6 months, ED NURSE

[NursePoboy]

This is my first job as an RN, off orientation for almost 3 months. I'm still getting the hang of it to put it mildly. I'm not as fast as I'd like to be, I get about half of my IVs, dialysis and older obese pts I still struggle with IV placement. For the most part I get along with everyone or at least try to, I know the people I can come to for help and those that I try to avoid. Work politics, ever evolving computer systems, difficult pts, learning new skills, difficult mds, forms, algorithms, ahh some days I feel I'm ok, some days I feel like I'm barely staying afloat. I don't really feel I'm a nurse yet, I feel like I'm doing nursing things but still have a hard time getting the gist of it all bc I'm so consumed trying to learn my skills. I have some particular mds that make me so nervous that I end up doing stupid things bc they rattle me so much. There's some nurses that act like hot sh*t bc they've been doing it for yrs and when they ask me something in report and I don't know the answer and I go to the computer I get an eye roll or some condescending comment. Sometimes the least favorite part of the job is nurse to nurse handoff bc as much as I try to be thorough in my report half the times I end up getting stumped on a question and end up feeling like a dumbass. I guess I'm just venting, I had a hard day yesterday, I feel so beaten up and am trying to look at everyday as a learning experience and look at the bright side, but feel anxious about working with particular mds and nurses. I know I know it's part of the job, hey let me vent! :)

[kiszi, RN]

Vent away! =)

I've been a nurse for some time now, so I have a better idea now of how to prepare for report than I used to. But, that said, there are still crazy shifts where I don't have all my ducks in a row. The difference now is that I don't let it rattle me. If I don't know the chest x-ray results, I just say "I didn't get a chance to look that up" and move on with report. No apologies. Let the eyerolls "roll" right off you. ED is full of strong personalities. Things will get better.

For what it's worth, in my first hospital job years ago, there was a nurse I HATED giving report to. She would grill me constantly and didn't miss a thing. In time, I learned how to give a spot-on report from her and we even became friends later.

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

I'm not an ED nurse but try looking at difficult co workers and MDs in a different light. The ones who rattle me the most are usually the ones I learn the most because I then go to seek out the information about things I do not know, learn how to streamline my nurse hand offs and speaking with the MDs, and in turn that starts to build confidence. Don't let them being annoyed bring you down at the end of they day they know they were once you too, everyone has to start somewhere.