I'm a new-grad nurse on a crazy-busy med-surg floor, and I'm really struggling. REALLY struggling. Like, I'm-scared-for-my-job struggling. My super-nice preceptor is getting more and more openly frustrated with me, and that suggests I'm on the thinnest possible ice.
It's been a really humbling/humiliating experience. I've always been the one other people came to for a little help, and now it feels like I'mbeyond help. I'm not generally a screw-up, is what I'm trying to say. But I'm one now and I want to fix it.
Yet I can't sort through the chaos to see the order. My preceptor can rattle off three blood sugars taken by someone else an hour ago, the lowest BP a patient had two days earlier, where everyone's PIVs/PICCs are and when they were placed, etc. I know this is all vitally important information, but I can't keep track of it all! It's a jumbled mess in my head and I'm constantly writing things down and looking things up, slowing me down. Or I get try to speed up and then I make mistakes, which is even worse.
And I don't want to skimp on the other things, like calming down an anxious patient, ensuring pain control is adequate on a patient with dementia too severe for her to express herself, etc., without getting behind on tasks.
So ... how did you adjust? How do you keep track of things? What tasks do you prioritize over others? How do you calm down when you get rattled? If you have any wisdom you could share I would be very grateful.
Thank you. I really appreciate this! I am also a new grad on my 5th week of orientation on a medsurg floor. And I'm also worried about not being able to remember everything about all of my 6 patients!
It scares me to think that a doctor might walk up to me and ask me something about my pt and that I won't know the answer
But it makes me feel better to hear that it's somewhat normal.
DU15
39 Posts
Thank you. I really appreciate this! I am also a new grad on my 5th week of orientation on a medsurg floor. And I'm also worried about not being able to remember everything about all of my 6 patients!
It scares me to think that a doctor might walk up to me and ask me something about my pt and that I won't know the answer
But it makes me feel better to hear that it's somewhat normal.