New grads in Peds!

eb_rn · Jul 24, 2004

I love peds...have since school... was quite anxious when I first got out of school.....small hospital, leaving 7 peds to 1 RN and a tech......incidently I didnt stay there long. Not b/c of the patients or the ratio, but since I was new, they didnt want to leave me in charge with no one to lean on....so I got pulled...ALL of the time....I spent most of my first 2 months after orientation in every other unit of the hospital....units I was NOT oriented to.....after much talking to my supervisor, they continued to pull me. So I quit and went to adult med/surge...figuring I would just surrender to the old addage that new grads need "experience" in the adult world....I now work in a childrens hospital....we hire new grads all the time...they usually do wonderfully well....BUT we have people around all the time to help...troubleshoot....we are like a family....I dont think some of the nurses we have would have made it in peds in another setting...not b/c they are not good nurses, but because new grads need a network of support, and, sad to say, that's not always availablle in adult hospitals. best of luck to you. :)

PaedsNurs&LovinIt · Jul 25, 2004

Hi there,

I'm relatively new to the nursing world myself, graduated last Dec and have been working on a Paeds floor ever since. I had four months pregrad experience fulltime on the same unit I work on now so the transition from student to RN wasn't too bad for me. I understand your anxiety though. I've got 7 months experience behind me now and I'm really comfortable now with providing patient care and such, but I still ask questions if I ever feel unsure. I think it's important no matter what area of nursing you work in, to always ask questions if you're not sure of things. In paeds I'm always afraid of making a med error, so I do my own 3 checks, but for potentially harmful meds I get another RN to check with me. But that's not just because I'm a new grad. There's RNs on my unit that have worked there longer than I've been alive and they do the same thing, they ask each other questions on a daily basis.

Just take it one day at a time, know that no one expects you to have all the answers, but when you don't have them, know where to get them. You learn pretty quickly who to ask to get the best answers, and if you're ever unsure don't be afraid to ask. All the best in your nursing career. Hope you enjoy paeds!

jeepgirl, LPN, NP · Jul 28, 2004

thanks for the input!

Paulo Abreu · Sep 2, 2004

:rotfl:Hi

HOw are you?

I´m Paulo, I´m from Portugal and I´m in Peds too by 1 year and 5 mounths.

At the beginning i had the same feelimg than you, but when i started working with that little babies everything backs to normal. I have just one week of integration: you are lucky...

I you like you to know that you must be sure about everything you may do, and when you were not sure about anything ask, read, and study...it´s the best thing you can do. when we start working in a different service it´s normal having doubts and it´s normal too we don´t know everything. no ones know everything...

Good luck for tomorrow!Believe in you, believe that you do the best you know and you can.

Paulo Abreu - smillerman

RNNayna · Sep 12, 2004

hi i just found this site today and registered. i graduated in may and got my licence mid-july. i'd been working in pediatrics since october as a student tech, to get through school, and i also did my transition during the last couple of months of school there so i felt pretty comfortable with the floor routines. all the nurses i work with are wonderful and were so excited to take me in as one of their own. i was everyone's (especially my manager's) pet. i can say i'm honestly still scared to death of making a mistake, but i know i have plenty of people i can turn to in case i have trouble. it takes confindence to be able to ask for help and admit that you don't know everything! brava to all those seasoned nurses that don't eat the young!

ACC_RN · Oct 28, 2004

jeepgirl,

hey, i'm also a new grad that went straight to pediatrics. i graduated in may and passed boards in july; meaning that i went from a tech to a nurse in july after i passed boards. i had a 12 week orientation and then started on my own. it's been rough so far. there are definately days when i question why i became a nurse at all, but then there are days ( a few) when the night goes really well and i actually enjoy my job. i'm lucky in that i'm never left alone on my floor and most of the nurses are rn's, so that the job's that only a rn can perform aren't left for me to do. i won't be charge until i've worked for about a year; and, that makes me happy.

i also work on a floor of sick kids. the worst nights are those when my patients scare me to death because they look so bad. i've had to transfer two kids to the picu since i've been working on my own (one month). but, what i've found through those hard nights is this - i always have someone to ask questions to. sometimes i won't just get one opinion, i'll get two or three. i really struggle with my knowledge sometimes. i'm not confident enough to KNOW i'm right at this point. so, i'll get people to verify that a lot. i ask lots of questions - sometimes i feel like i ask too much. but, kids are different than adults and the nurses who are experienced with them can help out a lot. on those two nights i've had kids get bad on me and have had to send them down to the unit, i've always had nurses there to help me, answer questions, and tell me what they'd do. i struggle with this issue a lot - 'when to call the md' ------ i'll aks the nurses, in this situation, do i need to call the doc or do i need to wait it out, use my nursing interventions to solve it, etc.... and they always help. i know who to ask and who not to ask. the nurses i work with are the reason i've lasted even a month. it's stressful and sometimes you can't do it on your own, you need the help and backup.

the good news is this: on peds, the kids are usually great. whenever i get discouraged and dread going to work,i look at the picture one of my 7 year old kids drew me and i feel better again. i beleive it just takes time and you have to give your new job the time it takes to become familiar. good luck with your job!!!!!!!!

-acc_rn

ACC_RN · Oct 28, 2004

jeepgirl,

hey, i'm also a new grad that went straight to pediatrics. i graduated in may and passed boards in july; meaning that i went from a tech to a nurse in july after i passed boards. i had a 12 week orientation and then started on my own. it's been rough so far. there are definately days when i question why i became a nurse at all, but then there are days ( a few) when the night goes really well and i actually enjoy my job. i'm lucky in that i'm never left alone on my floor and most of the nurses are rn's, so that the job's that only a rn can perform aren't left for me to do. i won't be charge until i've worked for about a year; and, that makes me happy.

i also work on a floor of sick kids. the worst nights are those when my patients scare me to death because they look so bad. i've had to transfer two kids to the picu since i've been working on my own (one month). but, what i've found through those hard nights is this - i always have someone to ask questions to. sometimes i won't just get one opinion, i'll get two or three. i really struggle with my knowledge sometimes. i'm not confident enough to KNOW i'm right at this point. so, i'll get people to verify that a lot. i ask lots of questions - sometimes i feel like i ask too much. but, kids are different than adults and the nurses who are experienced with them can help out a lot. on those two nights i've had kids get bad on me and have had to send them down to the unit, i've always had nurses there to help me, answer questions, and tell me what they'd do. i struggle with this issue a lot - 'when to call the md' ------ i'll aks the nurses, in this situation, do i need to call the doc or do i need to wait it out, use my nursing interventions to solve it, etc.... and they always help. i know who to ask and who not to ask. the nurses i work with are the reason i've lasted even a month. it's stressful and sometimes you can't do it on your own, you need the help and backup.

the good news is this: on peds, the kids are usually great. whenever i get discouraged and dread going to work,i look at the picture one of my 7 year old kids drew me and i feel better again. i beleive it just takes time and you have to give your new job the time it takes to become familiar. good luck with your job!!!!!!!!

-acc_rn