New nurse in Fam. Pract.

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Hi, graduated in May and took my first job in a family practice office because of the no weekends/holidays deal. Any one else out there who is in Family Practice?? I'd love to have someone who can related to the frustrations I am having as a new nurse.

sis

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Specializes in OB, ortho/neuro, home care, office.

:welcome: I used to work in a complimentary therapists office, not family practice so I can't really help you. I no longer work there anyway.

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Specializes in LTAC, Homehealth, Hospice Case Manager.

Mind if I ask what kind of frustrations you're having? Kinda hard to figure out what to say with no details...:wink2:

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Some of my frustrations are keeping up with the pace of rooming patients. Being slow at drawing up medications, etc. I feel so inadequate as I was hired as the only RN in the office yet the MA's know more than I do right now and I feel like their expectations of me are higher than I can live up to. I would really like advice on appearing to have confidence even though sometimes I don't. :o sis

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I can relate to how you're feeling to some degree. I worked in a busy family practice clinic for just over a year, and did so with 4 years of ICU experience behind me. While the no nights, few weekends, and rare holiday hours were desirable, the truth is, I was darn glad to have had some experience behind me. You never can be prepared enough for the little old person who calls with vague symptoms, and asks, "so, do you think I need to be seen?" I don't mean to sound rude, or disrespectful to you, but my suggestion is to suck it up, get a job in at least a med-surg unit, or an ER in order to develop your critical thinking skills, to learn some of the questions you may not be thinking to ask, and to develop basic nursing process skills.

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

I was hihered at a community clinic and have to quit, because as a new grad it is a very hard field to step into with no prior experience, all the best to you

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Thanks for your comments. Am I hearing that it is easier for a new RN to start off in a hospital setting? I just figured I'd be green no matter where I went.

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Specializes in LTAC, Homehealth, Hospice Case Manager.
Thanks for your comments. Am I hearing that it is easier for a new RN to start off in a hospital setting? I just figured I'd be green no matter where I went.

And you will be, but that's not a bad thing. Every body has to start at the beginning. I agree with the OP, you really need that hospital experience & skills developement behind you. With your title being "nurse", their expectations will be higher. Actually, even with hospital experience, the clinic setting will still be a challenge...it's a whole different environment from the hospital. Rooming patients, drawing up meds, physicals, blood draws, lab & pharm calls, supplies orders, triage...it all takes time & practice. If you're in a particularly busy office, & primary care can be very busy-especially this time of year, it can be very overwhelming. Your confidence will come with time & experience, no matter what you choose to do. Once you get the hang of it, primary care is about one of the easiest medical settings to work in. I'm on the flip side of you...I'm a new nurse coming into the different hospital environment with only 8 years MA experience behind me. Three of those 8 years were spent in primary care. If your MA's are decent, they'll help you learn the small stuff, but always remember that you have the nursing knowledge. All my best to you. :)

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