New job as NA

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Hello everyone,

I am currently on orientation as a newly hired NA. I am in nursing school and graduate May 2019 with my BSN. So far orientation has been okay. The nurses seem nice and helpful. It is a very busy unit and often understaffed. I am starting to panic because there is a lot of documentation and I am afraid I am going to mess something up or forget to do something. I know once I am done with orientation I will be on my own and I am definitely nervous! Any advice???

Thank you!

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1 hour ago, nursingstudentx96 said:

Hello everyone,

I am currently on orientation as a newly hired NA. I am in nursing school and graduate May 2019 with my BSN. So far orientation has been okay. The nurses seem nice and helpful. It is a very busy unit and often understaffed. I am starting to panic because there is a lot of documentation and I am afraid I am going to mess something up or forget to do something. I know once I am done with orientation I will be on my own and I am definitely nervous! Any advice???

Thank you!

I have great advice for you! Forget that you're a nursing student when you're at work. I see nursing students working as nursing assistants who spend absurd amounts of time worrying about things they don't need to concern themselves with.
Other than that, it's just getting used to the tasks and finding your own system. Every nurse and every CNA seem to do things a little bit differently.
Congrats on your new job.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
6 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

I have great advice for you! Forget that you're a nursing student when you're at work. I see nursing students working as nursing assistants who spend absurd amounts of time worrying about things they don't need to concern themselves with.

Sound advice, Ms. Lemon. It's also a good approach to learn in gaining experience to later apply to your nursing skills, nursingstudentx96, in a inductive learning sort of way. CNA's do a lot of basic hands on care that you will be able to use for the rest of your nursing career.

Don't be too concerned about documentation- it's basic stuff that, once again, you will be able to use as base knowledge as you grow in your career.

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On 2/4/2019 at 10:43 PM, Davey Do said:

Sound advice, Ms. Lemon. It's also a good approach to learn in gaining experience to later apply to your nursing skills, nursingstudentx96, in a inductive learning sort of way. CNA's do a lot of basic hands on care that you will be able to use for the rest of your nursing career.

Don't be too concerned about documentation- it's basic stuff that, once again, you will be able to use as base knowledge as you grow in your career.

Thank you very much for your response and advice! I appreciate you taking the time out. Your post has made me feel better!

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On 2/4/2019 at 10:14 PM, Sour Lemon said:

I have great advice for you! Forget that you're a nursing student when you're at work. I see nursing students working as nursing assistants who spend absurd amounts of time worrying about things they don't need to concern themselves with.
Other than that, it's just getting used to the tasks and finding your own system. Every nurse and every CNA seem to do things a little bit differently.
Congrats on your new job.

Thank you very much for your advice! I totally agree with that. I am starting to get a little more comfortable since I have been on orientation for a few weeks. By this time next week I will be on my own. Thanks for making me feel better! :D

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

You will be fine.

I started out as a nurse's aide, and loved it! My first year as a student was certainly easier than a lot of my classmates.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency Department, Informatics.

Congrats on your job! I was an NA in nursing school and it was the best experience. Of course, during that time, we did not have EMR's! Enjoy your new job and don't worry about the documentation. This a skill that will come to you eventually.

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On 2/4/2019 at 10:14 PM, Sour Lemon said:

I have great advice for you! Forget that you're a nursing student when you're at work. I see nursing students working as nursing assistants who spend absurd amounts of time worrying about things they don't need to concern themselves with.
Other than that, it's just getting used to the tasks and finding your own system. Every nurse and every CNA seem to do things a little bit differently.
Congrats on your new job.

Yes! I'm a charge nurse, and I can't tell you the number of nursing students who come through our doors to work at nurses' aides, health care aides, personal support workers, etc. Most of them are great workers, but they always have "nurse brain" where they are concerned about far more than they need to be! I love them to pieces though. Ms. Lemon gives excellent advice here.

It will be overwhelming at first because you haven't found your routine and everything is new. Once you learn to multitask and work efficiently, things do get easier. When you're new, you have to learn everyone's names, their routines, the facility, and the system they document on. It's overwhelming!

The good news is, it won't always be this way. Congrats and happy working!

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18 hours ago, Kitiger said:

You will be fine.

I started out as a nurse's aide, and loved it! My first year as a student was certainly easier than a lot of my classmates.

That is great to hear! I was hoping yo be a step ahead of the game. That's why I applied for this position. Thank you for your comment!

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13 hours ago, hyllisR said:

Congrats on your job! I was an NA in nursing school and it was the best experience. Of course, during that time, we did not have EMR's! Enjoy your new job and don't worry about the documentation. This a skill that will come to you eventually.

Thanks very much! I'm glad you had a great experience! It is nice to hear ?

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13 hours ago, JollyBug92 said:

Yes! I'm a charge nurse, and I can't tell you the number of nursing students who come through our doors to work at nurses' aides, health care aides, personal support workers, etc. Most of them are great workers, but they always have "nurse brain" where they are concerned about far more than they need to be! I love them to pieces though. Ms. Lemon gives excellent advice here.

It will be overwhelming at first because you haven't found your routine and everything is new. Once you learn to multitask and work efficiently, things do get easier. When you're new, you have to learn everyone's names, their routines, the facility, and the system they document on. It's overwhelming!

The good news is, it won't always be this way. Congrats and happy working!

Thank you for your sweet response! You made me feel better! I feel less overwhelmed now! :D

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