new grad RN- want to quit nursing

gerry79 · Sep 18, 2004

Please try to hang in there! You are a new grad and you wont really feel comfort in the job for some time. You seem to have a supportive staff that understands that you are a new nurse, so rely on their knowlegde to help you through these tough times. You wont always be new, and can be a great asset to another newbie down the road. Please stick with it!

G

PMHNP10 · Sep 18, 2004

I really don't want to give up, is there anything I can do?QUOTE]
From your entire vent I picked up 1 theme. You are a new grad. Did you know that after you graduated from nursing school and passed your board exam, the only thing you accomplished was earning a license to learn? Now that is no small task for sure, but where you've come thus far is only 5% of where you'll go if you give yourself a chance. Has anything you have done (or not done) resulted in one of your patients dying or having to be transferred to a critical care unit? If your answer is no, then pat yourself on the back because I say "Job well done."
In my opinion, the best advice I can offer is that you need to make a choice. As long as you continue to kick yourself in the head you are doing a disservice to your esteem, your colleagues trust in you and your pt's safety.
Tell ya what, if it'll make ya feel better why don't we have everyone come forward and tell us how great and confident they were as a new grad nurse; and share how they were the most efficient caregivers (yet still most caring at the same time) from day one on the floor and since day 1 have only gotten better. BTW...I won't be one stepping forward, because I don't like to lie, even if it is on the internet. I don't think anyone else will either. Why? because such is not the life of a new grad.

Midwest4me · Sep 18, 2004

Hey Skye:

I can SO relate to your feelings of inadequacy--even now after 19 years as a nurse there are many times I feel inadequate or unsure of things. Nursing is a constantly learning process; if you ever think you've learned all you can, THEN you should stop. Give yourself a bit pat on the back for having achieved the RN. It also seems to me that you have an enormous support system in your co-workers who are nurses. Gleen from them any tips that might help you organize your time better; their past experiences with pts who have simlar problems to your pts' problems can be invaluable. Pick their brains for help. Subscribe to some of those nursing magazines too---oftentimes there are some great articles that deal with stress, etc. that may be helpful to you. DO NOT GIVE UP--you worked hard to achieve the RN--give it a chance. I wish you the best of luck.:)

jad2 · Sep 18, 2004

Hi everyone,

I am a new grad RN who started work recently. I was going ok at first, I really enjoyed it, and felt a sense of accomplishment that I was making a difference to peoples lives. But recently it all seems to be falling apart,

If you have good co-workers who are willing to help and offer support consider yourself blessed. You are a smart, capable human being. You made it through nursing school and got your license. You are not dumb.
You sound like you have a bad case of "I am a new nurse and I should do everything correct the first time". This is unrealistic. I was just like you, and many others here have had those same doubts/worries. Veteran nurses still make mistakes, silly ones...and you know what? they are not ashamed of it ...we all make "mistakes" or as I like to call them "learning opportunities".

I recommend that you find someone in your unit to talk to. Your unit manager, unit educator, another co-worker....reach out and ask for help.
Another way is to attend unit meetings, take advantage of class offerings, subscribe to a nursing journal and read-up on stuff that pertains to your unit/specialty. But above all, speak to someone. It sounds as if they are being very understanding that you are new.
But, they won't be for long if you keep on making mistakes and not asking for help in correcting them.

If you need to take some time off and think things over, then do so. Do something else for a couple of days and think things through. Clear your head of all this negative thinking and start fresh.

Take care and I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2004

I'm sorry. I can definately relate as I look back to how I felt that first year. I remember feeling the same way "gee, life was easier when I was a nurses aide".

Take the time to be a little more gentle with yourself. Stop using words like stupid and incompetent when you're talking about yourself. Use words like "new grad". You're not supposed to have all the answers, you're not supposed to be perfect.

You still are making a difference in people's live's but you are talking yourself out seeing it.

