Maybe I'm not nursing material?

Trauma Columnist · Aug 8, 2009

Whoa there - give yourself a break! You've only been a nurse for 2 months! It takes a year or so to feel comfortable. Don't beat yourself up over it. Do the best you can and ask for help. Take care.

DoGoodThenGo · Aug 10, 2009

Whoaa! Slow down there little fellow! :)

That you managed to not only gain acceptance into a nursing program, but complete your nursing education and pass the boards says quite allot! Give yourself a great big pat on the back!

You are still wet behind the ears, so to speak and it is entirely natural and common for a GN or new RN to feel lost and have doubts. It may take you several months or longer until you develop a strong sense of yourself as a nurse, but then WATCH OUT!

Instead of focusing on negative aspects of things, look at all the things you are doing correctly involving care of your patients, and then work to improve your skills in areas you (or others) find lacking. Not only are you starting a new profession, but a new job as well, so you are bound to feel overwhelmed as you are getting used to things.

I am the kind of person that hates to be "last" at something at any job or even at school. If others are finishing their work or an exam, I tend to feel pressure to keep up so not to lag behind. Don't let this happen to you. Stay organised and focused. You will gain speed as your competency comes up to speed. Nursing programs cannot totally prepare you for the real world of nursing, if they did there wouldn't be orientations and preceptors.

For the meantime, do not feel ashamed to seek out assistance and or ask questions. If you are having troubles with entering orders and so forth ask a seasoned nurse for help and or watch how they do things. Everyone was a new grad and can remember what they went through, and most are only too happy to help.

Best of luck!

elkpark · Aug 10, 2009

Your experiences and feelings at this point (2 months out) are pretty normal and standard for new grads. The first year or so of practice, the transition from nursing student to practicing nurse, is notoriously difficult and stressful. Grit your teeth, hang in there and keep slogging along, and things will get better as you gain more skills, knowledge, and experience.

⚕annanonymous⚕ · Aug 11, 2009

I'm new also and not confident about my assessment skills at all. I know they'll get better with experience. I bought a better stethoscope and it helped. Also, make sure the room is as quiet as possible while listening. It's okay to ask the patient to mute the tv =)

elkpark · Aug 11, 2009

When you're having trouble picking up vital signs/lung sounds or other kinds of physical assessment elements, one trick that helps is to close your eyes. I know it sounds dumb, but it actually helps -- the less sensory stimulation you are getting from other avenues, like sight, the more you are able to concentrate on what you're trying to feel or hear. (In the case of pulses, you can close your eyes until you've found the pulse, and then open them to count.)

JVRB4 · Aug 11, 2009

You described almost exactly how I felt/feel. I graduated in May '08 went to work in Sept '08 and felt like an idiot. Take everything you described and add to that not remembering alot of medications (what they were for, side effects etc) and not knowing some basic administration techniques such as how to draw up phenergan (how to dilute in syringe etc) and when do you add med to a mini saline bag and piggy back it vs drawing it up in a syringe and pushing it and what do you do when your pt has 3 IV piggy's ordered for the same time.

I was so embarrassed by my lack of knowledge and self-confidence. I felt like everyone else was smarter than me. This along with the environment I was in was more than I could take and I quit. Looking back I shouldn't have quit, now that I am reading post on this site I can see that alot of this is very normal and everyone seems to experience it. I quit in Dec '08 just after my orientation ended and I have been afraid to try again. I am trying to get the courage up to apply for a med/surg position in another hospital but now its been so long I am even less sure of my knowledge.

Just my opinion but from someone who gave up on herself very early in her career I would suggest trying to hang in there. If the environment is good and the staff is helpful then stay and give yourself a chance. If the current job doesn't seem to fit or the staff is not receptive to you as a new grad and willing to help you and be supportive then try to find another job before you quit this one. Just keep at it and I think you will get it with time. Good luck!

Nurse AllBetta · Aug 15, 2009

@ JVRB4: O...M...G. You have directly stated everything I have been feeling since I started on my floor esp. remembering the action of each and every med. I know there is Micromedex but still I feel dumb esp. when my preceptor tells me with a polite smile what the med's action is. And let's not even talk about feeling like a snail with my charting...

CMF_Dennen · Aug 18, 2009

You described almost exactly how I felt/feel. I graduated in May '08 went to work in Sept '08 and felt like an idiot. Take everything you described and add to that not remembering alot of medications (what they were for, side effects etc) and not knowing some basic administration techniques such as how to draw up phenergan (how to dilute in syringe etc) and when do you add med to a mini saline bag and piggy back it vs drawing it up in a syringe and pushing it and what do you do when your pt has 3 IV piggy's ordered for the same time.
I was so embarrassed by my lack of knowledge and self-confidence. I felt like everyone else was smarter than me. This along with the environment I was in was more than I could take and I quit. Looking back I shouldn't have quit, now that I am reading post on this site I can see that alot of this is very normal and everyone seems to experience it. I quit in Dec '08 just after my orientation ended and I have been afraid to try again. I am trying to get the courage up to apply for a med/surg position in another hospital but now its been so long I am even less sure of my knowledge.
Just my opinion but from someone who gave up on herself very early in her career I would suggest trying to hang in there. If the environment is good and the staff is helpful then stay and give yourself a chance. If the current job doesn't seem to fit or the staff is not receptive to you as a new grad and willing to help you and be supportive then try to find another job before you quit this one. Just keep at it and I think you will get it with time. Good luck!

THats so unfortunate that you had this experience. Get back out there. I think you've scared yourself and now you're probably procrastinating. If honestly want to take a break from nursing, which is understandable, ok but if you know you are just postponing force yourself. Just accept that you won't know alot for a little bit and try to find a job that can give you some good orientation and use your preceptor til your blue in the face. You make preceptors better too when you ask them why they do things the way they are doing them. You can do it!!

southernbelle08 · Aug 18, 2009

I think we have ALL felt this way. You have only been doing this for 2 months, and unfortunately, there is a lot of "real world" stuff that nursing school just can't prepare you for. You learn by experience. :)

I have been a nurse for 15 months now and there are STILL times where I feel like I should have caught something so obvious. Then I see that the nurse who did has been doing it for years longer than me. I WILL get there and so will you. Be proud of what you do correctly, and take lesson from what you are still struggling with. Everyone was new once.