New job! advice?!

[sprintin2012]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the site...I passed the nclex-rn last week and am starting my new job this week! I got a job on a floor I had clinical on my last semester of nursing school. I loved everything about the floor and the patients I will be taking care of. I'm very excited but very nervous! I was wondering if anyone had any advice or what was the hardest thing when you first started?? thanks :)

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

Congratulations!

Hardest thing: sleeping at night. You'll settle in after a while, but while you are learning to floor and the patients and the policies you will be constantly reminded of everything you've forgotten to do. Don't take offense, they are trying to encourage you to be the coworker they want to love working with. However, it is extremely stressful for a while and you'll lay awake at night thinking of all the things you've forgotten to do or that you might have forgotten to do or that you might forget tomorrow.

HANG IN THERE! It's very difficult to see that you are learning every day and getting better and more experienced. You're going to feel like you're in all the wrong place and somehow everyone is against you.

The truth is, if you don't do well in orientation it means they have wasted all of that time effort and money (and maybe friendship) to try to get you up to speed. They have a vested interest in keeping you there and doing well. If you give in to the stress of learning and leave, they have to start over from scratch with a new stranger who they might not have liked as well as you.

[Bec7074]

Congrats! Just know:

You will have anxiety. You will second guess yourself. There will be another coworker (whether it be nurse, doc, or otherwise) that will make you feel stupid.

BUT:

You will gain confidence with knowledge. Just remember the learning doesn't stop in school. You have way more ahead of you. The anxiety will fade. You'll learn to shrug off comments or laugh at yourself when you do or say something stupid. When I was a senior student, a wise nurse told me he knew I'd be good as a RN. He said, "you always know when something's wrong with a patient. You might not know yet what to do about it, but knowing something is wrong is half the battle. Figuring out what to do about it comes with experience and that's what coworkers and doctors are for."

Lastly, challenge yourself on orientation. It's the only time in your whole career where you get 2 people for 1 persons workload. Try and get practice with admissions on orientation too, that way you're proficient when you're on your own. There were days on orientation where I was tired and just wanted easy assignments, but looking back I wish I had challenged myself more.