New RN off of orientation and stressed out!!!!!

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Specializes in NCA, Graduate Nurse.

I am a new Rn on a tele med/surg floor, and just finished my second week off of orientation. Right now I could really use some words of encouragement. My first week by myself went pretty well. I dont think I made any mistakes, and I know if I did, they were not critical. I worked two nights ago, and my night went well untill I recieved my 5 am vitals, and 2 of my patients blood pressures were low in the low 100s, in which one patient had lasix and vasotec ordered, and the othere one in which the bp was 85/68, and when I checked it manually it was 92/70 and I rechecked it again and it was 106/70. She had bumex and lisinopril ordered, and with those pressures I held them both because I was not comfortable giving those two meds. The guy that had the lasix ordered, I gave the lasix IV and held the vasotec. He has had CHF and BLL edema, and I felt that was the most important of the two meds to give. I didnt want to give them both with his pressure being that low. Well when I gave report that morning, the nurse was one of those that "eat their young" and she was very cocky acting and made me feel like that wasnt a good decision, and when I asked her what she would have done, she said well its your judgement and as time goes by youll get more comfortable, instead of telling what was right and what was wrong. Im a new RN, and I would like to know other experience nurses opinions and what they would do in situations like mine instead of me doing something thats not right, and harming the patients. She just made me feel very uncomfortable, and then when I was giving report on another patient with diverticulitis who was npo and now on clear liquids, she starting going off about the doctor, but yet making me feel like I should have done something about her diet, and that this patient is a mess. And then after she got done giving her speel, she said this is not your fault, this is the docs fault. She made me feel so nervous to the point where yup..I did forget to tell her a couple of things in report. I wanted to cry the whole way home, and I keep thinking about what I did wrong and what I couldve done better. The patient with diveritulitis didnt complain all night about pain until 0430 she wanted tylenol, and that was ordered so I gave tylenol to her, and told that in report and she freaked out that thats all she was getting for pain, and I completely forgot she had vicodin ordered, but it threw me off I guess cause she requested tylenol. Her bp was 185/78, in which she has a hx of htn and tends to spike in the am, so I gave her lopessor 50mg early, and was not aware she had .125mg vasotec IV ordered. So all weekend I have not stopped thinking about work, and I just feel like im not cut out for this. I realize Im new and Im gonna make mistakes, hoping nothing that are life threatning. Im constantly asking questions, and asking for other nurses opinions and judgements, constantly worrying that im gonna make a mistake or forget to do something. I could use any advice right now and words of encourgement. I know this post is really long. Thank you for your time!

Megan:confused::confused::confused:

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Specializes in NCA, Graduate Nurse.
I am a new Rn on a tele med/surg floor, and just finished my second week off of orientation. Right now I could really use some words of encouragement. My first week by myself went pretty well. I dont think I made any mistakes, and I know if I did, they were not critical. I worked two nights ago, and my night went well untill I recieved my 5 am vitals, and 2 of my patients blood pressures were low in the low 100s, in which one patient had lasix and vasotec ordered, and the othere one in which the bp was 85/68, and when I checked it manually it was 92/70 and I rechecked it again and it was 106/70. She had bumex and lisinopril ordered, and with those pressures I held them both because I was not comfortable giving those two meds. The guy that had the lasix ordered, I gave the lasix IV and held the vasotec. He has had CHF and BLL edema, and I felt that was the most important of the two meds to give. I didnt want to give them both with his pressure being that low. Well when I gave report that morning, the nurse was one of those that "eat their young" and she was very cocky acting and made me feel like that wasnt a good decision, and when I asked her what she would have done, she said well its your judgement and as time goes by youll get more comfortable, instead of telling what was right and what was wrong. Im a new RN, and I would like to know other experience nurses opinions and what they would do in situations like mine instead of me doing something thats not right, and harming the patients. She just made me feel very uncomfortable, and then when I was giving report on another patient with diverticulitis who was npo and now on clear liquids, she starting going off about the doctor, but yet making me feel like I should have done something about her diet, and that this patient is a mess. And then after she got done giving her speel, she said this is not your fault, this is the docs fault. She made me feel so nervous to the point where yup..I did forget to tell her a couple of things in report. I wanted to cry the whole way home, and I keep thinking about what I did wrong and what I couldve done better. The patient with diveritulitis didnt complain all night about pain until 0430 she wanted tylenol, and that was ordered so I gave tylenol to her, and told that in report and she freaked out that thats all she was getting for pain, and I completely forgot she had vicodin ordered, but it threw me off I guess cause she requested tylenol. Her bp was 185/78, in which she has a hx of htn and tends to spike in the am, so I gave her lopessor 50mg early, and was not aware she had .125mg vasotec IV ordered. So all weekend I have not stopped thinking about work, and I just feel like im not cut out for this. I realize Im new and Im gonna make mistakes, hoping nothing that are life threatning. Im constantly asking questions, and asking for other nurses opinions and judgements, constantly worrying that im gonna make a mistake or forget to do something. I could use any advice right now and words of encourgement. I know this post is really long. Thank you for your time!

