Need solutions to nursing problems!!

You are just fine. Three months out..you are a BABY nurse still! I think the problem is the lack of support you have. When I was 3 months out (and still to this day sometimes!) I was asking questions of my charge nurse or other more experienced nurses constantly. The difference with me however is the nurses I worked with never acted annoyed at me. They were all sooooo understanding and helpful. Do you ask questions of them or do you just wait and guess? It is SO much better to ask then to not ask for fear of looking dumb. Hang in there and if you dont get more support I'd suggest looking elsewhere for employment.

Awe, dang I hate that you are going through this. It's hard enough to be new the first year, then to have no mentor is even more difficult. Even so... before you start paging doctors next time, get the charge, or a senior nurse whom you trust clinically (not just the "nice" nurse) and have them look at the situation and help you gather your ducks in a row before calling any doc. This will help you critically think.

If this group doesn't help you, it just doesn't magically appear, so hound them anyway. I know you're looking for an easier way to avoid this, since they haven't kept their feelings to themselves, but your patients need you to do it anyway.

It will help you grow the brass ones that you need to anyway.

I have only been nursing as a RN for about a year, and I still forget things and get the foul looks, snooty doctors. Think everyone does still. I try to jot everything down so I don't forget (but you do cos some shifts are crazy busy), & I write stuff down I've learned for next time.

Anyway, I always tell the senior nurse/shift coordinator if anything is wrong with a patient. Tell them before the doctor & let them handle it - that is their job in most cases. They shouldn't really mind, as they do have more experience.

I know you feel like a dummy, but try not to take too much to heart, we all make mistakes & to be honest, they will have forgotten about it all a few weeks later in any case.

You are not a moran, and I'm sure that these experiences are teaching you valuable lessons. In fact, you just taught me a lesson, so thank you.

Relax smokeynight. You cannot be expected to know much of anything at this point. Many of us went through the "rites of passage" hazing. Snooty, upidity holier-than-thou's running us through the gauntlets of insecurity and self-doubt. Busting our chops for not knowing is their favorite sport. Don't take it so personally. Continue to believe in yourself and the rest will come with time. Nursing school is like learning to drive a car by reading the operators manual. Trust me, learn from these experiences and you will be a fine nurse.

We all struggle with this. Nursing school sucks a lot of the critical thinking skills out of us, with all the "right" answers and black and white thinkings. I know I was never encouraged to think outside the box.

Next time you have a problem, try to think of every possible scenerio. Be creative. Problem - bloody urine not draining through a foley. Explanation - a clot occlusion. Seems obvious, but when the patient's fussing at you, your charge is fussing at you, and you have five other patients to worry about, it's hard to come to that conclusion because of all the other distractions.

A lot of this falls on the doc. Why a urologist wouldn't order CBI or routine flushing is beyond me.

Don't be so hard on yourself. No one, even your cranky charge, was born knowing all the answers.

Hang in there. It does get better. Ask your unit director about having a resource nurse that expects to be asked questions from new nurses. I love to help our new nurses. After all, none of us were born nurses and no nurse knows it all. We should all be learning everyday.

yep, as everyone said, keep knocking on those solid doors that are your peers. I'd hope that their patient care standards are high, and they want that for you as well. But please include them, prior to calling docs and then they have ownership and are less likely to snicker when you get a tush reaming,,,, they then will step up and have your back. If not... you are in the wrong place.. we never ever let each other drown or get ripped if we agree an intervention is warrented.

consider my infamous line..."look, If I'm waking you up, looking for more work for me... your patient needs you to order something!"

and my second favorite.."when you raise your voice at me, I'll be hesitant to call you the next time I think your patient is in trouble... do we really want that situation?" 'now, back to our patient.......'

I've been working for about 10 months and am just starting to feel comfortable about remembering to do all the small things and about knowing what to do in a lot of situations. It just takes time. And I am the queen of questions--it's the only way you can learn! There will always be some nasty doctors and nurses and otherwise around, don't take it personally.

I firmly believe that you will never know everything. I answer all questions that the new nurses ask of me and I try to help them reason things out so they get the answer for themselves. I have 14 years of bedside nursing behind me and I still ask questions. "The only stupid question is the one not asked"