New and looking for support

[nysnurse]

:monkeydance: Hi. I am new grad on a med surg unit. This is my first nursing job although I have been a paramedic for 7 yrs. I work 2 nights a week. I got off orientation just 5 weeks ago with a great preceptor. I miss having that support. I was floated to another floor 2 nights ago and left feeling terrible. The staff was not that nice, I was given 7 pts - 3 in isolation, and a new admit that was hallucinating all night - and the previous nurse hadn't completed all the needed tasks. I was slow and that irritated the charge nurse. The aide assigned was unpleasant and wouldn't help me at all. In fact - I caught him sleeping in a pod while my one pt was trying to get out of bed!

I don't know whether I am cut out for this. My pts tell me they are lucky to have me because I am more thorough, take the time and say I am fun and seem to enjoy my job. The pts really give me back the air I need to breathe. I won't have to float much, but I have issues on my own floor feeling unconfident,etc.

I want eventually to do ICU nursing but I do need this med-surg experience.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

- Lisa

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

IMHO you shouldn"t have been floated tat soon.

[nysnurse]

I didn't have much of a choice and I thought the charge nurse wouldn't have suggested it if they didn't think I couldn't have handled it

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

We don't float our new grads for three months. But like you said, you didn't have a choice and when I float, I don't either.

First of all you definately can do this. Your experiences of being overwhelmed and frustrated are very typical of the new grad experience, especially those of us in med-srug. Please don't doubt yourself. It does get better. It took me about a year before I really felt comfortable and then I moved and felt like a bumbling slow idiot all over again.

Is there anything from this experience you've learned? Anything you would do different - such as reporting the sleeping person, asking for and demanding more help even from the unfriendly coworkers? Emailing the manager of both units your unfriendly reception. I hate when people treat floats like that....you're there to help them and they act like that???

Or perhaps it's best just to let it go and move on, taking it as a growing/learning experience, but not as an opportunity to doubt yourself. You're doing great.

(Moved to the First Year In Nursing Forum for more support).

[nysnurse]

Thanks for reply Tweety - really helped...

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

You're welcome. Hang in there. :)