nurseGi

My regular visits usually run 30-45 mins along. Sometimes if its just a diabetic or cardiac supervision maybe 25 mins. if its a tough case like IV or wound vac...will be an hour or more.

I am a new grad RN (graduated in may) and landed my first job on a med-surg unit in december and have been with a preceptor until today, was up to 6 pts with a preceptor. I got on the floor today, my first day off orientation where I would be by myself. I saw that i had 7 patients and learned during report that they were all complete care, had wounds, all on accuchecks, and all quite sick! I did not sit down for 1 moment today at all. I also discharged one of them in the middle of the day. (which is alot of paperwork) I felt so overwhelmed and i didnt get all the things I wanted to get done. There is a charge nurse that only has 3 pts so she was able to help me when I needed it. Idk why I feel this way.. but Im not proud of myself.. i feel like I could've done more. I believe that all the paperwork and documentation really takes away from patient care. Also--my time management sucks! But I hear that comes in time. I tried my hardest and every patient did survive. Please tell me this gets easier, I want to be a better nurse for my patients.

I am a new grad working on a busy med-surg floor. I often find that i am forgetting what I have learned back in school..(patho) i feel like it might be that I am so overwhelmed at work? Has anyone had this problem? Do you pick it up again once you work a while? Any advice on a good way to review?

Wow thank you so much for this. I am a new grad and a new orientee on a busy med-surg floor. I cry everyday before work and everyday after. I work 3 hours sometimes past 730pm (our end time) and wake up at 545am to do it all again. This is very encouraging.

Thank you all so much for your insight. They assigned me to a new preceptor, who is better then the other. I was put back on 12s (started yesterday), and the new preceptor taught me things the other preceptor never mentioned.. that I should have known by now. They tell me that I have a month left on orientation.. and this is gonna be like a crash course for me. Yesterday was hectic.. and I am never been so anxious in my life. This preceptor pulled me to the side after the day was over and told me what i needed to work on and told me she could tell something was wrong, she asked if i was happy here, and of course i started tearing up again and crying...cause i am NOT happy at all. Of course I didn't tell her that, i just said I am just overwhelmed and stressed. I also told her that i feel like i didn't get the proper education in the beginning of my orientation and now it is reflecting and I don't have much time left to prove myself. She told me its a normal thing to be going through and a lot of other nurses on the floor have been through the same. She told me she had been a nurse for 20 years in a nursing home and came to the unit and also felt overwhelmed and as a new grad it is going to be even tougher. She told me i could do this, i just have to come to work everyday and feel confident (so hard with all that has happened) and really try to know my patients in terms of there illness and history. I feel like an idoit crying infront of her, but I am a sensitive person and I have never been through something like this before. I come from a very supportive family, and its what I am used to. I have today and tomorrow off, and I have to come up with a list of my strengths and weaknesses to present to my manager and preceptor. I really need to take on a different attitude when I go there, i think I am living in fear and its reflecting on my performance, and also the comments I receive from my manager are a big let down.. but I just gonna try as hard as i can and what ever happens.... happens, atleast I can say I tried.

HERE IS MY STORY: I graduated in May with my BSN from a university, i was a good student..graduated with honors. I took the NCLEX in the summer and got my first job in a large hospital in december. I am working on a geriatric med-surg floor. When I found out I got the job i was so excited and happy, just where I wanted to start out to gain good experience. The first month (december) was fine, I had 3 weeks of in classroom learning and started on the floor with a preceptor the 4th week. I started with 1 patient and moved up from there (im now up to 5), Nurses on my floor can get up to 8 patients. I noticed my preceptor was very care-free and usually busy with her patients to even teach me things. When january rolled around I had a meeting with my preceptor, manager, and my educator. My preceptor told them that I wasnt progressing as well as I should and also told them (infront of me) that she had high expectations from me cause i graduated from a good school and didnt think she would have to teach me even simple things. I went on to say that nursing school now is more on book theory, going to clinical once a week is not going to give us the experience we need to start on a busy med-surg floor and know what we are doing and feel comfortable. I also told them that i felt that i wasnt being taught well cause of how busy my preceptor was. My manager moved me to 8 hour shifts from 12hrs so i would be there 5 days a week instead of only 3 and experience more. I was devestated after this meeting, i felt incompetent and that I wasnt doing well. The 8 hour shifts were HELL..1) because they dont pay for our lunch so really we have to stay 8 1/2 hours and 2) by the time im done with all my documentation on my patients it is 10 hours a day 5 days a week. My manager told me to show motivation so she could see if there was "hope" or not. Can anyone agree with me that this would me emotionally and confidence draining on a NEW GRAD? I feel like my preceptor was watching every move i was making now. I would have her write down my progress after each shift, I would read it and it would be all negative things. Not one time have i been told good job or that I have improved on something, when I knew truly that I have been learning a lot and progressing. I've been depressed for weeks (i never suffered from depression before). I had a meeting with my manager yesterday and she said I will be starting 12 hours shifts this week and that she is going to extend my orientation by 2 weeks (now i have a month longer) cause I am still not ready to be on my own. My manager told me that I interviewed unbelievably well and she knew it was going to be difficult to train a new grad but basically not this hard. She also proceeded to tell me that she was going to get rid of me a week or 2 ago but decided that there "might" be hope. I then broke down in her office and cried. She told me crying was normal and that other new comers have cried before cause it is a stressful place to work. They had new grads struggle in the beginning and end up OK. She told me she needs more motivation from me (10 hours/per day not enough)? I also stayed after clocking out one time to work on my IV skills, she mentioned that they cant keep giving to me and that it is a 2 way street. I don't know how much i've got left to give, I cry every day on the way home and everyday before going in. I love nursing, my patients love me..I truly think nursing is for me, maybe I am just in the wrong place? I feel like the pressure is on and that they are watching me closely, Im scared that I am going to get fired soon. Getting fired within 3 months of getting hired would probably make getting hired anywhere else 100x more difficult. I dont wanna sit home for a year and look for another job (i have student loans to pay!!) and also go through telling my friends and family that I have failed at my first job. I want to share with everyone what my experience has been like so far and I want to hear if some of you feel the same way or have gone through the same situation, i hope none of you are cause this really sucks.

