aweldon001

Exactly! Rough preceptors/overwhelming days are getting insane! I'm the same way. I've had to go to the doctor over my anxiety and stress. I go through the same "self-pep talk," haha. I don't feel ready AT ALL. You're right though. You get to a point where you have to start trusting yourself. Taking it by the day...I really need to work on that and stop bringing my work home with me. I'm with you though. I know we can do this, we have to! We made it through nursing school, we can make it through this! Good thinking though. Thanks for this. :)

Well, I'm glad to know I'm not alone, Swellz. On my good days, I feel like I get in the groove and that I have it, but a bad/busy day can throw me off like crazy. I have also made a minor med error, even after clarifying with my preceptor (she was distracted on her phone). I got blamed. I definitely understand that feeling, it's terrifying. I think I will end up going to my manager about this. I know there's still a few things (picking up babies from deliveries, admits, etc) that I just don't know how to handle quite yet alone, and I know I still need help with. Thanks though for this advice/encouragement. Much needed! :)

Thanks so much Lev

Thank you so much, txerrn6942. Glad to know I'm normal and not a complete dunce. I hope it does get easier. Thanks again for the reassurance.

I know this subject has probably been run into the ground and has probably been discussed a thousand times, but please just let me be an annoying new nurse. I work on a medsurg/postpartum/nursery floor. I've been on orientation for about 9-10 weeks now and I am panicking. My preceptor has pretty much left me hanging the whole time. She gets easily annoyed/irritated with me. She plays on her phone all day while I take care of 6 patients (while drowning and getting behind). I KNOW that I'm supposed to be getting more independent and able to do this alone, but I'm overwhelmed and I feel like I constantly forget/miss things. I am having to learn how to care for and chart on medsurg patients (sometimes total care), postpartum moms, and babies. All three in different charting systems. I'm supposed to go to nights in a week and then I get five more days of orientation, and then I'm on my own. I'm not ready. The end. I know I will never feel 100% ready to do this, but I'm just NOT ready. I constantly feel like an idiot. I feel so dumb and inadequate 95% of the time, that it's ridiculous. I have blonde moments. Many of them. Sometimes I wonder if I'm cut out for this. I love the job, don't get me wrong. I love taking care of people. I just feel like I don't have the experience or knowledge to DO THIS. I've been told this is normal. I really want to know if it is. Will my supervisor be totally mad if I ask for two more weeks of orientation with a different nurse? I just feel like crap about being on my own. I still don't know how to handle admits or how to handle babies 100%. I just feel overwhelmed and honestly terrified. Do you guys have any solid advice/tough love for me? I just need to know what I can do to alleviate this. I come home crying sometimes from the stress of this. I just want to do a good job and actually know what I'm doing. Do you guys think I should ask for more time on orientation? Or just suck it up and do the best I can? This stress is INSANE. =/

Hey, thanks so much! I needed this little review/reminder. You helped a lot! Much appreciated! :)

Hey everyone! I'm in the need of a little help. I'm currently studying for NCLEX with my nose deep in my HURST review book and I'm a little confused about diuretics. I know that there's the loop diuretics, such as Lasix and Bumex, there's Hydrochlorothiazide, and then there's the potassium-sparing, such as Aldactone. My question is, which is the one that you worry about hyperkalemia? Does potassium-sparing mean that you retain or excessively excrete potassium? What is patient teaching specifically with each type of diuretic? I want to make sure I have this straight for NCLEX and some of the stuff I'm googling is going over my head. In-depth responses would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! -A stressed graduate nurse.

L&D is my dream as well! Though my instructors and everyone else say that there's no way I can know what I want to do with no job experience. Eh, w/e. I think you're definitely right though. There's no way I'm going to pass up a job/interview/etc. And transferring is always a possibility, I never thought of that! Thanks!! :)

This is EXACTLY how I feel about med surg! I hate, hate, HATE it. Why would I force myself to work in an area that I despise? That's what my instructors have said, it's basically "ground zero" for learning basic nursing skills, time management, etc. Haha, and yeah I've seen that mentality A LOT from other nurses!! They had to do it, so they think everyone else should have to suffer through it. Yikes. Thanks so much for this. Helps me out a lot!

