New patient care tech advise, does this mean I'll be a bad nurse?

[Katlin1315]

Hi everyone!

I recently accepted a position at a hospital as a patient care assistant on a med surg unit, where they are training me on the job. I've volunteered at a children's hospital but for the last two years I've worked as a teacher at a daycare but I needed something that worked with my nursing school schedule. So this is a completely new field for me plus I'm working night shift and my body is completely used to days. I feel extremely overwhelmed and like I'm too slow at everything. I keep telling myself it's only been a week so it will get better. I'm not used to working with older adults since every field I've ever been in has revolved around children.But I enjoy talking with the older adults, getting their vitals, and blood sugars but some stuff still freaks me out a bit; such as changing diapers, changing the bed sheets with people in the bed, bed baths,Foley care, and I'm constantly worried I'm going to hurt someone when repositioning them. It doesn't really bother me to do the stuff but I'm not sure I'm doing it right because even though I'm supposed to be trained no one is completely training me. I didn't know how to work with cleaning a room with basically a c diff explosion all over the room but I went in and helped the nurse because no one else would do it and that was overwhelming. Nights are also killing me because I feel like my personality starts to drag and I'm not quite functional like I am in the daytime. But im afraid I'll be a bad nurse because I'm so slow at some of the stuff, some stuff kinda grosses me out, and I just feel like a klutz. The nurse tech keeps telling me I am going to be so good at the job but I'm afraid I won't and that upsets me because I really wanted to be a nurse and help provide the best and safest care to patients. But maybe it's nights or being trained on the job or maybe I don't like med surg or working with older adults because my heart is with the kids. I just feel overwhelmed and wanted to make sure this doesn't mean I should back out of nursing. Because even though I can't imagine doing anything else with my life I don't want to be that bad nurse that people complain about because I'm too slow or klutzy. I want to be a caring and helpful nurse. Will I probably get better at tech duties over time?

Sorry for the long post and the grammatical errors(sometimes my phone is hard to type on) thank in advance for any advice!!

[KrCmommy522, BSN, RN]

You just got the job and your are being trained ON the job! Of course you will get better! As long as you are willing to learn and take the time to listen, watch others, and ask questions when needed you will be fine. Give yourself some time! This is something new to you, it will take time for you to learn and even more time for you to feel comfortable with your skills, and even more time than that to feel confident in your skills. But, you will get there! Good luck!