New grad having nightmares about work!!!!!!!!!

LuxCalidaNP · Nov 4, 2010

Awwww...This sucks!

I remember the first job I had in healthcare, I dreamt in EMR and work-terms for weeks! Drove me nuts. I suggest getting out and doing something different after work: go for a bike ride, visit a friend, do anything that isn't related to nursing. :) It'll pass....

Davey Do · Nov 4, 2010

journee:

Sounds like your psyche is connecting the realms of reality and the dreamworld. Not abnormal, with one in a hyper vigil state such as you are. Seeings how you have a new job, residence, etc.

A good start is by reaching out, which you've done. However, limited consolation can be given over the web. A real, trained human being would be a more efficacious endeavor.

Most institutions have Employee Assistance Programs (EAP). These programs have Licensed Counsellors to help employees deal with stressors such as those which you are experiencing. Usually at little or no cost.

The best to you.

Dave

Rabid Response · Nov 4, 2010

Wow. I went through the exact same thing the first year. I would wake up several times a day (worked night shift) in a cold sweat with awful dreams about work. One of the worst recurring ones was a dream that I had been assigned patients on different floors. Another was that I found out at the end of my shift that I had been assigned to a patient I had never even looked in on. I would also wake up and not be able to remember if I had charted certain things in real life, like a patient's blood sugar or a medication administered. Awful!

I am sorry that you are going through this. After about a year of suffering I started jogging for 45 minutes on a treadmill before work. I don't know if that really did the trick or if I was just growing out of my anxiety anyway, but I slept much better that way. I did notice that melatonin (taken for insomnia), although it did help me to fall asleep easier, made the nightmares much worse and more bizarre. If you are taking any sleep aids, try doing without them for a few nights and see what happens. Also, try not to eat a lot right before you go to bed.

I remember talking to my fellow new nurses and finding out that most of them were having issues with anxiety. Some of them threw up from nerves before their shifts every day. Others confessed to crying in their cars before they went in to work. I think it is normal when adapting to such a stressful job. It really does pass after a while. I think it took a year and a half before I stopped having butterflies in my stomach while walking from the garage to the hospital, but these days I look forward to going to work.

Find someone to talk to if you need it, but know that what you're going through is totally normal. Good luck.

porterwoman · Nov 4, 2010

Yep. Patients out in the parking lot, noticing it's 5pm and I haven't set foot in my patient's room, writing verbal orders on a balloon because it's the only thing I have to write on--I feel ya! My dreams definitely reflect my work-related anxiety. Then when I moved into critical care from med/surg/stepdown, wow, the dreams got even more intense & scary. For me, they got better with time. I bet they will for you too as you become more comfortable in your surroundings. Hugs, stay with it, take good good care of yourself.

GGT1 · Nov 4, 2010

Me too!

sunshineintheforest · Nov 4, 2010

I think exercise and meditation. I Start nursing 1 in January and I just started having nightmares about school. Forgetting how to spell, not being able to write what I'm thinking. Very frustrating. Remember your dreams are your brains way of relieving stress.. Better to dream this stuff then have it happen. Acknowledge it as a dream right as you wake up and let it feel like you made all your mistakes in your sleep so you will NOT make any in real life. I'm sure it will pass with time:)

Queen2u · Nov 4, 2010

:heartbeatI LOVE NURSES!!!!!!!!!!!:heartbeat I didn't expect so many responses in such a short period of time!!!!!! Thanks to all of you for letting me know that I'm not alone in this and for your advice and input!!!!!!! By the way, I do have a hard time falling asleep, so I do sometimes take sleep aids......it might be hard, but I just might try to lay off of them.....THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

grasshopper7780 · Nov 4, 2010

Not about nursing but I used to have those about two other jobs, waiting tables at a very high end steak house near the White House and working in PR with the media. My suggestion is to do something that will relax you before you go to sleep to clear your mind. I used to do yoga and now I always read, not a work related book, but a novel, something to get your mind away from work. Also, writing in a journal is very helpful. I write what I have done well that day, things I need to think of for the rest of the week, etc. It helps clear the mind. It will pass.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · Nov 4, 2010

This will pass, these types of dreams are common and normal. If you were a welder you be dreaming "my acetylene tank is empty, Nooooooo!" It's because you are so passionate about your work that you care so much, this is good. Make sure your life is in balance so that work is not your only focus.

merlee · Nov 4, 2010

Whenever I worked in an area that had alarms, I would hear them going off in my sleep and wake up briefly. Eventually, it stops. Really.

I agree with other posters about doing something distracting before going to bed, or exercising for a bit when you get home from work. Anything to release some of your anxiety.

Best wishes!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 4, 2010

sounds like a typical new grad lament to me. this too shall pass. it sucks -- believe me i've been there. but it's pretty normal for a new grad. i stopped having this problem when i got a dog and had to walk him after work. (of course that was after my first year, too.) the more stressful my shift, the longer we walked -- walked eight miles one night! but walking the dog gave me time to reflect on my day, and it also provided a buffer between work and sleep.