Marie Ryan

Hi - I can relate to you and wanted to tell you my experience in hopes of supporting you. My first job as a nurse was at an assisted living facility. I was the only nurse (the rest of the staff were CNA's) there at night, responsible for giving meds to 54 people. If I had questions or problems, I had to call my supervisor at home. It was very stressful, as most clients had more than one med, different types of meds, and at different times. I made 4 errors in the space of a couple of months. No patients were injured, Thank God. The other nurse was downright mean and totally unsupportive. She never tried to help me since I was a new nurse. They gave me warnings and then they let me go. The facility made me feel like a criminal. It was awful and humiliating. I thought I should quit nursing. But after that I worked in home health and did very well, even earning Nurse of the Month!! My point is that it could be the job is not right for you or something going on in your life. Also the vicious cycle of errors creating anxiety, creating more errors. In trying to see why I made mistakes, I realized I was terrified of not having a job (I was a single mom at the time), the workplace was hostile and not supportive of new nurses, and it was just too much for me to be giving meds to 54 people. Right now, I am in an RN program and seeing how the hospitals are set up is amazing. It is almost impossible to make errors because of the way its set up. Scanning meds on the computer, fewer meds to give and better systems set up to double check meds with other nurses. Please don't give up!! Maybe do a different type of nursing for a while and realize that there could be stresses that you don't realize. Wishing you all the Best!

Hi - I can relate to you and wanted to tell you my experience in hopes of supporting you. My first job as a nurse was at an assisted living facility. I was the only nurse (the rest of the staff were CNA's) there at night, responsible for giving meds to 54 people. If I had questions or problems, I had to call my supervisor at home. It was very stressful, as most clients had more than one med, different types of meds, and at different times. I made 4 errors in the space of a couple of months. No patients were injured, Thank God. The other nurse was downright mean and totally unsupportive. She never tried to help me since I was a new nurse. They gave me warnings and then they let me go. The facility made me feel like a criminal. It was awful and humiliating. I thought I should quit nursing. But after that I worked in home health and did very well, even earning Nurse of the Month!! My point is that it could be the job is not right for you or something going on in your life. Also the vicious cycle of errors creating anxiety, creating more errors. In trying to see why I made mistakes, I realized I was terrified of not having a job (I was a single mom at the time), the workplace was hostile and not supportive of new nurses, and it was just too much for me to be giving meds to 54 people. Right now, I am in an RN program and seeing how the hospitals are set up is amazing. It is almost impossible to make errors because of the way its set up. Scanning meds on the computer, fewer meds to give and better systems set up to double check meds with other nurses. Please don't give up!! Maybe do a different type of nursing for a while and realize that there could be stresses that you don't realize. Wishing you all the Best!