new grad and I already hate working

[2bnurse_it]

Hi everyone.

I just passed my boards about 2 weeks ago, have been on orientation for the past 8 weeks, and i will be on my own next week already. and i feel that i am NOT READY!

I feel l like I won't know when I should call the doctor, when lab values are too high or too low and what am I suppose to do if "something" happens?

I feel like med surge is just not for me.

HOnestly, I want to go into ICU, but I've heard the med surge is a great way to learn the basics and better prepare me. So i don't know if I should stick around this unit for a year and then try ICU----or try to apply for the ICU training program that my hospital is CURRENTLY offering.

Even so, if I did try for the ICU, i'm scared that i will fail the interview. Is there anyone who can offer any advice on how or what the interview will entail or how to prepare?

Working in med surge is taking a toll on me becuase I already feel like nursing is not my field.

help!

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

If you can't cope with the pace on the floor (knowing what lab values are, when to call for help etc), please reconsider the ICU thing. It's just the same, except more in-depth and faster paced.

Some things, you just need to suck it up and learn by repetition, like lab results. You don't need to memorize them, but you do need to know where to look up normal values. You should always have a nurse in charge to ask about when to call the doc.

You're brand new - the learning all happens after school. Just give it some time. I hated it when I felt useless and dumb too - once you feel like you know what you're doing, it's much more enjoyable!

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

I came here tonight looking for some insight in to what I am doing and how I am feeling. So much of it represented right here in this post.

I have been hating my first job on a m/s floor. I leave most nights feeling like an idiot. I hate having to spend so much of my shift seeking answers to questions. I hate the nurses who are relieving me who roll their eyes and ask questions that I never thought of asking of the nurse I relieved, never mind ran across during my shift. Most nights, I am happy that myself and my patients survived and that the bulk of what I was responsible for doing is done. I feel so short-sighted most nights. I have been off orientation since September; the last three nights on the floor have been the worst.

My fellow experienced nurses tell me to hang in there....they tell me it will get better. They tell me I am doing fine. I think I am going crazy. I don't cry on the way to and from work; I cry several times during my shifts from frustration, fear, and exhaustion (it's usually more of tearing up; not sobbing and embarrassing myself, lol!!). All I can think of is getting OUT of this job.

Then I also suffer from what someone else wrote above -- if others can do this, surely *I* can. I have never not succeeded at something I wanted. I'm just not sure how bad I want this anymore. I feel like the person who said that sometimes I just don't give a d*#^. As long as I keep the patients safe, ask experienced nurses or my charges (worthless IMO) for help, then move on to the docs if needed, I feel like I am doing what I can. I do know there is much I have already learned...sometimes that gives me hope that the experienced nurses are maybe right?!?!? Maybe I do need to give myself and break and some time...

As for the original poster, goodness, if you can't deal with med/surg, I can't imagine moving in to ICU. If you think you don't have time to think nor learn this job, the pace of an ICU position is liable to just wipe you out. We had a fellow graduate who went to ICU and ended up throwing in the towel; it's just not for everyone at graduation.

I wish you all the best -- although I still haven't even figured out what that is for me!! UGH!!

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

i invite all new grads to check out our first year in nursing forum

especially support stickie for new nurses who are not coping

[luvmomo4]

I am also a new grad and just finished my first week of orientation on a med/surg floor. I leave work everyday feeling like an idiot, but I also leave having learned something new. I like to excell at what I do, and I have been really hard on myself because I feel like I don't know anything. I'm also having a hard time juggling 5-6 patients. I just can't remember who's in what room or who has what illness unless I look at my notes. I feel so overwhelmed and just want to cry. I love what I'm doing, but I'm just so scared all the time. I don't know what to do.

hey tink0808...sorrry that you're feeling this way..I kow what u mean..how are you doing now? I'm an RN but with very limited experience in acute care. I envy the new grads because they still have all their information(theory, clinical) fresh in their minds..whereas for me,,I'm re-entering again as a new nurse and absolutely don't remember anything! So it's scarier for me. Don't give up...so you won't be in my situation (regretting not being persistent and quitting long time ago because I was scared and feeling alone & stupid). Does the hospital you work in ..is your preceptor really good and patient? LET ME KNOW HOW YOU'RE PROGRESSING...WOULD LOVE TO HEAR UPDATES FROM U....

