thing every day. The doctors are great and the love to teach new nurses like myself the different procedures and they would actually pull me by the hand to teach me and show me how they intubate a patient or how they place a suction chateter in someones chest to decompress a pneumothorax.

Sometimes it gets so overwhelming that I feel like throwing up and run and hide in a bathroom and never go back but there are time when you know you have done en excellent work and that brings me back. The hardest part is getting attached to a patient and to see his life slip away form your hands its to hard to bear. The other week I was with a patient who had no family and was all alone with a pulmonary edema he kept saying he knew he was going to die alone and as the doctor intubated him I keep telling him I was right there by his side and gave him some comfort, he passed away that night after I went home. The next day the doctor thanked me for being so helpful and that the man died in his sleep and he knew I made his last hours a little less scary.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Sounds like you're in the right field reim. Wonderful work.

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I am a May 2008 grad too. Just started working in the VA hospital recently. I love it!

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Specializes in Pyschiatry/Behavioral (Inpatient).

My first job was terrible. Bleh.

I'm working in a PACU now and it's great. =)

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Specializes in ER, Step-Down.

Took my boards 6/24, got MARRIED 6/28, started work 7/7. I work in the Special Care Unit, which is our fancy name for intermediate care. I had about 16 weeks of orientation, 4 of which were spent in ICU/CCU because even though we don't usually get vents on the floor, we have been used for vent overflow. (The whole process is called a Critical Care Fellowship.) I work nights and I LOVE the people I work with. I've learned through my rotations that cardiac is my thing - I love how the heart works and I must admit, as a newbie who thrives on adrenaline, I'm a code freak. :p I'm at a Level I trauma center and teaching hospital, so we have all sorts of residents and PA's and the like - but thankfully the hospitals operators send out daily lists of who is covering what service for each shift and the pager numbers. I've made friends and contacts I know I'll never forget - some are even those pesky first year residents (one in particular is like a lost little puppy I've adopted haha). I eventually want more intense patients - I'd like more drips (we do get quite a few of the pressors) and vents and whatnot as my ultimate goal is flight nursing, but I'm really quite loathe to transfer out of my unit to the CCU, ICU, or ER. *Sigh* OH well, I plan on having fun for now (and I mean that, I have a reputation for having too much fun at work, if there is such a thing! ;)) and letting my gut make my ultimate decision when the time is right. :)

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

My job got cancelled.:(

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Things are going so so. I got terminated from my first nursing job. The staff wasn't helpful at all. During the class room orientation when I asked questions , i kept getting the response "your tech will do that." Floor orientation was only 6wks. when asked my first preceptor about time management, the response given was " I just do it". When I told the manager I think I might need more time, all i got was blank stares (insert cricket noise). When I asked for feedback about how I was doing all i got was "you're doing fine", "it will come with time." One time I had a patient with chest pain, mind you she had no past medical hx of cardiac issues, but had a hx of GERD. I went to my preceptor and told her. She just looked at me and told me the nitro is in the med room. I handled the situation as best could, had put pt on on oxygen, had tech do ekg, mind you I called the doc. The pt refused the nitro. I was pretty much told I dropped the ball, then one of the nurse educators in one of the meetings had the nerve to ask, "what if that was one of your family memebers." I just kept my mouth shut. In my mind I thought i hope if the nurse asked for help she would get it. I had one preceptor tell me I changed a donor/recpient site dressing too slow. Mind you she never provided any feedback when I asked how to to do it faster. I really don't think she has ever done one herself. She said it should have just been a quick take out and pack it. I just kept my mouth shut and thought it wasn't a wet/dry dressing.

Well I guess things didn't come as fast as they wanted because I got terminated. It was to the point I didn't even argue with them, what would have been the point, their mind was already made up to get rid of me. On a more positive note my patients always thanked me for caring for them and everyday when I left worked as long as I know I provided the best possible care to my knowledge I was happy with myself.

I can only learn from the experience and move on. I'm just pounding the pavement looking for a new job and hoping places wont hold it aganist me.

sorry this was long.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I have posted in other areas, but basically, my story isn't a positive one either. My first preceptor I swear was convinced after my second day that I wasn't going to make it. and the rest of her energy was spent proving her point. I never felt like I was going to be valuable. I was just a slow learning new grad. I am asking for a transfer next week and I am very sad about it.

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