Hold your head up, don't look back, live and learn.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Sep 18, 2004

i precept new grads on a daily basis, in addition to remembering the new nurse experience all too well.

i start with one pt, and eventually find something i don't know how to do, one of the meds, a dressing, or whatever, so i just leave that pt for the moment

i want you to try approaching this job as a learning experience. not "i'm bad" or "i'm good," but "i'm learning." please stop critiquing your work; that's your preceptor's job. if you're hearing that you're doing ok, go out on a limb and believe it.

when you find something you don't know how to do, please write it down under the heading, "my learning list for today." you'll come up with about 10 things every shift you work, i guarantee.

and i, an experienced nurse, will come up with at least two! i'm still making a learning list in my head, and my coworkers help me with mine, and i help them with theirs.

this is why you must stop beating yourself up for not knowing it all. you can't. none of us can. there are too many things to know, and as soon as you learn them, something new comes along--a new device, a new procedure, a new policy.

your stumbling block is that you think you can know it all--or at least a really large part of it--and it's much too soon for you as a new grad to be able to handle yourself without help.

please understand two things:

1.it's ok to ask for help--experienced nurses do it all the time.

2. it's ok that you do not know everything right away.

different students come from different levels of education, training, and experience. please don't compare yourself to them. you know some things that they don't, they know some things that you don't. this is why nurses collaborate with each other, both in real life on the job, and here.

i also would like you to make a list of things you can work on improving. instead of saying, "oh, i'm a horrible nurse, i should've given mrs. x's solumedrol before i hung up the vanco that takes two hours to run!!" (true story, by the way), try saying to yourself, "ok, i want to improve, so next time i'll do my iv pushes before i hang up the iv infusions to make sure the patient gets all their meds before the shift ends."

what i'm really getting at is this concept:

focus on improvement, not on judgment.

because if truth be told, we all sucked as new nurses.

focus on getting your inner voice involved in more positive self-talk. say something like, "i will be successful at this. they want me to succeed."

because we--your nurse coworkers and colleagues--really do!

pm me if you need to talk more, and please keep us updated.

rollingstone · Sep 18, 2004

Relax!! You're a new grad! Give yourself a break. In time you'll gain more experience and confidence. No matter how you feel just do things to the best of your ability. That's all you can do. We've all been there.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Sep 18, 2004

Hey I've been in nursing 15 years and recently started a new job and felt just like that! Nice to know I'm not alone. :) My suggestion is not to put aside things you have questions about because as each thing piles up you will turn around and find you've dug yourself into a huge intimidating hole. It's easy to give up when you get to the point where you don't know how to do anything else on your to- do list. Ask as you go- and sometimes the people that answer will add an extra tidbit you didn't know about.

Hang in there.

mattsmom81 · Sep 18, 2004

I would much rather work with someone who admits they have a lot to learn than someone who acts cocky and 'knows it all' just out of school. Those are the ones who scare me. We were all where you are now...you are just honest enough to admit it, and most of us will admit we felt overwhelmed too the first year out.

My advice is try to come up with a written care plan for yourself...what will help you feel better? Can you sit down with a preceptor you trust and ask for some tips? Try to find your support system so you can gain confidence.(((HUGS)))

PS I STILL have my days (and weeks) where I just want to resign...the frustration ebbs and flows in this career for many of us. If you enjoy your patients try to give yourself a good period of time to adapt to your new role...real nursing is not much like school is it?

ysabella · Sep 18, 2004

anyone from the philippines? how's life away from your country. just wanna hear from anyone who is a filipino nurse working in the states. is life there ok? i'm still here in the philippines. waiting for my papers to be approved. will be there by early next year. kinda scared. tell me your stories.

NYCRN16 · Sep 18, 2004

Dont give up!! I am a fairly new grad, only out of school a little over a year, and I felt exactly the way you do (still do sometimes!). The first few months are tough, you will feel like you know NOTHING, and then you start to come across situations that you have been in before and remember what you are supposed to do, and then one day it will "click". As a nurse you will never know what to do in every single situation, and that is perfectly OK. Even the doctors dont know everything, and are not expected to, why should we expect ourselves to know everything? Never feel afraid to ask someone if you are not sure, and since it seems that the staff there is very supportive, you are in a great place to do that. You are lucky, there are many places (mine included) that when you ask a question they roll thier eyes or make demeaning comments like "how could you not know that". It bothered me very much in the beginning, but now if I get that type of response I just let it roll off my back. Hang in there, and dont give up. You feel like you want to go back to being a nurses aid because you know that role well and its easier to do what we know well then to learn something new, but when you started doing that you probably were nervous too, until you got the hang of it. I cant believe people told you that you shouldnt be a nurse!! :angryfire That is unbelievabley rude!! Hang in there, your day will come when you start to feel comfortable, and then you will be glad that you stuck it out.