New Grads: How was your day today???

Nurses New Nurse

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How have things been for you??? Feel free to reply to this post at anytime you wish. I would love to hear your stories.:heartbeat

Specializes in Medical.

My day was not so good today. I had seven patients, two w/dressing changes, two on i.v. antibiotic therapy, two shift-change dismissals; reprimanded by 1,2,3 doctors for orders missed on previous shift(s). I made my first med error/incident report-fortunately, the patient was not harmed. Had a two-hr back & forth with pharmacy--took 4 phone calls to get a med sent to the unit. No lunch or water, one quick pee. A physical therapist requested I empty pt's urinal--hey, I do it all day long, but today it bothered me to be told. My relief nurse was 35 minutes late getting on the floor. I felt like a nurse today.

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I have had the unfortune of starting my life as a nurse with a different preceptor each day. Every day that I leave feeling like I made progress, I return to work the next day to have to adjust to different styles, expectations, and rapport. I feel like each day I make progress I end up taking three steps back. It is so awkward being so new at this. I can't even imagine how I functioned so well in Nursing School. How is this so much different? I am adjusting to a new house, community, hospital, career, and on top of that each day I have to adjust to a new preceptor. When will this get any better?

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Specializes in LTC.

My day has been great today because I am having a much needed day off! I finally got a chance to buy some groceries for our empty cupboards and do some laundry.

Work is going pretty well for me too. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things (I still have lot of questions, but I can get through a normal, uneventful shift without too much stress) And the other day the DON told me that she had heard from several other nurses that I am doing a good job. But I am not a morning person and I am working day shifts right now to cover for another nurse who is on maternity leave and waking up at 5 every morning is just killing me. I know most people want to work days, but I can't wait to get back to evenings and nights!

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I'd like to say it was spent on a unit working, but, nooooo...I spent it looking for a job, yet again. I graduated in June, took boards early July and here I am. Most of my class is in the same boat, and only a few of the class have jobs. Argh.

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Specializes in corrections.

Another day, another dissapointment :/ no job for me. Other than that I'm working out and feeling great about my body, like someone else on here suggested im taking this time to loose weight and get healthy. I applied for a desk girl position lol maybe i can get at least that job.

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Specializes in ICU.
I have had the unfortune of starting my life as a nurse with a different preceptor each day. Every day that I leave feeling like I made progress, I return to work the next day to have to adjust to different styles, expectations, and rapport. I feel like each day I make progress I end up taking three steps back. It is so awkward being so new at this. I can't even imagine how I functioned so well in Nursing School. How is this so much different? I am adjusting to a new house, community, hospital, career, and on top of that each day I have to adjust to a new preceptor. When will this get any better?

My assigned preceptor had been out on medical leave for a while, so I missed her my first 4 shifts. I, like you, had the opportunity to work with three different preceptors on my first 4 shifts.

It turned out to be a good thing. My assigned preceptor, while very experienced, seems "flighty" or nervous, and just plain scattered. It's difficult to be on time with meds for my patient, when she needs to be with me when I pass the meds (just like in school!). It's a bit scary when she tells me that I'm a lot more organized than she is!

The first three preceptors gave me a good structure on how to do organize my day, keep track of meds for multiple patients, give/receive report, and document in Epic - our computerized record management system. I'm trying to pick up paper documentation (oddball forms in the chart) & technical skills from my assigned preceptor.

So far, so good. I feel a lot more capable now than I did weeks ago, but know that there's still a long way to go. I'll get there....one step at a time.

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I have had the unfortune of starting my life as a nurse with a different preceptor each day. Every day that I leave feeling like I made progress, I return to work the next day to have to adjust to different styles, expectations, and rapport. I feel like each day I make progress I end up taking three steps back. It is so awkward being so new at this. I can't even imagine how I functioned so well in Nursing School. How is this so much different? I am adjusting to a new house, community, hospital, career, and on top of that each day I have to adjust to a new preceptor. When will this get any better?

I know how you feel. I have one main preceptor but sometimes work with others when scheduling conflicts come up. It's sometimes hard because the main one and I have a routine down, where she knows what I can and can't do on my own and the others don't. On the other hand, I like working with several so I can see how people do things differently. That way I can decide what works for me and what doesn't. I get along well with everyone I have worked with so far, but if there isn't a "click" it would be nice that you're not stuck with the same person for your whole orientation. I guess there are good and bad things both ways.

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So glad to hear other people feel like I do. I can't sleep tonight thinking of all the things I did screw up today and that I didn't do or did wrong. I just hope that I get better at this. Seems like I can come home and think of ten things everyday that I did wrong. Like unplugging a med that I thought was done, when it wasn't. Or forgetting to put TEDS on someone or not getting through to a doc about a critical lab as soon as I should have. IT WILL GET BETTER. My theory is I am going to suck at this for a while, but I am trying to get better. Maybe the first year will not be great, but I will learn.

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Specializes in Oncology, Med-Surg.

I currently work as a new grad RN for Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii for Med-Surg/Oncology. I have been on orientation for a month on day shift. My preceptors have dubbed me competent to be on my own, so I worked a week without a preceptor. I survived. I learned I need to chart more along the way, work on my time management/organization and if I have to double check and triple check my orders. I am learning everyday how to be a nurse. The floor is a great floor to learn and the staff is very supportive to my learning and teaching.

I started evening this week, but I got pulled from orientation to cover day shift. Will return to evening/night orientation soon so I can learn the flow for those shifts. Excited and nervous for the day I am officially on my own.

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Hello,

just got done with my orientation for days. started nights. have 2 weeks of orientation on nights and then i'm on my own. i had 4 months orientation for days and 2 weeks for nights. I look back when i started. i cant believe how far i've come. things have gotten better. i still have a lot to learn, but feel i can function instead of being scared all the time. I've had a lot of great mentors. nurses with over 40 years practice. wanting to precept me and show me how things should be done. i'm truly grateful. i still have days where i go, "by god, what have i done. getting into nursing. i just want a simple desk job." :D things get better with time. good luck everyone. keep your head up!

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Well, I am starting my fourth week on the floor tomorrow. About a week and a half ago, I had two patients code on my one on each consecutive shift. Although I was scared as hell and shaking like a leaf, I held it together, did what I learned to do in the immediate stage and called for help. I stepped to the side when the code team arrived and started giving report. At that time I felt like I was shaking and the like the room was spinning. When I heard the overhead speaker say "Adult Code Blue room ..." I felt like I was in a dream. But when people were asking questions I wasn't aware of anyone else in the room, just myself and the person asking questions. After all was said and done, everyone told me what a good job I did. We shared a moment in the nurse's station and I showed them my shaking hands. And then the shift continued. The weird thing is, a couple days later the nurse manager said, "You have a very calm exterior but we wonder what's going on inside." I don't know how to process that because yes, I was able to hold it together like a professional, licensed nurse - however I was very upfront about how nervous I was with my fellow nurses. Now, being calm is a bad thing? I'm confused...

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I was the rockstar of my nursing school, and now I'm totally and utterly retarded. Apparently, between school and now, I've become the anti-IV starter.

I come home feeling defeated, although I'm learning. I miss my friends, my support system, and any sense of confidence I used to have.

Keepin' my head up.

One day at a time.

Did I log on under a different name & post this?? I know the delirium is setting in, but didn't know it had gone this far!!!

Despite all of this, I still know that I do have a passion for my job.

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