RNsophia

It gets better. Soon you'll be more confident and things will become second nature. Until then (based on the info you shared on your post), I have some advice. First, after you get report (whether at the bedside or at the station), quickly round on all your patients. This especially includes toileting, bed alarms, and pain. Once you get that out of the way and when you do start your assessments, you can take the extra time to chart in real time in the room with the patients right after you do their head to toe. You don't have to chart everything in the room, but if you quickly chart your head to toe, that gives you more time to pass your meds and then chart the extra risk assessments, etc out at the nurses' station. Also, don't be afraid to delegate so that you can do your charting. And finally if something happens during change of shift and you have to call the doctor to put the orders in, that's all you need to do. Don't feel guilty or feel like you need to stay to carry out the orders because nursing is a 24/7 job. Just call the doc, put the orders in, and tell the nurse taking over what the orders were. You don't have to do things this way, but over the years, this is what has helped my preceptees. You got this!

For the past year and a half, I've been working at hospital 1.5 hours away (up to 3 hours with traffic). And that's only one-way. Round trip could be about 4 hours on top of my 12 hour night shift. I couldn't do it anymore so I just accepted a position at a smaller hospital about 20 min away from home. My health really depended on it. I've almost been in car accidents because I was dozing off on the way home and my brain honestly wasn't functioning as sharp, I think, because of sleep deprivation. I wouldn't recommend it.

Yes, you will! After I graduated 2 years ago, like many new grads I couldn't find a hospital position. I got a job on the acute rehab side of a SNF and worked there for 9 mos. It gave me an amazing experience building my skills and particularly time management d/t the pt load. Then I landed a position on an inpatient rehab unit at a hospital (after working at a rehab SNF, this position was easily manageable). Now after a year working here for a year, I'm starting on a medical telemetry unit at the end of the month. Keep your mind open to opportunities. Even though this wasn't what you expected after graduating, I'm now a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. You might even be a better nurse because of it. Best of luck!

Administer only the meds that you prepare. I used to work in a SNF and we had little labeled cups, but we prepped those cups ourselves and signed with our OWN signature in the MARS for each med--not to mention the narcs! Protect your license. You worked darn hard for it.

There might not be a pay difference between ADN's and BSN's, but I am thankful every day that I chose to get get my BSN. Nearly EVERY hospital in my state (Oregon) requires at least a BSN, and those with ADN's that are already employed by hospitals are grandfathered in. Plus, already employed ADN's can't move up to ANM (assistant nurse manager) positions or any nursing-related, salaried position without agreeing to obtain their BSN within 2 years at my hospital. MAGNET hospitals require BSN's as a benchmark. Believe me, you made the right decision. Don't be discouraged. If I had an ADN, I could NOT be a new grad seeking hospital employment in my state since most of them are MAGNET or seeking to obtain their MAGNET designation.