poliwag48

Hey, Bambi could use some encouragement (Scrubs fans wya?) I am in my 6th week of my 8 weeks of orientation. I have a supportive floor, fabulous manager, etc. My coworkers are saying I am doing well (and my first preceptor says the same; I just met my new one yesterday who will be precepting me while the first is on vacation) but I definiteley feel like I a chicken with my head cut off sometimes. I still have so many questions for everything. Paging doctors and using the pager, various ways to collect urine specimens (foley vs purewick vs clean catch / UA vs C&S vs pregnancy etc.), discharge details (how do I know if insurance is going to cover their outpt prescriptions? how is their home health involved?) , who I should call (is this a care coordination issue? or do I need to ask their primary care physician? ), and so on and so forth.So many details that I get caught up on. And this trickles into me struggling with time management because I have to hunt down a preceptor/nurse and wait for them to be available to help/answer my question, etc. Am I expected to know how to do all of these things by 8 weeks? Everyone says "keep asking questions" but I am just nervous I will still not know how to do so much? IDK. My main focuses that my preceptors want me to focus on is time management and being detail oriented. I sometimes don't see/read the fine print for nursing orders, medication administrations, etc. I also have a hard time staying up to date with notes and plan of care and even finding things in the computer system. I have always excelled at my jobs and am a hard worker, but I feel like my feet can't walk fast enough (and they HURT anyway!) and I just feel so panicked at times! Please, any advice or encouragement or anything is so appreciated. I really appreciate this community. I am just exhausted and feel so overwhelmed. (Oh, for what it is worth, I am on a Med/Surg floor with a 6:1 ratio). Thanks!

Hi! So my orientation on my 1:6 ratio Med/Surg floor was said to last 8-12 weeks. My preceptor is pushing for me to be done in 8. The other day she said she wants me to be able to do everything on my own after 6 weeks (since she will be going on vaca and I'll be given to someone else for the remaining weeks). She really wants to aid my time management so as I go into my third week next week, I will have five patients. I struggle to have even four right now because I am still learning how to do different procedures or deal with notifications that come up on the EMR/MAR , etc., and just simply managing time. (and to be clear, she still has to pick up some slack for me/ help me out with the four. It's not like I'm doing EVERYTHING for them yet). My preceptor has said she believes the only way I'll get better at time management is by having more to do. She is kind and willing to teach, and patient with me (at least 75% of the time, LOL) and her only "downfall" is always being charge nurse so she is incredibly busy and it is difficult to have to wait 30 minutes for her to show me how to change a dressing or help with an I.V every time I need that or direction on a new skill (even having a verbal question or needing her to show me something in the computer can take 5+ minutes). I guess my question is, does this sound normal? I feel overwhelmed which I know is to be expected, but I'm wondering if having this patient load while still learning how to contact doctors appropriately, call or recognize the need for RT, or even learn if my medications are "out of stock" because they are in the refrigerator or I need to contact pharmacy (and "should I send a message or call? why does that method keep changing?? " LOL) is normal or sounds okay? During my last shift I considered talking to my nurse manager about having a preceptor who is not charge nurse, but on second thought, I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth and end up with someone who doesn't want to be precepting and is impatient with me but has the "time" to teach me instead of me just dealing with having to constantly hunt down my current preceptor and wait a long time to have her answer most questions (but who is kind and knowledgeable to help). Again, I feel incredibly fortunate to have a great nursing manager and co-workers, along with an encouraging and supportive preceptor. I would be less nervous perhaps if she wasn't constantly being called away to fulfill charge nurse duties and "leaving me on my own" (it really just takes a HOT minute for her to show me absolutely anything-- not her fault though but definitely screws with my "time management". IDK. I hope my question makes sense. Any comments or opinions, concerns or encouragements, personal stories/testimonies are SO appreciated. Love to you all in this community!

So far my unit has been pretty gracious and patient and I strive to get up to speed on these skills! Still have many questions on doing many things, but ?

thank you! congratulations to you as well, and good luck as you interview! I talked to my teacher about this and she said that if you are a student who puts in the work and doesn't try to coast by, you should not need to worry. she said that it's often the students who tried to skate by in school that do not do well in the actual world of nursing. hope that helps and offers some solice! I respect this teacher and trust what she said, and it helped me have more peace. ? she also said it is not common for students to not do well and be fired in their first job, haha. ?

