I need to know if I'm the only one that has this feeling. I"m a new nurse. I'm 46 years old so I'm an OLD new nurse. I am in the ER, probally not the best place for a newby to start. I thought I'd be excited to go to work each day. Some days I dont want to go, but once I get there I'm ok. Just feel very inefficient, dumb and all thumbs, will it ever get better? Have I just chosen the wrong place? Would I feel this way anywhere I went? I'm wondering if I made the right career choice. Pretty scary after achieving what was my life long dream...to be an RN!
I have some of these issues too. I'm 40, and I'm brand new to nursing. It's so weird to be with all of the experienced nurses on my unit who are in their 20s and 30s, not to mention the residents who are in their 20s. So far everyone has been very nice, but I still feel strange being so old and so inexperienced.
I need to know if I'm the only one that has this feeling. I"m a new nurse. I'm 46 years old so I'm an OLD new nurse. I am in the ER, probally not the best place for a newby to start. I thought I'd be excited to go to work each day. Some days I dont want to go, but once I get there I'm ok. Just feel very inefficient, dumb and all thumbs, will it ever get better? Have I just chosen the wrong place? Would I feel this way anywhere I went? I'm wondering if I made the right career choice. Pretty scary after achieving what was my life long dream...to be an RN!
Help!
Trish
Seems like there are many in your boat, and can relate. You have gotten the best of advice. I just want to wish you the best of luck and congratulations in achieving your lifelong goal of becoming an RN! :)
Hi everyone! I am 28 years old & am a brand new RN. This is my first week of working as an RN (M-F this week) & I really do love being a nurse. I've found that I know more than I think, & I feel like it gets a little easier each day. Today I am up to taking 3 patients on my own-one of which was a new admit from the ER-my very first admission! I was so excited (& nervous) to do the initial assessment-but it really was cool! :) I think I feel pretty comfortable on my med/surg unit because I worked as a nursing assistant there before & also did my senior internship there as a student. But I do still feel like there is soooooo much I have left to learn. I am always asking everyone questions-& I'm happy the other nurses are all nice about answering them! :) Even though I feel like there's still so much more to learn, I try to tell myself to take a deep breathe, think things through & that I can always get help with something if I need it. I'm not as scared about doing new things now. (although I still feel bad giving injections-I swear I cringe more than the patients do! ) Overall, I'm happy being a new nurse-I just keep thinking how cool it is to go to work & actually get paid pretty well for what I really love to do! :) And I can't wait until I know enough (probably not for a while though) so I can teach students who do clinicals on the floor-I love teaching! :)
This thread was just what I needed. I have some of the same feelings. I'm 46 and have been working about 1 month as a nurse. I feel like I am expected to know more & catch on faster since I am not a young new nurse. I think I may actually be slower in performing(Procedures etc.) due to my life experiences and realizing the seriousness of my job. I hope I will gain confidence after a while. I know I still love nursing and I am willing to work hard to improve my skills. Please be patient with me! Love to all the newbies
Hi everyone! I am 28 years old & am a brand new RN. This is my first week of working as an RN (M-F this week) & I really do love being a nurse. I've found that I know more than I think, & I feel like it gets a little easier each day. Today I am up to taking 3 patients on my own-one of which was a new admit from the ER-my very first admission! I was so excited (& nervous) to do the initial assessment-but it really was cool! :) I think I feel pretty comfortable on my med/surg unit because I worked as a nursing assistant there before & also did my senior internship there as a student. But I do still feel like there is soooooo much I have left to learn. I am always asking everyone questions-& I'm happy the other nurses are all nice about answering them! :) Even though I feel like there's still so much more to learn, I try to tell myself to take a deep breathe, think things through & that I can always get help with something if I need it. I'm not as scared about doing new things now. (although I still feel bad giving injections-I swear I cringe more than the patients do! ) Overall, I'm happy being a new nurse-I just keep thinking how cool it is to go to work & actually get paid pretty well for what I really love to do! :) And I can't wait until I know enough (probably not for a while though) so I can teach students who do clinicals on the floor-I love teaching! :)
-Christine
This is very similar to my situation too. I worked as a tech in the inpatient rehab unit of the Hosp that I went to work for b/f NS. I had never really been to the MS unit b/f I ended up getting clinicals there and was really impressed w/the kindness of the nurses to the students. I had been offered a job on onc at a larger hosp but chose to come back to this one b/c I figured heck, the first year is so rough anyway, why not be around people that you "somewhat" know and are familiar with instead of adding that stress too!! I can honestly say that I have not experienced the old saying of "Nurses eat their young" so far either.
It seems that there are quite a few of us that look at ourselves as the "old new nurse". I'm 41 and in my first nursing job. Sometimes I wonder why. I remember in school when we all were excited about the prospect of finally "being there" and now that we are, we're scared to death. At least I am. There are a lot of night that I come home and know that I've done the right thing and have chosen the right field. There are other times that I've come home and toss and turn all night trying to remember why I wanted to do this.
We currently have a pt. who is very young who came in with acute paritonitis. When she was in surgery, they were shocked to find that she had CA everywhere. she had a complete historectomy, bowel resection, and a colostomy - talk about a life changing situation. She is the pt. that I know that I made the right decision for. She is the reason that I got into this. No matter how much I screw up in my first year, this pt. will stick with me always. She's already talking about walking in the relay for life next year!
