New RN

Published

Hi everyone. I'm a new nurse that needs a bit of advice. I graduated a year and a half ago with my associates degree and worked in a clinic till I graduated with my BSN in May. I just got hired at a hospital in New York and have completed my first week on the unit with my preceptor. The floor is a medical surgical unit. Unfortunately, I have forgot a lot of information and lost a lot of skill due to the time period in which I was working at the clinic, which pretty much only included vaccinations and nebulizer treatments. I am losing confidence and wondering is nursing is for me being that I need to ask my preceptor to show me EVERYTHING, including something as simple as priming a line. In addition, I made 3 mistakes today on the unit- one was sending labs to the pharmacy instead of the laboratory; the 2nd was giving a renal patient orange juice, and the 3rd was documenting the shift physical for one patient under the column the previous shift had documented for. I am looking for some advice as to whether mistakes at this point do happen often with new nurses and if things do get better.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

(((Hugs))) While I was on orientation at my first job, we had this pt who'd had a radical neck dissection. We were repositioning him in bed when he started to vomit. My knee-jerk reaction was to get him on his side, and I turned him the direction that was easiest for me. Unfortunately, it was toward the side of his neck that the incision was, and he proceeded to vomit on his incision.

My other mistake was forgetting to look up an IV compatibility (pt needed an antibiotic and was hooked up to a morphine PCA.) Fortunately my preceptor had, and the meds were compatible; still not checking was a mistake on my part.

It gets better! I would plan on studying or even watching YouTube videos for procedures while off, and I'm sure it will come back.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Faculty, ER Nurse.

In my first months as a nurse, I hung antibiotics that had to be snapped and mixed without doing the snapping and mixing. Essentially I just infused saline and left the powder in the bottle hanging there. The nurse following me noticed and wrote up an incident report on it. The patient's surgeon who ordered the meds heard about it and saw me the next day and said "I bet you won't do that again" (in a friendly way) and he was right, I didn't. It does get better. You'll learn a lot and find your groove. Your first job being responsible for multiple acute patients can be overwhelming for anyone!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Learn from these little mistakes and move forward. What will "get" you is the self-doubt that these relatively minor oversights can create.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in TBI and SCI.

we all make mistakes.... I worked for a year in cali (where I'm from), then moved to Arizona.. Well I had to wait for my license to be transferred and issues and all this nonsense.... Took almost 5 months, then I was on vacation when I finally got my AZ lincense issues, so I was out of work in the nursing field for 6 months!!! I was so nervous when I got my job in a sub-acute... but hey it all came back to me eventually!

I made silly errors in the beginning, but now 3 months working, I'm near perfect.. ok not perfect but better hehe :)

Don't worry, we all forget nursing school stuff, you just need some time and it will all come back to you as you are working :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I first became a nurse, I placed an NG on my patient, and forgot to hook the end of the suction to the suction container. I switched on the suction, and alllllll that stomach contents ran down my leg and into my shoes hahahaha.

We ALL make mistakes. You're new. This is the time to make mistakes! Use your preceptor, that's what he/she is there for.

Mostly, be kind to yourself. None of us started our careers inherently knowing how to do everything.

*big hugs*!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion