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Discussion

nervous and terrified

I first want to say, I love this site! I was constantly reading through my school years and any question I have, u always return here.

I have been a nurse for a year now, working psych. I LOVE IT. I had been with the company for 3 years total, as a tech then RN.

This is all good, but I've lost/losing my skills. In psych we deal with behavioral and emotional crisis. I can count on one hand how many times I've drawn blood.

I've recently started on an ortho floor at a hospital. I am SO overwhelmed. I feel dumb, like, maybe I've made a mistake. All the nurses are very supportive and tell me I'll catch on but I'm nervous to hurt someone, on accident. You know the horror stories. The patients we get are generally post op. So a lot of focus is on wound, lungs, bowels, skin breakdown and pain... I can manage, but im as slow as a turtle. It's frustrating. It's like they spend more time charting than with the patient. SO much more fast paced than my previous psych job.

I guess I'm just looking for support here, Yall to tell me I'll get it and I'm going to be okay. Haha

I am still orienting with another nurse for 3 more weeks so maybe I will feel better about it later

Thank you for reading the ramblings!

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    I've been working on an ortho floor for about 8 months now. It was my first job as a new nurse. When I first started I was extremely nervous, felt overwhelmed, felt like I couldn't handle working on such a busy unit.

    During my first few months, I would feel very stressed when I saw something new and my time management would go out the window.

    So today I had to give blood for the first time ever. And I was very calm and collected during the whole thing. Yeah I still had to ask for help and grab another nurse to walk me through setting up the line etc, but I was calm and much more organized than if I had to do this just a few months ago.

    Sorry this post is long but my point is that you are going to see and do alot of stuff you've never seen or done. And it's completely fine & encouraged to ask someone for help. And what's mostly going to help you feel comfortable is time. Give it at least 6 months and things will start to become second nature. My time management has improved sooo much. Learn to cluster your care, ask TONS of questions even if you think you know the answer. Even just a simple "Hey my patient is feeling/looking/doing this and I was thinking of trying this, do you have any other suggestions?" can validate your critical thinking. I know it's hard now but it will get better.

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    Can I ask why you left a specialty that you love?

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    I left because I've been doing something psych related for almost 10 years (as tech and now nurse)

    I am still doing psych as a PRN nurse, but I wanted to spread my wings a bit and see what else was out there. My dream, if I ever got the guts, would be ER/Trauma. I'm pretty overwhelmed right now though. ..

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