Yeah, that does make sense. I'm a little worried about this learning curve, but hopefully I will be okay if I get the job. Thank you!

This was my train of thought as well, but when I have five different instructors beating into my head that I must have med surg experience before doing anything else, it gets a little discouraging! I'm definitely not going to pass up a job if they offer it to me, because like I said, jobs are slim pickings in my area. A lot of people are having to relocate, and I was trying to do the same. It's crazy! Oh, okay, well I can understand that, it makes sense. These comments are definitely making me feel better about my situation. Thank you so much for the info!

Thanks for your personal input, seriously. I've also been very interested in the OR. And I didn't think of medsurge as a specialty, so thanks for setting that straight! Very good to know. Thanks you so much!

Thank you so much for this. You definitely made me feel better! :)

Hey everyone, I hope I'm posting in the right area. I'm used to posting in the Student Nurse area, but I need experienced nurses input, I think. I just got my first interview, yay! I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I have one huge issue though that I need guidance on. I am a new grad and even though I applied for a medsurge job (like all my instructors told me would be most beneficial), I am getting interviewed for an OB/GYN job. Of course, I'm not going to turn down an interview after applying, but I'm curious to know. Will starting out in a specialty hurt my new nursing skills? I've been told by many people that I HAVE to do medsurge first (which is the floor I'm working on now for my 5th level preceptorship). Should I give up on the idea of going straight into L&D? Do I need a year of medsurge experience to be able to function as a good nurse? I really don't want to mess this up. Jobs in my area are slim pickings, so I don't even know if I could get a medsurge job if I tried (even though it's what I've been applying for). Any suggestions/tips/hints/ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Well, that's a relief for sure!! Haha. I actually struggled programming a pump a few weeks ago and I got so flustered and felt so dumb! After doing it a few times though, I did start to catch on and that felt immensely better! Seeing you say I don't have to know it ALL right NOW is a relief too. I don't know how you guys store all of that information in your head, but I hope I can get there one day too! I definitely feign confidence, though I don't know how good I am at it! I'll keep this tactic in mind when I'm interacting with my patients. I have also caught myself worrying about telling my patient something wrong, but telling them I will find out for them works best and like you said, it helps me learn it too! I really hate being put on the spot, it gives me the nervous sweats! BUT, if it's what I have to do in order to be that confident nurse, then I'll be ready for it. Getting familiar with things is the perfect explanation for what I've done in clinical. Oh wow, I'm glad to know that I'll be precepted at my first job too! Wow, that's great. I was thinking it was just 5th level and them BAM, bye, you're thrown out there to be a nurse. Phew! That's relieving! I hope I have that awesome unit culture as well. I hear it's hard to get integrated into a unit when you're new. I just hope that I can make it through. I am stressed about the new job craziness. I hear that "nurses eat their young." I'm hoping to avoid that experience. I will definitely try to do that. I'll give myself time to figure things out so that I can better understand what's going on. Stay calm. Good motto to live by when being a nurse, I'm sure. Oh wow! Hearing that has made me feel even better! I guess we won't always get the opportunity to do EVERYTHING, but I like what you said. When you do get that chance, ask for help and take it! I will for sure be doing that! :) I hope my preceptor doesn't do that. I guess I'll find out more on Thursday and Friday. I WILL do that though, I had to do the same in clinical with my instructors. If I didn't know, I would just tell them that I didn't know, but that I would find out and let THEM know. It always worked and impressed my instructors. Good strategy! Hopefully I don't have any problems, but if I do, I will definitely let my clinical instructors know! I'm glad to know that my personality will help. I've also been known to be a pushover though and my instructor tried to beat it into my head that some CNA's will eat me alive. Hopefully I can grow out of this. I just figure that if I'm there to help and be open to everyone, that everyone will like me. I guess I'll see how that works out for me.... I love learning, so I think this will work out for me. I hope to be an L&D nurse, so hopefully I can find a job in that after I graduate. I will look into taking continuing education courses before I find a job too because I hear it helps you get hired. I fear being alone as a new nurse, haha. That's an awesome story though. Perfect example of patient advocate, right? I love that. So I guess I'll never know EVERYTHING at any given time. There's always something new to learn. Awesome. Thanks for the offer for me to PM you. I may just take you up on that, especially after meeting my preceptor and seeing how it goes. I hope my preceptor is just like you! Thanks again for everything, SoldierNurse22!!!

