nurseMR2020

Hello my friend. I am a newgrad nurse as well. I graduated in May of 2020. I started on a PCU in a level two trauma center. I also have anxiety/depression and it affects me in a terrible way because of the stress of nursing. Lots of my coworkers are also leaving.. The pandemic has changed nursing so much. The senior nurses at my job always tell me that they feel bad for me since I came in at such a bad time in nursing. I feel the most important thing is that you are afraid of something happening that will affect your license. That is NOT a good situation to be in. If you feel comfortable talking to a fellow nurse/charge nurse, possibly even management about how you feel, I would!! Utilize your resources as much as possible. I also dread going in to work. I get so anxious before a shift I want to throw up. Our staffing ratios are terrible and we are stretched as thin as possible. Also ask yourself, is your unit right now a place you could see yourself staying for a while? I asked myself that same question and the answer was no. So I accepted a job in OR which is less stressful and more manageable. I start soon. Your mental health is absolutely the priority, this is a career. It is not our identity. It is hard because nursing school consumes you and you get so used to it, you forget that you are a person, not just a nurse. This is your only life. Do you want to spend any part of it being stressed and anxious constantly? Everyone convinces you that you need to do this or that for nursing but you need to do what you love and what is sustainable. I hope this helps you even a bit. Hang in there. You've got this. I hope it will turn out well for you. ?

Hello again, and thank you all for your advice and taking the time to reply to me. It is so appreciated. I thought I would let you know I accepted a job with OR at a hospital near me. I start March 15th!! My job situation got even worse and I definitely knew I needed to leave. I can't wait to start OR. I got some floor experience in and I *almost* made it a year LOL. Thank you all again!!

Hello. This is my first post on here and I'm hoping I have posted in the right place. I just graduated in May of 2020 with my ASN in nursing. I passed my NCLEX in July. I've been on a PCU since June and off orientation since August. I am on nightshift. I enjoyed the job at first and enjoyed being busy and on my feet. The past few months at my job have gotten progressively worse. The charge nurses give me very difficult assignments. The other nurses on my unit have noticed and said to me that I usually get the worst patients. It's usually patients who are in restraints and physically attacking people and/or patients with complicated medications and devices I have never worked with before. I am usually very overwhelmed and stressed trying to take care of these patients as a new graduate. I appreciate that I get to learn and experience new things but am constantly stressed about going into work. I have mentioned this to the charge nurses and my manager but I am usually brushed off with "We know you can handle it and the charge nurse always gets the easiest patients" I understand why they get easier patients but I don't feel supported or validated. My mental health has bottomed out and night shift causes me to have terrible insomnia on my days off. I usually only sleep 2-3 hours on my days off. I am so exhausted and depressed. When I think about going into work, I have chest pains. I love that I'm getting experience and am learning but this job is nothing that I thought it would be. I do not get any support from my manager. I talk to her about my stress and I am told to exercise and take melatonin. I feel so guilty that I'm so unhappy. All I hear from my coworkers is that not having at least 2-3 years in the hospital will keep me from being a good nurse. I am not passionate about the place I'm in and I have cried in the bathroom at work so many nights. I am trying so hard to stay and get at least one year of experience in but I don't know if it will be possible. I already feel so burnt out. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a normal part of nursing? I've been looking at other job opportunities and missing the urgent care I worked at as a clinical associate for 2 years. I don't know what to do. I've been praying and wondering if I need a major attitude adjustment and thinking it's all in my head. I think the worst thing is the insomnia I have. I have tried many different things to help me sleep on my days off but nothing has worked. It's affecting my mental and physical health pretty badly. I'm hoping to talk to my manager about switching to dayshift but I'm on a long waiting list for it.