abakrn819

I have been working as a nurse on my own now for almost 6 months, and I still get nervous quite often about my decisions. I find that asking nurses around you, or your charge nurse, seems to be the best way to assure yourself that you are making the right decision, or keep yourself from making a bad one! Just remember, you are new, and no one expects you to be an expert nurse after one month! One of my charge nurses said "Always ask questions. When a new orient isn't asking me tons of questions, I am concerned!" Eventually you will feel comfortable with your ability to make good decisions on the job. But, the beauty of the medical field is it's always changing, so you are always learning! So down the road, there will be many times you run into something you haven't seen or don't know about! Confindence takes time, just don't let yourself get discouraged or feel like you are behind!! You are doing just fine :) And as those before said, you being nervous is a good sign! You want to be the best nurse possible!! And in time, you will believe in yourself!!

As of right now, I am working 3 12's on a cardio/tele unit. Although I really enjoy the cardiology/tele aspect, and don't mind the 12's, I hate weekends and holidays. My husband and I don't get to see eachother as much as we would like because our scheules never seem to line up. So, I applied and got hired in our GI center, where I will work 5 8's, no nights/weekends/holidays! This will be the first time I have worked 8's, so I really hope I like them!!

Our facility gives raises every year to all staff that qualify (good review, have worked at least a year). So, because I have been hired at our facility for a year, I got a raise, and also a bonus this year. But, it really had nothing to do with "having a year of experience as a nurse," mainly just working for the company long enough! Like everyone else has said, ask around to other nurses to see what happened to them, ask your supervisor, ect to get specifics about where you work.

Nursing is stressful, but it is a different stress once you are out of school, pass your boards, and get into a job. The best change is...YOUR WORK STAYS AT WORK! You do not have to bring your patients home with you and continue to care for them :) So, when you are off work you have time to relax and recoop, which was something I found VERY HARD TO COME BY in school. When you weren't at class or clinicals, you were doing some homework or studying your buns off for a test! It was NEVER ENDING! But, with work, it stays at work. You go home, and though you may wonder "oh shoot did I chart that" or "did I give that med correctly" eventually those thoughts die down too! But, again, there is stress, the hours are long! And the work is hard! But, like anything else you get used to it. Where I got hired, I was on orientation for 10 weeks with a preceptor, and by the end she was practically letting me do EVERYTHING on my own. So you are not thrown into it on your own right away, you are slowly eased into it! And keep your chin up in school. You are going to have a great job at the end of your road, and yes right now it stinks because your friends don't have to study as much as you, but you have to keep telling yourself IT WILL BE WORTH IT! Trust me, it is. I love nursing, and I was defenitely doubting my choice in major by my 5th semester of nursing school. Just work hard, but try to make time for yourself once in a while, and reward yourself after studying for a long time or finishing up a project. Small rewards will lead up to a VERY BIG ONE at the end of these 2.5 years! Best of luck to you!!

Cardizem, rebound htn is something I have never really seen with this, but we do Cardizem gtts all the time now for SVT or UCAFIB. But, we typically see pressures drop with this drug and often have to stop the gtt because of this problem. We will start them on a low dose, and titrate if BP tolerates!

The hospital I work at is going to change their uniform policy in Jan 2012, and I am looking forward to it. Right now, each floor chooses their own policy, and the floor I work on is "wear your own scrubs." Our hospital also provides scrubs for some floors, and most people on my unit just wear those anyway, so its VERY confusing for patients and employees alike! Our new color coded scrubs will separate everyone out nicely, lab will wear one color, aids will wear one, housekeeping will wear one, RN's will wear one, ect...and anyone considered "surgical" (like NICU, GI center, L&D) will wear the hospital provided scrubs. I think it will look very professional! I am one that wears the hospital scrubs, mainly because I cannot find any other ones that fit me comfortably, and lucky for me I will start a new job that is considered "surgical" in 3 weeks so I will continue to wear the hospital scrubs :) Yay for me!!

I am sure that they just had plenty of applicants that were already interviewing, that they just didn't want to take any more applications! Just make sure you follow up after a week if you haven't heard from them! But really, do not get too worried!

