need advice PLEASE

Nurses New Nurse

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Help,

I graduated from school in late May, passed NCLEX in late July, and just got off orientation on a very busy, high acuity med-surg unit. I did really well in school, and thought I was prepared. Now, I question if I have what it takes to be a good nurse. I know I need help with time management. I have gone to my preceptor and all she says is that it will come with time. My orientation was not the greatest. My preceptor provided little follow-up communication or assessment of my skillls. I feel that the minute I step on the floor, I am always behind. I'm assigned 4 to 5 patients, most are insulin dependent. the cna's on days are forever complaing that the rn's are lazy and they don't do quite the job that I would expect them to do. As a result, I find myself doing some of their job, all of my job and I am just getting frazzled. I do love nursing though. My first priority is patient safety, but I feel like a chicken with no cranium for part of the day. Any advice would be helpful Thanks so much

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Now, I question if I have what it takes to be a good nurse. I know I need help with time management. I have gone to my preceptor and all she says is that it will come with time. My orientation was not the greatest. My preceptor provided little follow-up communication or assessment of my skillls. I feel that the minute I step on the floor, I am always behind. I'm assigned 4 to 5 patients, most are insulin dependent. the cna's on days are forever complaing that the rn's are lazy and they don't do quite the job that I would expect them to do. As a result, I find myself doing some of their job, all of my job and I am just getting frazzled. I do love nursing though.

sounds normal to me! :D

Relax every nurse I know says it will come with time. If you get a free minute try explainng your concerns to your preceptor, if that doesn't work try the manager. It will be okay...but then I am only a student what do I know :devil:

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Specializes in ACNP-BC.
Help,

I graduated from school in late May, passed NCLEX in late July, and just got off orientation on a very busy, high acuity med-surg unit. I did really well in school, and thought I was prepared. Now, I question if I have what it takes to be a good nurse. I know I need help with time management. I have gone to my preceptor and all she says is that it will come with time. My orientation was not the greatest. My preceptor provided little follow-up communication or assessment of my skillls. I feel that the minute I step on the floor, I am always behind. I'm assigned 4 to 5 patients, most are insulin dependent. the cna's on days are forever complaing that the rn's are lazy and they don't do quite the job that I would expect them to do. As a result, I find myself doing some of their job, all of my job and I am just getting frazzled. I do love nursing though. My first priority is patient safety, but I feel like a chicken with no cranium for part of the day. Any advice would be helpful Thanks so much

Oh my God! You sound so much like me it's scary! I'm in the exact same situation! The CNAs on days on my floor also tell me how lazy the other RNs are & I do help out as much as I can-but unfortunately I cannot keep dropping what I'm doing every time to help someone off a bedpan. I wish the aides would just ask other aides first, & then if the other aides are busy then the nurses could be asked to help. I find I'm often frazzled right now as a new grad (this is my 4th week of orientation) cuz I'll be in the middle of giving meds or doing an assessment & I'll be asked to do things. It's tough to be constantly asked to do things by others cuz then I fall way behind on my own job & then I miss break & get super tired & cranky & you know the rest! :)

Anyhow... I feel better knowing someone else is going through what I'm going through! I have been getting better with asking CNAs to do things when I'm way too busy. I think it'll just take more time for us to get used to it!

-Christine

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Specializes in Med/Surge.

This has got to be a common problem amongst us "young uns" cause I could have written this myself. Today I was right in the middle of starting an IV the aid comes in and tells me pt X is feeling funny and needs to talk to me all the while they are paging in the rooms for me to call the desk! What's a new nurse to do? Today, all I did was "put out fires". I hate those days. Not to mention the fact that I had 6 "needy" pts.

I sure hope time management comes with time cuz I sure don't have much of it on some days!! I had a newly dx lung ca pt this afternoon that was crying in her room and I had absolutley no time to do anything other than hug her and try to get her to calm down. I felt like a really rotten nurse to her today but I had to go across the hall to speak to the family of a hospice pt that is end stage renal failure and already becoming cyanotic. One pt trying to climb out bed that ripped her IV out. One with out of this world blood sugar levels, one guy that told me he couldn't take his K+ b/c he's is allergic to bananas, and my sweet little baby under billilights!!

