I don't know if i'm fit for this profession... I'm a new grad who started working on an orthopedics unit and i just feel... discouraged! I am so stressed before I start my work day, and when i leave my mind is running around thinking of all the things i might have missed.. The other day, i made a really careless med error giving a higher dose than was needed. I was so disappointed in myself that the 5 R's had eluded me at that one moment i was lucky that there were no adverse effects, but i felt terrible for the patient and myself. The other nurses told me not to worry about it; that they had done many careless things throughout their career... But for me, my day went downhill from there.. i felt like a nervous wreck.. and it hit me: this career holds so much responsibility and there is VERY little room for error. I think the nurses on the unit can see it on my face that I feel anxious, and they are so great! offering me their assistance and letting me know not to be shy to ask for help.. my patient load is on the easy side (5-6 who are relatively stable) to allow me to transition from school to work,.. honestly, i have been told several times that my floor is known for it's kind staff, but I feel that even in such a supportive environment, maybe i'm just not cut out for it... I have read many posts about the ridiculous hours some nurses work, and the catty nurses who make their lives hell, or the condescending Dr's.. i haven't quite experienced that at all! Most of my colleagues have been great, no rude Dr's ..yet, haven't dealt with the "politics" really and the head nurse has given me a really flexible schedule - only days, at the moment. I think what it boils down to is ambiguity of this profession; not being able to read Dr's orders (handwriting), getting used to normal "abnormal" values, encountering new diagnosis, procedures, and meds everyday, different patients with unique and difficult characters, Dr's orders that get slipped in middle of the shift and only noticed at the end of my shift , pt's and families with multiple inquiries that i just can't answer, people in pain, people i have to consult with... the list goes on. I was contemplating quitting and trying the OR where the skills may be more redundant but i might feel more confident in.. but I just feel terrible leaving this job after only 5 weeks, and my pride doesn't make it easier :S I thought nursing was for me because I thought I loved caring for people but now that's it's become a profession i'm payed for and i've become ultimately responsible for pt's lives , i find myself feeling miserable and inadequate and STRESSED out. not healthy!
sorry for the long rant! any advice would be greatly appreciated..
Soffy, I know exactly how u feel. I am a new nurse also and I work on an orthopedics unit on day shift. I think it is quite normal to feel the way that we all feel right now. I know the hardest thing for me is definitely interpreting the Doctors handwritten orders and remembering to check for new orders throughout the VERY BUSY day. I just try and slow myself down even when things are crazy on the unit. One thing I can suggest is to get organized. It helps alot! I use this hour by hour sheet so that I can see what needs to be done in the hour for each pt. It gives me peace of mind to be able to mark off tasks and it gives me a since of accomplishment. It is also useful to record what you did for that patient. I would right down in the 1700 box that I gave 2 perc so that I can report that to the night nurse in report. Also dont fill the sheet with more info than necessary that could make it seem like another task. I just simply put the word meds in the box for every hour they have meds or BS for blood sugar to remember to look at the blood sugar for my diabetic pts. Keep it simple. If you would like to use the sheet I posted it on a site for you the link is below. Let me know if it is helpful for anyone and Just keep going if you were not capable of providing competent patient care as a new grad you wouldn't have passed the NCLEX!! :)
I felt EXACTLY the same way when I first started & have the entire time I've been nursing, which will be a year in a October. It is a very stressful job, but it does get easier as you become more proficient at what you do(and you will). There are patients that will be on their call light constantly for the most mundane things and will seem to suck the life out of you & you will wonder why you went into nursing--but everyone goes through that especially in the beginning. I work night shift(7p-7a) and have found orders that were written at 10p when I'm going through med recs & it's oh 3am. I know now to check all the pts' charts in the dr orders after I get done passing night meds just to make sure that no new orders were missed. There is one dr in particular that pops on the floors around midnight & writes orders(ugh)--if I see him flitting around on the floor I always check my charts. You will see that things will get better--I hated my job & was so stressed all the time--sometimes I still am--but it does get better. Every shift is a learning experience. Just remember to triple check your meds--check them as you get them ready, then right before you go into pt's room, and as you give them to the patient. Also I heard orientation for or is 1yr--mainly learning all the tools they use. Good luck & you will only get stronger & better:nurse:
Soffy, don't be so hard on yourself. You've been at it 5 whole weeks, did you really think that you would be an expert by now? The first year is the hardest. I am a very confident person, but I found myself praying every morning for the first 6 months that I would be safe and competent. It's scary to feel such responsibility for another's life and one would question anyone's integrity just coming out of school and not feeling a bit overwhelmed. There is a lot to learn and most of it is not taught in nursing school.
I've been at this for 2 years now and I love being a nurse. My feet hurt at the end of the day and my job is stressful, but I couldn't imagine doing anything else. There are little gifts that we get all of the time. Mine last night was keeping my patient comfortable and staying with him so that he wouldn't be alone during his expected passing. A few days ago, it was catching a new arrythmia early and being able to intervene before it had further consequences. Not too long before that, it was knowing that the little old lady that had fallen in her garage and laid dehydrated, alone, and in excrement for 3 days was now clean, dry, safe, and felt the love that we as nurses had to give her.
You went into nursing for a reason, Soffy. Regroup and find that reason and make it work for you . Everything else will fall into place. You are not supposed to intuitively know what to do right now. You are not supposed to be fast and exude confidence yet. All of this will come with time. You are exactly where you are supposed to be and are fortunate to be working on a unit where people are understanding of this and are being supportive. Once you have started seeing things more than once or twice, you will find things much easier. Cut yourself some slack!
