New Nurse, Freaking Out and Stressing Out

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Hello everyone. I'm a new nurse. I passed the NCLEX on July 20th and started my new job on July 27th. I'm a bit overwhelmed to be truthful. I only have 2 patients at the moment, but I will be working a physical rehab facility. The rehab facility has a patient nurse ratio of 8:1. I'm freaking out about it. I know it's the norm to have 5 to 6 patients. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm honestly scared about it. Thank you.

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Take one day at a time, one step at a time. You will learn tricks, learn your time management. Nothing is easy when you first start it. I remember thinking that if I just didn't have to put so much thought into EVERY little task, I wouldn't be so overwhelmed. And as time goes on, some things become automatic. I don't have to think about priming an IV line, I just do it and while I do, I have some brain power freed up to plan my next tasks, or process data on that patient, or whatever I need to do.

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Be friendly and respectful to everybody and don't pass up an opportunity to help someone out if you can. What goes around comes around. Plus, having a reputation as being pleasant and helpful is not a bad thing.

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