New Grad feeling overwhelmed

[Jag815]

Hi Board,

I graduated LPN school in June and took and passed my boards in August. I got a job as a Med Nurse on a LTC unit, have been there for only 1 week and am feeling a bit overwhelmed . I was very honest during the interview and told my employer that my experience administering meds was only a 1:1 ratio (1 patient to 1 student). I was told by the DON and ADON that they will mold me and train me and that they won't let me give meds on my own without help until they feel and I feel that I can handle it.

I'm still in training (not sure how much longer for), but from the feeling that I'm getting... I think my employer was only expecting to train me for 1 week and then have me hit the ground running administering meds to the entire floor, which has 26 residents.

Anyway... I'm really hustling my butt off! And that's with giving meds to 14 residents and being about 20-45 minutes over the alotted time frame. I know that I'm out of compliance, but that's because I'm trying to do the right thing by being safe (wearing gloves when I'm supposed to and washing my hands in between patients) and checking my meds 3x before I open them and give them to the patient.

I know that I can do the job and in time will build up my speed, but right now I'm really feeling like I'm never gonna get there and my boss is looking at me like "speed it up and do it real soon".

Any advice??

[Skeletor]

I wish you the best of luck and don't be hard on yourself, your speed won't come overnight, but your safe administration has to always be there.