Hey, I also did the Q bank and Q-trainers for kaplan during the summer. I would also score within the 50s-60 range and passed my NCLEX on the first try. Kaplan questions are harder then actual NCLEX. Just make sure you re read the ones you got wrong so you learn. Make sure to complete the whole qbank and q trainers! Good luck, you are going to rock it!

Thank you everyone for your advice. I do have those checklists, and I am also going to have my preceptor leave comments on how I am doing each day so I will know where I stand because this came out of NOWHERE for me and it is why I was SO upset. I am going to try to be more pro-active and open to learning everything that comes my way. I hope and pray I make it through this.

I want to share my experience. I am a new grad that got hired at one of new jersey's top hospitals (very busy hospital). I am currently on my 7th week of orientation, first 3 weeks being in a classroom, so I've really had 4 weeks of clinical orientation. I graduated this past May and have my BSN. I feel like nursing school just teaches you the basics, they dont teach you all you have to know for the real world. I feel like i have learned a TON in the past 4 weeks being on the floor. I am still getting used to things, and it is VERY overwhelming at times. This floor is BUSY, if someone is getting d/c there is someone coming down the hall to be admitted. I am on my feet for 12.5 hours. I have a preceptor, but it seems to me like she is too busy to help me at times. I feel like an idiot half the time i am there, i know people say the first 6 months of a new job as a nurse is terrifying, they were not lying. I got called in for a meeting the other day with my manager and my educator (every orientee has a manager of the floor, preceptor, and an educator), they told me that I am not where I should be at this point of orientation.. as i heard this, i was devastated.. ashamed. I havent made any mistakes, I always ask my preceptor when I am not sure of something. When I confronted my preceptor about this she just told me that she didn't realize it was already my 7th week and she wasn't trying to rush through things with me but she has to now because of administration only allows 12 weeks of orientation. Is this my fault? They told me they are going to put me back on 8 hour shifts and keep me at only 4 patients because they found that this has helped other orientees in the same position as i am. I left the other day in tears, and cried for hours after i got home. I am known to be very hard on myself at times. I just feel so helpless, I am straight out of school, i feel like I need to be taught things but its just so hard when my preceptor is so busy. I feel like i am going to be let go when it comes to the 12th week point and its going to be hard to tell my family and my friends why they let me go. Im devastated and its all I think about. Has anyone been through this or felt the same as me during their orientation?

It feels great! I'm just so glad I dont have to do that again!haha

Hey Paco-RN. Thanks for the advice, made me feel better!!

NurseBro-- try to keep calm. Anxiety is what got me. I studied so hard and I definitely knew my stuff! It took me forever to actually comprehend the questions.. but i kept positive which led to my success. Good luck to you! Keep me posted! -Gi

THANKS!!!! and good luck to you!!! Work hard and it will pay off !

Okay, so I took my NCLEX in August and I want to share my experience. I graduated school in May and took a good month and a half off to just RELAX. I then took a 2 week Kaplan class, I had a great professor and I think it definately helped me. After the 2 weeks, i spent the next month studying everyday. I did 150 questions per day along with kaplan tests. I studied questions and how to answer rather then content review. My test was scheduled for 8am. I chose the earliest time because I know i would be filled with anxiety all day until my test, i just wanted to wake up and go get it over with. So I started my NCLEX and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest with each question, I didnt know my anxiety would be this bad. I just kept thinking of how much studying and time i put into this one test. Let me tell you, I was there till question 210 and RAN OUT OF TIME! 6 hours. I was so anxiety ridden that it took me 5 minutes to read each question to fully comprehend what it was asking. People from the 12 and 2pm tests were already there. I was freaking out. I knew i was going to run out of time without getting to question 265. I took a minute and I thought to myself.. "I can do this, there is still a chance I can pass.. the test hasent shut off yet" I knew that my test would be deteremined on my last 60 questions due to running out of time. So i took a deep breath and tried my best. I seriously ran out of that test center in tears, thinking that I might have to do that again. I got home and laid in my bed (with starbucks of course), i was mentally drained. My mother and boyfriend kept telling me to do the PVT trick.. but I didnt want to know... I was scared. I finally agreed and did it.. and i got the good pop up and 2 days later it was official that i passed. I was so glad I did not give up that day because i knew i was going to run out of time, instead i kept positive and kept going and answering my best. My advice to anyone would be to just ..calm down.. my anxiety really got me that day. Just breathe and do the best you can do and if you come to the point where you might run out of time. Take a deep breathe and keep going>>>> Best of luck to everyone that is taking their test soon!

Congrats!!! The PVT is true. I took mine in August and got the good pop up and passed, a friend of mine took it around the same time and got the bad pop up (credit card screen) and she indeed didn't pass. Crazy the amount of studying/stress for one test but SO worth the results :)