Sorry for the rant, OMG it's too much for words some days!!

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Help,

I graduated from school in late May, passed NCLEX in late July, and just got off orientation on a very busy, high acuity med-surg unit. I did really well in school, and thought I was prepared. Now, I question if I have what it takes to be a good nurse. I know I need help with time management. I have gone to my preceptor and all she says is that it will come with time. My orientation was not the greatest. My preceptor provided little follow-up communication or assessment of my skillls. I feel that the minute I step on the floor, I am always behind. I'm assigned 4 to 5 patients, most are insulin dependent. the cna's on days are forever complaing that the rn's are lazy and they don't do quite the job that I would expect them to do. As a result, I find myself doing some of their job, all of my job and I am just getting frazzled. I do love nursing though. My first priority is patient safety, but I feel like a chicken with no cranium for part of the day. Any advice would be helpful Thanks so much

hi, just so this doesn't come to as a shocker to you IT"S NORMAL!!! it takes a while to get used to time managment and taking care of pt's. no nursing school in the world, i dont care how much clinical time the school had, could ever prepare one for what the "real world of nursing" is all about.. so dont give up. ths is redundant prob to you but it really does come with time. i have been a nurse for 3 years approx. and its still hard to manage time. as a nurse anything can and will be thrown at you.i write out lists of routine things, then add on extras and cross out when im done. it helps somewhat. hang in there. and also PS- nursing aides are probable the most volitile, lazy and resentful people in a hospital. they never do their job or take responsibility. the only thing they take seriosly is their breaks. (this is a generalization of my experiences, cant talk for all though)

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hi, just so this doesn't come to as a shocker to you IT"S NORMAL!!! it takes a while to get used to time managment and taking care of pt's. no nursing school in the world, i dont care how much clinical time the school had, could ever prepare one for what the "real world of nursing" is all about.. so dont give up. ths is redundant prob to you but it really does come with time. i have been a nurse for 3 years approx. and its still hard to manage time. as a nurse anything can and will be thrown at you.i write out lists of routine things, then add on extras and cross out when im done. it helps somewhat. hang in there. and also PS- nursing aides are probable the most volitile, lazy and resentful people in a hospital. they never do their job or take responsibility. the only thing they take seriosly is their breaks. (this is a generalization of my experiences, cant talk for all though)

Hi , just finished RN school ...was a nursing assistant way back when...yes as an NA sometimes i asked an RN for help..if there was noone else available...i really did not take offense if they said A BIG FAT NO!! But i did really appreciate the ones who coordinated the care of the pt with me ...for ex...i have to do a dressing change...lets just reposition the pt at that point..etc...good luck to u

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Every new nursing job I've taken there has been some negative feelings that the techs think the RNs are lazy and vice versa. Due to some guidance from some great senior techs who knew differently and wanted better teamwork between nurses and techs, things changed. The senior techs set the tone opening up discussion and clarification as to what the RNs actually do. Then we discovered why the techs felt that way about RNs; they just did not understand what it is that we do; they assumed RNs do their same job only for more pay. Also when the techs find out I used to be a tech just like them and how long I've been in nursing (since candy striper training at age 15) it gives me some clout when I thank them and say I KNOW how hard they work. You always want to thank everyone for coming, especially at the end of the shift, because praise IS a motivator. When shifts become problematic on our unit the the team leader (RN or senior tech) calls an immediate, mandatory 5-10 minute team meeting behind closed doors to hash out expectations and get feelings out in the open. If the problem can be handled one and one between RN and tech I'm all for it. I've turned my laziest tech into quite the little fun team member just by a simple one and one about my expectations and needs as a nurse, team leader and performance evaluator. Team meetings are when confrontation buttons down and makes a nice, uniform place to stand in.

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