New Grad: How do I make a smooth transition?

[JStevens15]

I am about to graduate from school and start out in the world as a "baby" nurse, what advice can you give me to make my transition into this new role as smooth as possible? What are the biggest things you wish new graduates knew before starting to work on the floor?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Understand that it will take at least a year until you start to feel comfortable in your job. It will take time to develop your routine and build your time management skills.

Find the go-to nurses in your unit. They are the people that other nurses go to for advice or help (ex. IV starts). If you have time, watch them start IVs, dressing changes, catheters, etc. They have done the trial and error to find out what works the most efficient for them.

You will feel overwhelmed when you first start, but as time does on, things will start to click.

Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" or "Can you help me with this to make sure I am doing it right". We have all been new and know what it is like to feel like you know nothing.