Need a little reassurance

[FrickFrackRN]

Hi everyone,

I'm feeling a little bit down, and what better place to seek moral support than those who have been there.

I'm fresh out of school and just completed shift 5 on my floor. I work in a hospital on their surgery floor doing mostly PACU level 2 and will cross train in pre-op when I am comfortable with the post-op side. 90% of our cases go home the same day with a few who are admitted either scheduled or unscheduled so the patients are somewhat healthy for the most part.

I'm the first GN they have ever hired on their floor which I am very thankful for, but it also makes me feel like a complete idiot sometimes because the nurses there aren't used to someone with so little nursing skill knowledge. For instance, when my preceptor asked if I could do a 3 lead ECG I asked if she could please walk me through one once because its been a while since I saw one done in school and her eyes almost bugged out of her head and said it was something I really needed to know how to do because I would be doing it often. She also almost fainted when I told her I have never inserted an oral airway before (I take ACLS next month). Today I did IV starts and only managed 1 stick out of 4 tries. The patients were all NPO of course which didn't make finding veins easy, but I still felt awful.

I think I'll really enjoy this floor and I love taking care of the patients, but I am not used to feeling so insecure and deer in headlights. I haven't even touch on all the verbal orders from doctors that I need to get strong in. This feeling is normal and will pass right? I feel like I should love going to work everyday and not be so upset about not knowing everything.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

Yes, the feelings are normal. Ask your preceptors to point you toward resources to help you build/improve your skills. Also ask for recommendations on which policies you should be reviewing and ask for a list common meds given. Good luck to you!

[BlueDawnRN, BSN]

It's normal for you to not know these things. Nursing school doesn't give you much hands on experience. I was a new grad on a telemetry floor and I had to get a nurse to show me how to put the EKG leads on. I also somehow never got to give an IM injection in nursing school and had to ask someone to come with me the first time. There are a LOT of simple things that I had never done, or had only done once or twice, or had only done on a SIM man. It's important for you to keep asking questions so you can learn. It's a shame they expect you to know these things right out of school. We get a lot of new grads on my floor so nobody judged me. I'm sorry that your work environment is not used to having new grads. I would definitely recommend that you talk to your preceptor, nursing educator and/or manager so they can help you.