[military girl]

You really need to get a foundation in med/surg. I am a military nurse and have worked med/surg for 3 years. I am going back to Iraq for my second tour and I tell you, med/surg has served me well.

First of all, don't be so hard on yourself. You are a new grad, and will not be expected to know it all at once. If you feel that you need more time on orientation(and if you do, I suggest that you speak to your nurse manager now), then you need to communicate it. Second, there should always be a resource nurse on the floor, someone that doesn't have a patient load, to help out the newbies. Sometimes the resource nurse had to take on patients due to the census, but if that is the case, then anyone of the experienced nurses on the floor should be able to help you out. As for calling the doctor, it's better to err on the side of caution. If you call(especially in the middle of the night) and they get upset, then that's okay. Always remember to cover your backside. And always document. It will save you.

Don't jump to ICU yet. I was told when I started working med/surg(I wasn't in the military yet), that it would take 6 months to a year before I felt like things would click and I would start to get comfortable. Give yourself 6 months, I think that you may be glad you did.

Good luck and Happy New Year

[piel_canela26]

im also a new grad, i started working in september and now im on my own on a medsurge floor which also has a surgical stepdown unit..... to be honest i hate it since i'm not interested in medsurge/critical care but i do believe it's valuble experience i'm gaining so i'm ridding it out till i'm able to transfer to L&D which is what i really want to do... p.s dont wory about not knowing ur lab values in most hospitals the lab will call to inform you of critical lab values.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

That does not sound like enough orientation. Our new nurses get at least 6 weeks with a preceptor.

[tiffmh1987]

You know, I just want to say that I'm a fairly new grad. I graduated May 9th of 2008. My last semester of nursing school, I was having so many doubts. I had barely passed my 3rd semester and felt like clinicals were a joke, meaning I hadn't gotten to learn hardly anything else besides paper care plans. I was ready to do the externship and first year of medsurg.

On orientation the first week of my fourth semester, our small group was getting ready to go to our various floors to orient to our preceptors and the units. I was going to medsurg and was told there was an opening in the fairly new cardiac unit for a student. Part of me said no, no, stick to your comfort zone! And the other adventurous part of me said THUNDERCATS ARE GO!

Well, it turned out that was the best career decision I made so far. My preceptor pretty much taught me how to be a nurse. Charley, God bless you! My first day, my original preceptor was sick. I thought, Oh crap, what was I thinking? But here came Charley, and he took me under his wing like his own daughter (who herself is two years older than me and a cardiac nurse!) He was extremely patient with me, never got mad, and taught me the most important rule of all: no matter what, we leave at 7:00pm! (Haha) But what a fantastic, extremely knowledgeable nurse he was.

We started an open heart program right after I graduated, so I got to be in on it from the very beginning. Got to know the new doctor, and have seen mostly great outcomes. A few bad ones. Two horrible ones. But at this point, I have recovered more fresh hearts than anyone on the unit, next to Charley. We have trained other nurses, as well.

What I'm saying is, I went with what I wanted to do. A lot of people told me medsurg was what I needed to do my first year.

Boy, was my instructor, one of those very same ones that advised me to go medsurg, surprised when she was checking on this past semester's students, and here I was taking care of an open heart with a ventilator, arterial lines, chest tubes, JP drains. Virtually on my own.

As for time management, I've been able to handle anywhere from one really sick patient to four patients. Our unit has 10 beds.

I have also charge nursed on the not-so busy days.

I absolutely love getting up at 0500 in the morning and driving 30 minutes to work. And most of the time, I've gotten out at 1900.

Maybe the problem is the place you're in, my friend. It's not hell everywhere. Maybe, if you find the right ICU somewhere, with the right group of nurses, and positive atmosphere, you will discover what you went to school for.