I, though a young graduate, had this experience too. With night shifts, weekends, holidays I would have HORRIBLE anxiety attacks, crying my eyes out hours before I left for my shift, and struggling to keep it together when I got to work. I just could not handle it. It is a cardio/tele floor and is very fast paced, and I guess the stress is too high for me (as I already have high anxiety). I went out on a whim and started applying for jobs after 6.5 months. October 7th will be my 7 month mark, and on October 31st I will start a new job in a GI center (9-5, M-F, no weekends, no nights, no holidays, occassioanlly on call). I really didn't think I had a chance at this job because I was under a year of experience, BUT I DID. So apply, give it a shot. You have to take your well-being into consideration when working. No one wants a nurse who is miserable on the job, and it truley is dangerous. That is what made me decide to start trying to get another job...I was so scared that my anxiety would cause me to make a mistake at work that would hurt someone, and thats not fair to my patients. I love my patients, and always gave them my best smile and 100% effort, but inside I was still crying...I still have to work a month on my current floor, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and its helping (so far). Don't feel like a failure...I did right away. So many people put me down saying "well going into school didn't you KNOW you would have to work nights/weekends/holdiays? what did you expect?" And of course I knew I would have to work them, but how was I supposed to predict how I would react!? You are a human before you are a nurse, so give it 100% as long as you can, but keep your eyes open and apply where you can, you never know what door will open!

Money does talk! Cannot deny it. Bring it up with your current employer, tell them you got offered a job that would pay $50/hr, and would like to stay and see if you can negotiate a pay raise...I personally do not have any experience negotiating, but I am sure there are people here who do have some! Ask around, might be worth it to keep a job you love and get a raise :)

Loyalty really is hard to promise when you are a new grad, I would know. I got hired before graduation on a floor that I KNEW was going to be MY DREAM FLOOR. It was cardac, and with the hospital building a new HEART HOSPITAL (which was my "dream") to open a year after I got hired, I knew I would get to work there and my dreams would all come true. Boy, was I wrong. After passing my boards and working as a nurse, I hated it. Not so much the floor itself, or the cardiology, but just the hours and the anxiety that was caused. So here I am, 7 months after starting as an RN on this floor, applying, interviewing, and accepting another job within the hosptial. I stayed loyal to the hospital, yes. But if I wouldn't have gotten a job offer here, and got an offer somewhere else, you can bet I would have accepted somewhere else. You will not know what you love until you experience the real job. Clinicals give you SOME experience, but its not good enough to know what you are really going to love! I have heard so many nurses say I thought I would love it, but ended up hating it, or vice versa!! Think of it this way, if you accept a job with a company, and after a few months a job opens up on peds within the same company, your chances of getting that job are a lot better! And, honestly, getting a job period is hard sometimes. So, my advice as a new grad is to just take what you can get right off the bat and get some experience. ANY experience is GOOD experience when you go to apply for your dream job! Just work hard, give whatever job you get 100% and eventually you will work your way up to your dream job :) PS - even though I got hired in a new department with new (amazing) hours, I still don't know if it will be my dream job! Sometimes you just gotta try a few different placed before you find the right one!! Kind of like searching for Mr.Right :) Best of luck to you!!

Hey all! Great news! I ended up getting a job with GI center, hours being 9-530 and did not have to take a pay cut at all, it was a lateral move! The interview went great, I went in Thursday morning and they called me Friday afternoon and offered me the position. I still have 5 weeks left on my current floor, but having light at the end of the tunnel sure is nice :) Thanks so much for all your encouraging words and ideas!!

Yes, I do work 3 12's right now and did think of that. I asked a friend who works in the GI lab in another hospital what the difference was between her and her fiance's wages (he works on the floor and 3 12's) and she said she made $.80 less per hour but they ended up with about the same pay check because of her 8 extra hours! So it does even out, and even if its a tiny bit lower I can handle it. I think I will take everyone's advice and not say anything until I recieve a job offer. Plus, because I am coming in at a higher salary, I think it will work to negotiate a little bit!! Thanks for all the great advice!

Actually I do have a portfolio I prepared in school, and could probably add to it! Thanks for the great advice, I completely forgot about that!!

No it doesn't. I have thought about asking other nurses, but I really haven't told many people that I am going to leave. There is another hospital in town, and I actually know someone who works on the floor and someone who works in a GI lab there, and obvoiusly because these are the only 2 big hospitals in town, they keep their wages very competitive. But I guess if they offer me the job, I will ask about wages then! Thanks for the advice, I forgot that I can turn the job down once offered!!

I currently work on a telemetry floor, and have found it to be too stressful for me and just landed an interview with the GI center at the same hospital. The hours are 0900-1730, M-F, no weekends no nights (which was one of my biggest issues with working on the floor!) I am so thankful to get this interview, but am already nervous! My biggest concern deals with asking about wages in the interview. The reason I ask is because I CANNOT take a pay cut. My husband and I are doing okay right now, but if I take a pay cut we might not have enough to make ends meet. So this is defenitely a big concern of mine, if there is much of a pay cut involved, I cannot take the job. But, I also don't want this to ruin my chances of getting the job! So, to ask or not to ask about wages, that is my question!

Yes, and I have to tell ya, as a new nurse it was horrifying. But seeing this thread actually makes me feel somewhat better, knowing how common it really is to get errors, and that I am not a bad nurse, just HUMAN!

