New Nurse in the ER

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Hi, I hope everyone is doing great! :) I'm new to this but, I had a question. I just started my new job in the ER on Wednesday and i'm already second guessing my choice....I love nursing and when I worked as a nurse tech on a cardiac floor I loved it but, I just moved to a new city, started at a different hospital that is nothing like the one that I learned at, and my Preceptor is really intimidating and it's a 16 week internship. When I'm working by myself talking to the pt, doing procedures, etc. I'm fine but when my preceptor is there or a coworker is watching I get really self conscious about what I'm doing and start freaking out inside and feel like i'm doing something wrong. Is there any advice that you guys can give me? Thanks! :)

P.S. I took my boards on Tuesday and passed with 75 questions!! :balloons:

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Wow - well first of all - congratulations! Second - you have done a lot of changes over the past few weeks, so give yourself a break.

And third...you've been an ER RN for less than a week...of course you're not comfortable yet. Be kind to yourself. A 16 week internship is wonderful...take full advantage of it. Ask questions. As you get further along - take the heavier patients, more codes, more pediatric patients. 16 weeks will give you a good amount of time to work up to the more complex patients.

However (and this is the biggie), don't expect to be proficient in 16 weeks - it takes a year at least to feel comfortable.

Look at the ENA site too for some valuable info:

http://www.ena.org

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Congrats on your new position, how exciting! I'm a new grad in the ED, too, and my orientation is nearly over. I sympathise, I think the first couple shifts I thought I had made a terrible, terrible mistake and would never be able to do it. But it gets better every day. I know it's kinda corney, but try to 'keep positive'. Even the bad situations or times you may mess something up, look at the positive in the situation, even if the only positive thing is "Well, I won't do THAT again!"

It's very difficult when you feel like someone is watching your every move. Does your precptor watch every single thing you do, or is she/he letting you go more and more on your own each time? Perhaps she is watching you with skills/situations until she has seen that you are competent to perform it independently.

It will get better, you will start to feel more relaxed the more you 'perform' in front of others. Take your time, focus on your task, and feel confident in your skills--you have earned your RN, and you worked hard to do that. Soon other people observing will not even phase you. It's something that happens a lot in the ED, if it's not another nurse or doctor watching, it will be a scared family member. Good luck, you can do it!

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Psych.

Try this link. Good luck!

New grad ER links....

CrazyPremed

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Specializes in Clinical exp in OB, psy, med-surg, peds.

Congratulation on your new transition, I hope you enjoy it to the nfullest.

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Congratulations on passing the boards! And best wishes in your new career! I'm in the same boat. Started orientation this week, except I'm in a surgical unit. We can do this!

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Specializes in MedSurg Tele.

Congradulations! Everything may seem weird in the beginning, with your preceptor watching, or peeking over your shoulder, but it is part of orientation and evaluating your skills. Once you show them you have the skills locked in place, your preceptor would move you up to the more challenging tasks.

I know, because I'm going through this at the moment!! haha!~

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