If you would like to use the sheet I posted it on a site for you the link is below. Let me know if it is helpful for anyone and Just keep going if you were not capable of providing competent patient care as a new grad you wouldn't have passed the NCLEX!! :)
I feel the same as many of you....completely overwhelmed! i am a new grad on L & D and haven't had the greatest preceptorship which I feel is a huge part of how discouraged I am feeling. Many days I have thought about calling it quits and trying out another unit. for now i have told myself to keep on going, see how I feel once orientation is over if i still feel like its not for me....I'm moving on. I love being a nurse, just not sure I've found my "niche"
Most say it takes atleast a year to build up comfort and confidence.....I'm hoping they are right!
You will get better! i swear. exact situ for me b4. it comes is all i can say. you just have to work at it. feeling like you missed something; constantly racing mind..it happens to ALL of us. if anyone tells you diff, they are lying!
Specializes in Urgent Care, Research, Care Coordination.
No Joking, I just posted a thread similar to yours here. Are you my twin??? Lol. I am a mirror image. New grad, ortho floor, great nurses. But I am going throught the same emotions. Reading the replies have me almost in tears: I'm not alone!! Thank you for writing this!
My biggest problems are reading doctors orders, calling doctors (and when an when not to), ordering diagnostics and tests, knowing when to call the appropriate departments, proper body mechanics getting up the morning after joint replacements, delegating to techs who don't want to work, hip precautions/ knee precautions, managing new admits among my other pts, oh the list goes on.
I want to be cool and composed but I know I must look crazy and super busy to the other nurses on my unit. You and everyone who has replied to your thread have given me hope that the cool-composure will come. Keep me posted on your progress! Good Luck!
Wow... ditto... I could have written the original post!
To the OP - hang in there for as long as you can. What you've described, at least to me, are typical nursing events.
As for me - nine months in - a "toddler" nurse, if you will... I am going to work at another hospital in the area. I am saddened at leaving the people I've worked with, but I've decided I need to try something else to determine if nursing is like this as a whole - or if what I'd encountered was specific to that environment.
What I finally realized was that what I'd been encountering was no longer affecting me personally, but rather had begun to affect me in ways that had an impact on my professional goals... so... I made a change. We'll see what happens.
I too am a new nurse and I have been having the worst time ever. I feel like I am constantly walking on egg shells. I get so nervous going to work that I actually have started to cry the day before I have to work. I work in a telemetry unit and I have only been on my own for about 8 shifts and I already had 3 med errors, two of them on the same day. I am so afraid of losing that license that I worked and prayed so hard to get. I do have the more experienced nurses on the unit telling me that I can ask them for help, but how do I ask for help when I don't know that I am making a mistake? Truth be told, I did not want to work in Med/Surg. My first love was either pediatrics or L&D. However, I heard from so many people that it would be best for me to have at least one year of experience in Med/Surg that I decided to do it for the year and then branch out. Now I believe I have made a horrible mistake. I may even have made a mistake being a nurse. I feel so stressed out and I am so deathly afraid of making a mistake that would kill someone. I do the night shift, because I thought it would be easier for me, but it turned out to be just as hard. I am thinking of quitting the hospital and going into home care, or maybe quitting the profession altogether. I don't know what to do, or where to turn to anymore.
hey i feel the same way! please someone say it does get better? i just started and on my 3rd day i had a patient all to myself. no orientation. i learn quickly but i am so overwhelmed. i get 8-12 weeks with a preceptor and it helps that my preceptor is great but i had the easiest patient for my 1 and wondering how in the world i'm ever going to get to 5 not so easy patients! i'm so scared that this isn't for me but also worked so hard to get here. ahhh i just want to scream!
Soffy, it sounds like you are feeling really down right now and like things are not going to get better, and it sounds like there are a few others on this thread that are in the same boat as you, which means you are not alone. Even though it probably doesn't help right now, I assure you, given time, and a little more experience, the routine and the responsiblities of your unit will become easier for you to handle.
As for the drug error, we have all been there as well, we are only human, I am sure you have learn't from this mistake, don't dwell on it, because that won't help you at all.
Congratulations on graduating in the first place, you have already done the hard yards.:grad:
i was lucky that there were no adverse effects, but i felt terrible for the patient and myself. The other nurses told me not to worry about it; that they had done many careless things throughout their career... But for me, my day went downhill from there.. i felt like a nervous wreck.. and it hit me: this career holds so much responsibility and there is VERY little room for error. I think the nurses on the unit can see it on my face that I feel anxious, and they are so great! offering me their assistance and letting me know not to be shy to ask for help.. my patient load is on the easy side (5-6 who are relatively stable) to allow me to transition from school to work,.. honestly, i have been told several times that my floor is known for it's kind staff, but I feel that even in such a supportive environment, maybe i'm just not cut out for it... I have read many posts about the ridiculous hours some nurses work, and the catty nurses who make their lives hell, or the condescending Dr's.. i haven't quite experienced that at all! Most of my colleagues have been great, no rude Dr's ..yet, haven't dealt with the "politics" really and the head nurse has given me a really flexible schedule - only days, at the moment. I think what it boils down to is ambiguity of this profession; not being able to read Dr's orders (handwriting), getting used to normal "abnormal" values, encountering new diagnosis, procedures, and meds everyday, different patients with unique and difficult characters, Dr's orders that get slipped in middle of the shift and only noticed at the end of my shift 
ngbaseball
15 Posts
I just feel like everyone else knows so much more than I do.