Hi! I am set to graduate in May, 2020 (Lord willing!) Currently, much of our clinical and preceptorship hours during our final semester of school are being cut short and replaced with online assigments/simulations, due to the COVID-19 crisis. While there are some in my class who could not count themselves luckier, others (like myself) are disheartened that we are losing valuable clinical experience. Our preceptorship is meant to build us and prepare us a little more for the actual nursing world. I completed just over half of my hours (seven full days) before we were told that we could no longer go back to the hospital. Thus, I have only become slightly/decently comfortable with: hanging IVP/IV fluids, administering medications, drawing labs, time management (not really though, only made it up to caring for three patients and still struggled to manage time in the mornings), checking for new orders, discharge a patient, etc. I have yet to start an IV on my own, dress a wound, care for drains, admit a patient, transfer patients, etc. Seeing as how I likely wouldn't be in a medical field again now until July at the earliest (I have already been fortunate enough to be hired and plan to start July 20th on a Med/Surg floor), I am also concerned I will forget a lot in between 4 months! Forget how to hang those IVP, get labs, prep/organize for care, even when to write nurse's notes! And lets not even get started on communication with the rest of the team (delegations, physicians, therapy, case management, the list goes on) I hate the idea of walking into my new job and not knowing how to do some of these things! Will I look ridiculous if I still struggle with handing IV ABO /fluids or how to give a Lovenox shot? I don't know what all preceptorship and orientation in the post-graduation and licensure stage looks like. I know we are still going to be learning a lot and it is normal to feel like we know nothing. I wonder if I am at an extra large disadvantage here with having so many clinical experiences replaced with online learning?? Any tips, advice, opinions, etc are greatly appreciated for this worried last-semester student. I just want to excel at my job. What did you know when first coming out of school? What did you still ask about? Oof. Again, any encouragement, advice, etc is so appreciated!! Blessings and happy nursing

Hi! In May I will be graduating (Lord willing) and I am scheduled to start my first job in July (I am blessed/lucky enough to already have a job waiting for me once out of school/ passed NCLEX! I did not expect these feelings, but I feel very nervous that I will not do well at this job. I suppose due to a few factors: - my friend who graduated last year was let go from her first job; she said it was her own fault and was "too slow" - everyone says the transition from school to work is awful and shocking - I am in the beginnings of my preceptorship and am feeling a bit shocked already at how much nurses do (and how much of it I have not been taught/prepared for yet!) Is it common for new grads to be let go? I am just now learning of all these "fun" adult terms like, " retention rates" and it increases my concern for how hard it will be to stick in a job.... I guess I am wondering if its common for nurses to be fired or something? idk... I am maybe being a worry wart? I am excited to be a nurse and I think my excitement for all the future holds in this next year increases my fear of losing it (I am so so so excited for the unit I was hired to, the area its in, the apartment I may rent, the starting wage; so I am very nervous I will lose this opportunity!) Thanks for any advice, insight, encouragement, anything!!!! Even tips on ways to be successful or stories of how your first job was/ where you worked and how you adjusted? Happy Nursing!

Anyone out there like/love bedside nursing? I am about to graduate and I am just curious with all that is said as far as how hard and undesirable it is, if anyone enjoys it/would never leave? If you are one of the nurses who left/ want to leave, could you tell me why? Thanks!

Hi! In May I will be graduating (Lord willing) and I am scheduled to start my first job in July (I am blessed/lucky enough to already have a job waiting for me once out of school/ passed NCLEX! I did not expect these feelings, but I feel very nervous that I will not do well at this job. I suppose due to a few factors: - my friend who graduated last year was let go from her first job; she said it was her own fault and was "too slow" - everyone says the transition from school to work is awful and shocking - I am in the beginnings of my preceptorship and am feeling a bit shocked already at how much nurses do (and how much of it I have not been taught/prepared for yet!) Is it common for new grads to be let go? I am just now learning of all these "fun" adult terms like, " retention rates" and it increases my concern for how hard it will be to stick in a job.... I guess I am wondering if its common for nurses to be fired or something? idk... I am maybe being a worry wart? I am excited to be a nurse and I think my excitement for all the future holds in this next year increases my fear of losing it (I am so so so excited for the unit I was hired to, the area its in, the apartment I may rent, the starting wage; so I am very nervous I will lose this opportunity!) Thanks for any advice, insight, encouragement, anything!!!! Even tips on ways to be successful or stories of how your first job was/ where you worked and how you adjusted? Happy Nursing!

How often (if ever) did you doubt you'd receive your license while in nursing school? Also, did your grades every border on failing?? If you didn't already suspect, I am a second semester nursing student and I feel very stressed (shockerrrr) and a bit saddened at my academic performance right now.. To pass, we have to have an 80 in the class, and in two classes I have an 80, while in the third I have a 76.. I plan on bringing these up, but worry that I can't/won't... I love clinicals and the prospect of nursing, and feel pretty upset when I consider the "what if"s.... What if I don't make it? Are my grades too low?? UGH. Has any of you been here and come out on the other side?? oof. thanks for any thought and replies!!!

hello! so.. I am in my first semester of nursing school. we are almost done with the semester. clinicals are both exciting and exhausting for me. right now, i am struggling with feeling so "new" and having so far to go. specifically, I look at the nurses I work under during clinicals and think "man, will i ever be so competent and efficient and smart as them?" nurses seem to know so much and do really important things quickly, and sometimes it just is hard to imagine myself being that way. does anyone have any encouragament or similar feelings?? also, during clinicals i sometimes feel out of place. don't get me wrong, i want to be there and I love many aspects of it. again, its all just so intense and everything to me, and maybe its my lack of confidence, but its hard to imagine myself being such an awesome, competent nurse.. any advise, encouragement, or shared feelings would really be appreciated. Happy Nursing!