You're right. I think I'm trying to shoulder it all and it's freaking me out. I want my preceptor to at least think I have a brain between my ears, lol. I will definitely be paying attention and be ready to learn like you mentioned. I also hope I can write everything down he/she tells me. Well, just a few weeks ago I had to push Protonix, so I had to reconstitute it with 10 mL of NS, and I didn't know if I was supposed to push air into the vial of NS before withdrawing and I struggled getting all of the mixed Protonix out of the vial when I was withdrawing it into my syringe. I just felt like an idiot. I've learned about all of these things in school but when I'm doing it with my hands I just get nervous and forget what I'm supposed to do. =/ I will definitely be going over reconstitution and pushing IVP meds before going to clinical though. Thank you.

I think after reading these past few comments, that I'm starting to realize that experience and practice are key to easing my stress. I will take your advice. Thank you so much, Stephanie.

Oh man, I feel like after reading your reply, I was literally able to breathe and relax these tense muscles in my neck! I wish you knew how much it means to me to read this. It it like a weight is being lifted off my shoulders. I do worry about not even knowing how to get through some of the simplest tasks, but I'm hoping my preceptor will be as understanding and kind as you. I seriously hope that my preceptor will keep what you said in mind. I want to learn and I want to be able to appear confident and intelligent, but I feel like I'm faking it most of the time. It's hard to think fast like you said, and being put on the spot is the worst! I will definitely take your advice and tell my preceptor exactly how I feel. I will be sure to touch base on all the things you mentioned. It definitely makes me feel better that experience is the key, because even though I've been in clinical, I've only got to do a few procedures at best. I feel like if I can get in there and do everything over and over that I will catch on and feel better. This makes me nervous to think my first year will be like this as well, but I'm going to try as hard as I can. I feel so much better after reading this. I felt like my preceptor was going to expect me to know every little thing about everything and I've been having mini-panic attacks over it! Learning is good, it's what I WANT out of this. I'm extremely positive and friendly, so I hope this will help. Wow...just thank you.....thank you so much, SoldierNurse22. I will look at my preceptorship as PART 1. I love that. I will do everything you said and take it to heart. Thank you so VERY much!!!!! :)

SilverOwl, as soon as I read the words, "psyching yourself out," I took it to heart. I've had an instructor tell me these exact words before!! You're right though. I need to focus on the positive and go with that. It's so much harder to say I'm going to do it than actually doing it, but I will try. That's how I feel all the time. I worry I will hurt a patient or do something wrong. I feel like there's a written policy/procedure for EVERYTHING, and I worry I won't follow one correctly. It's always a constant worry for me. I'm the same as you though! I'm great at IV's, so maybe I will focus on that when I start freaking out. Thank you for responding and building up my confidence a bit! It means a lot! :)

