New nurse with severe anxiety

OCNRN63, RN · Jun 6, 2015

Or you could look for a non-hospital job. Not that you shouldn't see a doctor, but some nurses aren't cut out to be working in a hospital. There is NOTHING wrong with that. How do I know? I am one of those nurses. Bedside nursing and I just didn't vibe.... and that's ok. I was always, always, always stressed as a bedside nurse. I'd constantly worry that I wasn't fast enough or that I was doing something wrong. Plus, there was just so much paperwork. Now I work as an RN at an Urgent Care clinic and I LOVE it. I still do plenty of nursing skills i.e. IV starts, blood draws, cats, wound , etc. and the fast pace keeps me on my toes. Maybe you should look into that? Or maybe working at a doctor's office?
Bottom line is don't do something that makes you miserable. Take a step back, re-examine everything, and see your doctor. I'm willing to bet a combo of that will make things better.

Dang...I love cats and would have killed for a job that had cats.

SmilingBluEyes · Jun 7, 2015

Please seek medical and therapeutic intervention. Your level of anxiety is bordering on pathology and needs professional assessment and treatment.

I wish you the best. There is help out there, and hope.

PSYCHOBABBLERN · Jun 7, 2015

There is a HUGE LEARNING CURVE when you come out of nursing school. You come out..a jack of all trades and master of none. You go from 2 patients during clinicals to 6 to 23 or more depending what field of nursing you get into. You are learning critical thinking, how to prioritize, new skills, getting along with other floor staff that you see more than your own family, and a whole lot more. Many nurses quit nursing that first year because of all the stress. Yes, Klonopin calms your nerves or getting on a sleeping med... Sleep is crucial to get...but the underlying problem of anxiety and patterns of reaction and why we react the way we do are ingrained. Counseling helps especially.. Solution focused brief therapy...to look at what we say to ourselves on a conscious and unconscious level. This is the stuff that makes for panic. Once you know and are more attune to your triggers, you can get better control over yourself... learn to self soothe, distract yourself from whooping yourself up and making yourself and the situation worse. Meds lower the high waters of stress that we drown in, but then once it is lowered... there needs to be planful change. Why do I say that? Because most people I know with this problem have anxiety in other area's of their lives too. Please don't take it as an insult or that you are somehow less when therapy is suggested here. Look at counseling like you do when your car isn't running right and there is no quick fix you can figure out....You need that transportation for work so you go and get it fixed by a competent mechanic..because perserverating over it and complaining about it, is not going to fix the dog gone car is it. Counseling is nothing more than getting better skill sets to deal with the difficult snarls that come up in life. With a good therapist we learn more how we are wired, why we react as we do, and... how to become more self empowered.

Then it boils down to practicing new coping skills over and over until they become ingrained. The more you practice anything the better you get at it....We actually add to neural pathways in our brains that reinforce behavior patterns...both good patterns and patterns that add to our misery. It doesn't make you less to have this problem, but you are the train engine that drives your train down the track of life...so you are responsible;( as we all for ourselves), how we go down the tracks.

If you want to be more self empowered, more in control, then do something about it to get there. There is one more thing too... We are all something... made up of strengths, beauty, and challenge area's. Remember too, you made it through nursing school..nerves and all. SO many don't! But if you let a problem fester, you keep tripping on it , over and over until a person gets so sick of it, they go get help. Then they want to change....

Hang in there. It does get easier as the time passes, you get past this big curve, and you will gradually feel more comfortable in your nursing shoes. Also if you hate what you are in right now, feel like you are drowning..... lovingly listen and respect yourself... and go for something you like that is less stressful for you. That's not failure..sometimes you are not in the right fit of a job for you. :yes:

amzyRN · Jun 7, 2015

Like others have mentioned, please seek medical advice. Panic and anxiety are medical problems, they aren't personal weaknesses. There's no shame in that. Like someone with diabetes needing to get their blood sugar under control, you might need help with your condition. With proper treatment, there's no reason you wouldn't be able to work where you want to work. Don't allow this to get in you way. Being a new nurse is tough, if you have a medical problem, address it. It's the responsible thing to do.

psychnursie · Jun 7, 2015

i hated med/surg and would never work there. I went into psych right out of school and have never regretted it!

Kbowling · Jun 7, 2015

Thank you so much. All the doctors offices around here only hire medical assistants. I do have the opportunity for home care and although I have not been a nurse in home care I was an STNA for years. Id much rather work in an office setting because I just don't like the flow of hospital nursing. I just feel it isn't for me. Maybe I haven't given it enough time but I can't keep feeling this way.

Kbowling · Jun 7, 2015

Thank you so much. I plan on getting to a therapist as soon as possible to get on the right meds and get some counseling. I wake up and the anxiety sets in...it's terrible.

Kbowling · Jun 7, 2015

Psychnurse I love psych and actually just applied for a position. I feel guilty for giving up on medsurg already but I can tell it's not my thing. Maybe with the right meds and treatment I could stick it out for a little longer but I do not like anything about it, not one thing.

DowntheRiver · Jun 8, 2015

Dang...I love cats and would have killed for a job that had cats.

Cats all day every day :cat:

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2015

As the previous poster said, we cannot give any medical advice. However, I can share with you my experience...I have a very similar story to yours - was a new nurse on a busy busy floor and felt completely overwhelmed and anxious all the time. I had never suffered with anxiety before and didn't know how to cope. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and every day my work suffered from all of this. Everyone told me it would pass with time but in the moment it was hard to believe that. I knew I couldn't continue the way it was so I saw my doctor and she prescribed me Klonopin to take the night before I worked (I work days)...since it's a longer acting benzo it helped with anxiety and allowed me not only to sleep but also to function with a decreased level of anxiety the next day. As I felt more comfortable on my unit I began weaning off the Klonopin and haven't taken any for a few months now. I'm 8 months in at work and am thriving. Hopefully this gives you some encouragement. It does get better, but there's no shame in needing help to get there. Best of luck. Stay strong!

If Klonopin only worked for all of us......sigh......Also, I was bothered by the idea of taking these kinds of meds and having them in my system at all during my shift. My law enforcement hubs kept reminding me that if you did get pulled over for something...anything...with this in your system you could get a DUI. Of course, you'd have to be pretty loopy right, but a risk still. How was your functioning on the Klonopin? Do you really felt like it made a huge difference?

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2015

Hugs to you. I know it is so hard. Been there, done that. Hope you find your way, through or out.

Kbowling · Jun 10, 2015

Hugs to you. I know it is so hard. Been there, done that. Hope you find your way, through or out.

Thank you