That was pretty harsh, not at all what I got from your message! Keep going with nursing, sounds like you have a good heart, and that is #1 for nurses! You can have all the brains in the world, but unless you truley have a huge heart and love people, you will more than likely not make it in the nursing world. Again, I HATED THEORY! I only liked clinicals, and hated almost every stupid, pointless assignment I did. But, give it your all, and try to find interest in every assignment somewhere and concentrate on that :) You are going to be a great nurse! Don't let anyone tell you different!!!

Don't get too discouraged. By my last semester of school, I was kicking myself in the behind for choosing nursing. I hated school so much towards the end that I really believed I was going to hate nursing as well. Right after graduation, while I was preparing for my boards, I worked as a nurse aid and really saw how different the job was from school. I passed my boards and though the first few weeks of the job were spend being taught all the things I already learned in school, once I got on the job I loved it. I do hate coming to work, but who doesn't. That just comes with any job. But once I get here, mingle with my patients, and get busy, the days FLY by. I have had a harder time adjusting to the schedule of working every other weekend/holiday, but that too will just come with time. Don't give up. Nursing school sucks, big time. But know its nothing like the job. If you enjoy your clinicals, there is a good chance you are where you should be! Good luck to you

I am really struggling with my hospital job right now too, and as you said, many on my floor HATE it there. I have horrible anxiety attacks before I go to work, and I absolutely DREAD going. Its unfortunate, and I always give 100% to my patients because its defenitely not their fault I am miserable on the floor. I just am struggling making the OFFICAL decision to leave. I would take a pay cut of at least a few thousand dollars, and that would defenitely hurt. Did you have to take a pay cut? You should defenitely let me know how things go when you make the change, may influence me to make the big decision as well!!

I think I would stay involved in health care, but I would not WORK in health care. I would LOVE to take my RN license and work overseas or in areas of need and use my winnings to open clinics and help out that way, but like everyone else is saying...you never truely know what you would do until you are in that situation. Its nice to think about though!

Yes, I knew about shift work before I started. My problem is adjusting. I guess coming from nursing school/no weekends to full time work, every other weekend, every other holiday is just getting to me more than I thought it would and am looking for advice on how to work through it. I have thought about clinic jobs, but right now i can't afford to take the pay cut and even clinics want at least a year experience. I know I am in this for at least another 7-8 months at least, and am looking for advice on how to get through those months! As for the anxiety, I have already seen a doctor for it, but its hard to take medications because they make you cloudy and many I could not take at work. So again, just looking for ANY advice other nurses have in dealing with anxiety at work!

Thanks so much for the advice. I knew it would be hard, just didn't expect it to be this hard!!! I will look into the EAP, and as for my PCP, I already have talked and am taking medication for the GAD, but as many nurses know, medications used to treat extreme anxiety are not allowed while on the job. I just need to look for other ways to talk myself down!!

Yeah I knew I would be working weekends too, I just didn't realize how hard it would be adjusting to them! I can handle working them, just looking for some advice on how to better adjust!

:confused:I have been working on a very fast-paced med-surg floor at a fairly large hospital in the midwest since March. At first, I loved working. I was getting great assignments (being a new nurse) and was adjusting well. But now that the assignments are getting more difficult, and I am being trusted with more responsibility, I dread work. Its a horrible feeling, I really never wanted to be one of those people that hated going to work. There are two big issues I am dealing with that seem to be making going to work really hard for me. First off, almost every weekend before going to work (especially if it is 3 or 4 nights in a row) I have HORRIBLE anxiety attacks. For the first few hours of work, I feel a huge lump in my throat and struggle getting my assessments and medications done in a timely fashion because I have to step into a private room to calm my nerves so often. Its horrible. I am going back tonight after 2 weeks off for my wedding, and cannot stop crying. I know its anxiety, because it has happened so many times before. I talked to one of my unit coordinators, but she really didn't have any advice, and I don't want to talk to too many other people at work about it because I don't want people to know about the anxiety. I know one thing I am going to do is start signing up for weekend DAYS instead, because it seems to be coorelated to the night weekend shifts. But has anyone else ever delt with this kind of anxiety? Maybe its because I am new still, or maybe I just am not cut out for weekend nights, but either way I will have to work them sometimes, and would like ANY advice on how to deal with EXTREME anxiety at work!! Second, I am having a horrible time adjusting to working every other weekend. I just got married last week, and I just realized how much it will suck losing every other weekend with my husband in our "newlywed" stage. I know I have to push through this first year (already counting down to March) before I can make any really big changes in the actual JOB area, but what has everyone else done to adjust to losing all those weekends for the first year or two? And how do you make up the time you lose with the people you love?? If there is ANY advice you think might be helpful, I will be looking at it for the next 4 nights :) Thanks in advance! ABakRN