HppyRN

Taking an elderly dementia patient to the bathroom, he sits on the toilet looks at me with genuine sincerity and seriousness and says "Well? I guess you're wondering why we're all gathered here today? I don't have all day. Let's get this interview started!" ?

Thank you! Attempting to take it one day at a time and to keep as positive as possible. Will have to work on not letting it make me crazy. It can definitely feel like a completely overwhelming and impossible job at times. Looking forward to getting to know more of the users on here so we can support and encourage each other through all of the good and bad experience!

Hi everyone :) I just need to vent a little bit and am hoping to gain some perspective/encouragement from fellow RNs that may understand how I am feeling. Here goes: I am a new grad RN that just graduated in December and I started my first job as an RN in March of this year. I was very excited to have obtained a position at the hospital that I was hoping to be hired as well as on the unit that I was hoping for. I feel fortunate to have found something fairly quickly after having passed the NCLEX, especially considering that some of my fellow classmates are still looking for jobs. That being said, as fortunate as I feel, I have to say that I have never been so stressed out and depressed. I feel like I am drowning when I am at work and everyday I go home feeling discouraged and frustrated that I wasn't able to do more for my patients. I am only one person and I can only do so much in the amount of time that I am there. I truly am doing the best that I can but there is still so much I don't know and I still have a thousand questions that I ask throughout the day. I hate feeling like it's not good enough. I know that nursing wont necessarily get any "easier" with experience because, to some extent, it's just a challenging career. However, I don't want to feel depressed that I am not cutting it all the time either... I am a compassionate, hardworking person so I thought that nursing would be a really good fit for me but I'm honestly not so sure anymore. I can't tell you the number of times I have come home in tears. I feel sick before I have to go to work to the point of not being able to eat and sometimes throwing up. If I have a day off and will have to work the next day, I spend my whole day off stressed out and worrying about work. I know that everyone I have talked to has stated that the first year of nursing is extremely challenging but I'm just feel completely overwhelmed and discouraged. Most shifts I end up working 14 hours with maybe a 15 minute break (if I'm lucky). Then on my days off I spend copious amounts of time stressing about work. Mentally I can't relax. Is it even possible to feel burnt out already? That sounds so ridiculous but I am having an extremely hard time coping with all of the stress. I am feeling discouraged and depressed. Is anyone else feeling this way? Any advise on surviving being a new RN or any helpful tips on dealing with stress would be very appreciated.