We all have our days. I'm just learning that I need to leave my day at the hospital and when I'm at home, do the things that I do at home. It is a hard lesson to learn. Keep the faith. Give it a year. There are always other aspects of nursing if you find that what you are doing doesn't suit you. What finally made me realize that I am doing ok was watching another older nurse being oriented to the job several months after I started. I watched him draw up a med during his first week and It took forever. I remember being where he was right then and realized that it really does get better.
I feel like I'm only going to repeat what's already been said here, but I'll chime in anyway, just because it's therapeutic.
I too could have written the OP's post, almost word for word. I'm a 38-year old new grad and just finished my first week in a level I ER. I had some previous ER experience, but in a smaller suburban hospital. To put it one way -- "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." It's been pretty overwhelming. The first 3 nights I left so stressed out that you could have bounced a ball off of my neck & shoulders, and was equally stressed out as I was driving in the next day. My dd said to me at one point, "Don't you like your new job, Mom?" :chair: I certainly didn't expect to be "comfortable" and I knew that the patient mix would be drastically different from what I had worked with before, but I underestimated just how much it would slow me down to not know anything - the computer system, who to call for what, a different brand of IV pumps, how the monitors & other equipment worked ... etc. etc. etc. And slowness doesn't go over too well in the ER ...
On top of everything at work, I just lost a very dear family member the week before ... it doesn't take much to push me to the verge of tears these days.
But ... I may possibly have turned a corner yesterday. I left feeling good about the day - I wasn't as "all thumbs", and my preceptor commented that we were having a good day. There just might be hope ...
BTW -- I can't say enough good things about my preceptor. She's fantastic, and a model of who I'd like to "grow up" to be ... :chuckle To those of you who have had significant issues w/a preceptor -- you owe it to yourself (and them?) to try to rectify things, or switch preceptors. I know there's no way I'd get through this without a solid relationship w/my preceptor.
Am I happy to be a nurse? Yes. Not the jumping-for-joy happiness, but I'm in the place where I chose to be. I still sort of feel like an imposter when I introduce myself as The Nurse. But after yesterday I do feel like there will be a time when I'll have the confidence & the competence to be the nurse I want to be. I'm not there yet, but I think I'll get there.
It helps very much to read your all's experiences- they sound quite similar to me even though I am just 21 and feel like a very "young new nurse"... it is so different than I expected it to be, and it is a relief to read all of your posts and know that all the crazy feelings and experiences I'm having someone else is having too! We will make it through this year, definitely.
...I earned my RN at the age of 49. I work nights on medical floor. I usually ask my husband to pray for me while I am at work. While driving to work or walking from the car, I pray for a night where my pts. will get the care they need and that I have the strength for whatever comes on...patient-wise and staff-wise. There are times when I just don't want to go to work, usually after a previous night of stress, or lack of quality sleep that day. Just remember that you are only one person and if you are doing the best you can with what you have (staff, supplies), that's all you can give. I feel bad when I leave a "mess" for the following RN, but we have to prioitize and sometimes things aren't done because while important, they aren't the priority.
I am in EXACTLY the same position as you are! I could have written this post! We have worked so hard for this! No good advice to give to you........Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in your feelings!
Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone! I'm new at this website and not sure how all this works, hopefully all will be able to see this post....I can't thank everyone enough! It has really helped to see all the people out there that have been exactly where I am. It is getting better, the flow is definitely there now and I'm getting up to speed, but still have such strange feelings about a profession I thought I was going to LOVE! Hang in there, together we will all get through this!
Hi, I'm sooooooo scared about getting a job as an LPN. I'm scared i'll do something wrong or wont get along with the staff or something. I'm only 19 and scared i'll be treated different for being so young. I have yet to find a job but am soo stressed that I wont find one and I wont have my instructors to go to...... any advice.
Hey Chicklet, I am a 20 year old RN and I had the same fears of being treated different! When I started work they treated me just like one of them, the nurses on my floor are great! No one even mentioned a thing (which I really thought they would because I'm 20 but look about 16 ), and my patients haven't mentioned anything either. That was my biggest fear in getting a job was that everyone would be like you're not my nurse, you're too young! The other day my preceptor finally just asked me how old I am and when I told her she went "You're 20?!". I think to a certain degree it earns you some respect, at least that's what my classmates always said to me, that they admired me for knowing what I wanted to do so young and going for it. Don't worry, age has nothing to do with competency!
We have worked so hard for this! No good advice to give to you........Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in your feelings!
), and my patients haven't mentioned anything either. That was my biggest fear in getting a job was that everyone would be like you're not my nurse, you're too young! The other day my preceptor finally just asked me how old I am and when I told her she went "You're 20?!". I think to a certain degree it earns you some respect, at least that's what my classmates always said to me, that they admired me for knowing what I wanted to do so young and going for it. Don't worry, age has nothing to do with competency!
amber1142
124 Posts
I have some of these issues too. I'm 40, and I'm brand new to nursing. It's so weird to be with all of the experienced nurses on my unit who are in their 20s and 30s, not to mention the residents who are in their 20s. So far everyone has been very nice, but I still feel strange being so old and so inexperienced.