Hello there! My name is Ashlie, and on Monday, I start my 5th level preceptorship. I have a 3.6 cumulative GPA and even made a 4.0 this past semester (4th level - critical care/psych/management). Before I sound like I'm bragging too much, I have a scary confession. I struggle with common sense. I get so nervous that I feel like an idiot half the time. Sometimes, I can't even figure out how to use simple things out of pure fear/nervousness. I'm terrified of my preceptorship. I worry my preceptor will think I'm a bumbling idiot. I literally am sick over how scared and nervous I am. What if I don't know how to do something? I haven't had the chance to do a lot in clinical. I've only given two IM injections, I've never even done an NG tube or a foley. I'm terrible with IVP meds (mixing, diluting, etc). I feel like I get confused easily and that of course makes me even more nervous. How can I combat this? How can I give myself peace of mind before meeting my preceptor on Thursday? I'm going to review everything I'm unsure of and study, study, study it. I love nursing. I'm passionate about it. But....I feel like sometimes I'm not smart enough. If I can't figure out the simplest things and I get this nervous, how will I survive the real nursing world? I'm too far now to give up due to fear. I just want to be that smart competent nurse that I see working on the floor. I will say this. My instructors have always given me great reviews. The only thing I've ever been told that could be viewed as "negative," is that I need to work on my confidence in clinical. How can I do this? I feel like I'm so dumb sometimes. I want to be a nurse so bad, and a good one at that, but I'm feeling torn over this. What should I expect during my preceptorship? How can I work on my common sense? Is there anything I can do to combat these feelings? Obviously, I can't re-study everything I've ever learned in nursing school in the next few days, but I feel like I should. Nursing is pretty much scaring me to death right now!

jc2012, thank you for the reassurance. I sometimes feel like I'm so alone in how I feel and everyone always tells me that most of the time, others feel just as scared and worried as I feel. I agree with you though, I think there's a huge disconnect with the simple things because I think we literally for 5 minutes went over bed baths and how to change a bed properly with a patient in it. And that's the number one thing our instructor inspects us to do every day with our patients. Hopefully with more practice, I will feel better. I will start asking for help/advice more often.

Thank you so much for your kind words. You made me feel so much better and I really feel like reassurance is exactly what I needed. You're right about the practice for sure. I feel like the more I practice, the more confident I feel. I still worry because I hear from a lot of the nurses on the unit we do clinical at, that you never get enough practice in nursing school but hopefully I will feel better by the end. Thank you so much for your help. :)

Hi, my name is Ashlie and I'm an RN BSN student. I'm in my second semester of clinical. I just joined this website because I always read advice and articles on here so I figured why not join? So I'm sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place, I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate the site. Anyway, to the main point. I'm a second level nursing student doing clinical twice a week on a med-surge floor. Ever since the beginning we've had run-ins with the staff talking bad about us and treating us terrible. I try not to let it bother me and I try to be polite as possible considering we're guests in their environment. Well I guess I'm letting little things get to me too much. I never got to give a bed bath in first level, I never got to do a lot of that simple stuff. Well today, a classmate and I did one together and I felt better about it. Well the nurse came in because we were having trouble changing the bedsheets with the patient in the bed (he was very heavy and had a broken leg so it was hard for him to turn). Well, the LPN on the staff (who is very rude to me on a regular basis) asked me to go get another sheet out of the linen room, so I did. Well, I accidently got the wrong sheet and she starts rolling her eyes and sighing in front of everyone and gripes at me for getting the wrong sheet, it was an honest mistake. Stuff like that makes me feel like an idiot! I already felt like an idiot for not knowing how to give a bed bath, so when she did that I just felt like a total moron. I wish I wasn't so caught up on the simple stuff. We're doing IV's, NG tubes and all kind of other stuff this semester and sometimes I feel silly being caught up on something as simple as a bed bath, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything right and by the book. I also have problems figuring out the simplest things that I feel like I should already know. I didn't know how to work a one touch (I've never done one before), and even though it ended up being really simple, I manage to make it harder than it has to be. It just makes me feel like I'm not smart enough to do this. Am I the only person to have ever gone through feelings like this? I just want to feel confident and competent...