Mudhoney

I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all the kind words of encouragement. I drove to work yesterday thinking about everything I read in this and other posts. I promised myself that I would simply put in 100% effort. And while I still felt extremely overwhelmed I repeatedly reminded myself that I'm not the only one who has felt this way :) Thanks again to everyone who posted!!!! It honestly made a HUGE difference in my outlook! I promise I will pay this forward when I see, hear or read about a newbie. This is a great support system....I appreciate the responses!

Hello everyone! I have been lurking for some time now and figured this is the time for me to jump in :) I am a new grad (Aug 2006) and started as a med-surg noc nurse in December. I was very fortunate to have a wonderful preceptor and felt confident that I would do ok flying solo. This weekend was my first time on my own. I had a full load of 7 pts with occasional dc's and admits. Unfortunately my first 3 shifts on my own were HORRIBLE. I felt like I was drowning. Each day I left over an hour late and left a couple dressing changes and consents to be signed for the day nurse. I don't want to be known as the nurse that passes all the work to the day nurse. A couple nurses have told me that I will hit my groove in about 6 months but I don't know if I can wait that long. I am usually a very optimistic, "I can do anything I set my mind to" kind of gal.. But this is definately testing me. I drove home with tears streaming down my face and didn't get any sleep due to nightmares that I missed medications and forgot charting. I feel like I hear call light bells all day long. Is this normal? Any words of encouragement or advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

OK, I did a little detective work (I viewed posts from a few years ago and found this response from Suzanne: "Number of questions has nothing to do with whether or not you passed. Same thing for the rumor that if you get the last quesitons wrong, you also do not pass. It judges you on the level of questions that you can answer. That is the only thing that counts. " I'm calling my friend right now. I would still like to hear from some nurses who got the last one wrong and passed. I'm telling my pal to view this (and other) posts.

A classmate called me today after she took her NCLEX and said that she knew for sure that she missed the last question or the test (she looked it up). She thinks she failed. Theoretically she would be right...but are the NCLEX gods that cruel? Anyone know they missed the last one and still passed? I would love to pass along the words of encouragement! Thanks everyone!