Nurses with a few years under the belt

[MJB2010]

Did you hate hospital nursing your first few months? Did you ever start to like it? How long did it take? Did you feel like you needed meds for anxiety just to get through it? i am tryiong to decide if maybe this isnt for me, or if its normal to be this miserable. I feel like there is no way this can be normal and perhaps this is not a good career choice for me. I think I need meds, seriously.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Whatever you do, MJB2010 it'll be the right thing to do.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much for all the support. I am 5 months in, and searching for a new job. I think sticking it out a year here might kill me. Not sure I can make it. The people I work with are mostly supportive but some seem to enjoy chewing me out at report daily. I always leave filled with doubt, and I always feel sick on my way in. I dont think I have ever cried this much in my life. I think if I find another position, Im going to quit.

Girl, there will always be those handful of nurses who can't wait to remind you that you are the new kid on the block. Their goal is to leave you filled with doubt...mission accomplished. It is the honest mistakes that you are made aware of grouped with those few nay-sayers that are trying to burst your bubble that you must recognize the difference. The difference is to have the confidence in yourself to know which mistakes you made and have learned from verses the nit-picking negativity that you must simply give the finger to. You can do this.

[mskate]

I hated it - completely. I started off in tele/step-down and I genuinely hated it. I didn't even last a year before I moved into the ICU. Once in the ICU - I didn't hate it, but I had panicky feelings before the shifts for the first 8 months or so off of orientation. I'd come into work worried about what I would see, what I would be expected to do, what if i didn't know how to do something.... These feelings eventually go away. You have to find the right specialty for you, then push through the year or so in the right specialty to feel confident.

You don't come out of nursing school a nurse - you come out of a nursing school with the basics to do a job, and you become a nurse with time and experience. So don't feel like you should be fully on top of your game right away. It takes a while.

[steelydanfan]

You become a nurse with time and experience. So don't feel like you should be fully on top of your game right away. It takes a while.

Beautifully said, and the truth is that that shaky feeling never entirely goes away.

If there were a board for accountants or actuaries, or restaurant managers; they would express all the same anxieties about thier first months on the job. Your job is more intense, but you have also had better training, and better resources to fall back on. Use them, and if not helpful, go to the top and DEMAND what you need.

You can do this, we WANT to help you, please don't give up.

[tablefor9, RN]

The first year, you always feel like you're faking it. Barely getting by.

I'm much more worried abt the new grad that *doesn't* feel like she's going to he** in a gas truck. Driving, no less.

You'll find your stride. Your niche in nursing, what you can truly be passionate about, may not be the job you have now. Keep plugging, take the experiences you are getting, and know that it *does* get better. Meanwhile, take an inventory...what did you love in nursing school? What made you think, wow, I can't wait to be a nurse? Explore options in those areas.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I was blessed to have it said to me directly: "It will take you a year to even figure out what you're doing, 2-3 to feel comfortable, and 3-5 to feel like you can handle whatever comes your way."

And that turned out to be fairly accurate. I felt "ready" to be off of orientation at the scheduled time, but then found the first 3 months without that safety net to be terrifying on a pretty frequent basis. At each leap forward in comfort/confidence every 3 months or so, I got more difficult assignments. At one year, I was amazed at all I had learned and how much faster I performed a number of skills. At 2 years, I felt like I could hold my own. And in my 3rd year I finally felt comfortable.

So OP, while it is possible that this particular job is just not a good fit ... you may not want to necessarily expect to feel radically more secure in any job in any environment for a while.

Good luck to you! :)