Megan:confused::confused::confused:

Am I in the right forum...It seems like noone ever resonds back to my posts????:confused:

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I'll move it over to the First Year After Nursing Licensure forum ... I think it might be more appropriate there.

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hi RN6157

please dont beat urself up about this situation. your a new grad. your still learning. you didnt kill anyone. your fine. you got to have confidence in yourself. this is something that ive learned years ago, everyone will not like you. everywhere you go, there will be some idiot there that just wants to make things difficult. as soon as you find out who that idiot is just avoid them as much as possible. on the other have you will find some wonderful people that are willing to help you and answer any questions that you have. so please dont waste time thinking about the negtive. your doing a wonderful job. if you made it through that tough rn program, you can make it through anything

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Specializes in NCA, Graduate Nurse.
hi RN6157

please dont beat urself up about this situation. your a new grad. your still learning. you didnt kill anyone. your fine. you got to have confidence in yourself. this is something that ive learned years ago, everyone will not like you. everywhere you go, there will be some idiot there that just wants to make things difficult. as soon as you find out who that idiot is just avoid them as much as possible. on the other have you will find some wonderful people that are willing to help you and answer any questions that you have. so please dont waste time thinking about the negtive. your doing a wonderful job. if you made it through that tough rn program, you can make it through anything

Thank you,

I just want this feeling to go away, and jump start my first year. I keep thinking to myself..is this worth it, and did I make the right career choice?

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Specializes in LTC, Pediatrics, Renal Med/Surg.

You are not the first and definitely WILL not be the last new grad to feel this way. You didn't kill anyone. Nothing life threatening was done to the patient. You can only do so much for a patient in one shift. The next nurse probably did things the way she felt was best for her patients in her shift. I.e. she probably gave the woman vicodin for diverticulitis and depending on what the two guys b/ps where either held or gave the b/p drugs. Its ok. important thing to remember is you are still learning. you seem very thoughtful and caring about your work which is a very good sign. You will be fine. Just keep going!!!!

Also you have to find a way to shake work off when you leave. Otherwise you will burnout quickly, and don't let another experienced nurse make you feel like complete crap. Keep telling yourself you are doing the very best that you can. If you did the very best that you could for your patients during the time of your shift with the resources that you had (i.e. your training and limited experience) then thats all you can do. You learn from that, make sure next time you review all meds on all patients, and thats one thing you can mark off you list of mistakes you will make in the future.

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Specializes in Home Health Clinician.

People grow and learn from both their successes and their mistakes. I am a new grad as well... but I have lots of experience in other areas of life and this carries into nursing as well.

Learn from it, and move on. And be kind to yourself, because you deserve it. Hugs.

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Hi Megan, it shows that you care deeply about your patients and your job, and that's a good thing. Your committment will reflect in your work, things will get better. =)

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It will get better, and better, and better. I promise. I almost quit 10 times the first month off orientation on a cardiac ICU step down unit. Now, a year and a half later, I've got it down and ready to move on. You'll see, within 6 months you'll look back and laugh. Really.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

It all sounds pretty straight forward to me. If your divertic patient was in no acute distress from pain and requested Tylenol, then Tylenol was what she should've gotten. Your BP meds should have parameters on them. If the patient was outside the parameters, then the meds weren't indicated. Period. You did fine, don't let the hungry nurses make lunch out of you.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

P.S. some nights you can't do it all. Actually, many nights. As long as your ABCs were covered and everyone was as stable as possible by the end of your shift and your documentation reflects that, then you're fine. Adjusting someone's diet isn't as important as fixing your patient's blood pressure. Every nurse has their own OCD things they freak out about. Let it be their issue to fix. Nursing is a 24 hour job for a reason.

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Specializes in none as of to date.

I am still a nursing student, and i find myself doinghte very same while driving home form clinicals. However, I am blessed to work with nurses who encourage me, and let me know that mistakes are made, and can be corrected if reported, not to beat myself up. I have noticed that all nurses have their own way of doing things, and while general info (like meds, vitals) will remain the same, having heart makes all the difference while caring for your pt..and you sound like you got what it takes, so hang in there! Nurses like you will be one of the finer nurses who inspire future nurses someday!

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