new grad

Are you being abused there? Are your assignments unsafe? Don't be too quick to give up a job too quickly unless you are being mistreated. Perhaps with time the pace will seem more manageable. Make it a goal to go week to week. Speed, and the confidence that goes with it is only earned by experience.

OK, if you are still miserable, make plans to "shadow" some nurses in areas you think will suit you better.

It should not be hard to find another job at another hospital if you are flexible about which shift and department you are willing to work in.

That's good advise from RNperdiem. Suck it up and tough it out. It will get easier. It will much easier to find alternate work after 9 mos to a year experience.

If they haven't asked you to leave then you are performing adequately. I know newbies get a lot of criticism/feedback and it can feel like you're not doing anything right. But if they let you come back for another shift, they clearly think you're doing well enough.

Give yourself credit for making it through each shift regardless of how crazy it may have felt and if you didn't complete half of the tasks. You probably finished the other half!

Even if they decide at the end of orientation that you're not performing adequately, it just means it wasn't a good fit between you and that unit. Regardless, I'll bet you've learned a lot about nursing and about yourself in the last few months... priceless!

I'd suggest not defining the problem as "too fast-paced" because almost everyone will say that their area of nursing is also fast-paced and it can feel hopeless (well, that's how I felt). Instead, think about what aspects of what you're doing you enjoy more and what aspects you dread. How do you feel about working with an CNA (or not)? Hanging blood? Starting IVs? Enteral feeding? Discharge planning? How do you feel working with geriatric patients? Very sick patients? Ambulatory patients? Post-op patients? Pre-op patients?

Taking an assessment like this might help you find more satisfaction in what you are currently doing and can help direct you if decided that you do need to find another setting to work in.

Good luck! Let us know what happens!