New Nurse Discouraged

[newnursekt]

Hi, I've been a registered nurse working on a busy surgical floor in a fantastic hospital for the past 4 months. I love being a nurse, but I constantly feel discouraged, overwhelmed, anxious, & incompetent. I know that the first year as a nurse is extremely difficult but I just.. didn't expect to feel so.. bad? awful? scared? I have made a few mistakes (i.e. had such a hectic shift I forgot to document on a patient.. I put in I&Os and forgot to document my assessment! & a couple of times have forgotten to document on patient acuity). Two other new grads started a few weeks after me, and they both seem so so confident. I feel like I'm missing something, am I not cut out for this?

[dmunoz1231]

Rest assure you are not alone with these feelings! Many nurses may look like they are confident but are likely to make the same mistakes as you have. We are human and we do make mistakes. The important thing is you learn from your mistake and it is used as teaching moment for you. I started my nursing career in the NICU straight out of college and let me tell you I feel your pain! lol It is scary and it is discouraging at times. Feeling overwhelmed is normal because it is non stop and you are always on alert and scared to make a mistake. Find ways to help you with this. If you need to write things down for yourself do it, if you need to read up on certain topics that you do not feel confident in do it, and make sure you ask questions. I found that by me asking what I thought would be this long drawn out answer and nervous about even asking, turned out to be easy and made me feel more confident. You are absolutely cut out for this! You became a nurse! Breathe and do not be afraid to ask for help.

[newnursekt]

Thank you so so much. So relieved that it is a common mix of emotions starting out- all of which are normal. Thank you for your kind words!