MWmomRN

Wow. I feel like your post couldn't have come at a better time for me. Responding bc I am in a VERY similar situation. I am about to come off orientation and I am seriously about to throw in the towel. And in an attempt to find some answers, I just happened to log on to all nurses and search "new grad" and came across your post. I too graduated in May 2014, finished BSN in Dec 2015 and just started my first job. I am about to be off of a month long orientation and questioning why I ever did this. I work in a hospital. My preceptor says I am ready but I don't believe her. She says that when I'm on my own I should ask for help when I need it, but it doesn't help that the unit culture does not support that. I say that because I often hear nurses complaining about other nurses on the unit. My main concern is that there are SO many skills and scenarios that just haven't been covered thoroughly in nursing school or in my orientation, which has felt very chaotic and unstructured. I don't always understand when I should call the doctor, I don't understand what protocols I am allowed to order in Epic that are within my scope as a nurse. I witnessed a few emergent situations during my orientation and I don't know how I will ever manage and think fast enough during those. I'm having trouble thinking on my feet about the pathophys in my specialty. And it doesnt help that I feel I'm in a very power-hungry type of nursing culture. I had a long talk with my partner tonight because this is taking a huge toll on my mental health which is affecting our family. I just don't think the bedside is right for me. I don't know what to do. I am terrified.

I too am a new grad, I just started in PP. all I have to say is that experience in med surge will be a huge asset. It would have benefited me greatly. I wish I could have gotten my feet wet in m/s first, but I could not turn this opportunity down. I find myself fumbling esp with fresh C sections, so just know even a short amount of experience in m/s will serve you well!! I am also signed up for a CLEC course. Many of our patients need a lot of support with breastfeeding. You will do a lot of patient education. If your hospital gives out patient education materials to new parents, I suggest studying those. Best of luck!

Hi all! I'm a new grad who was recently offered a position on the in-patient rehab unit in a large, nationally ranked, urban, acute care hospital. I'm very excited! I was reading through some of the new grad threads in the rehab forum here, which I'm so glad to have found - lots of great info. One question I have is, where do rehab nurses typically go after a few years of experience in this type of setting? I am curious what kind of opportunities are out there for rehab nurses with some experience under their belt! Thanks --

Whoops! I see it now!

Athlete2bNurseBSN, Any chance you'd be willing to share the one liner with us? I'm a new grad and I have an L&D interview next week -- oh so very nervous!

I haven't had time to read through every post on this thread, but I just want to say, please don't quit due to this. Most, if not all, nurses have made mistakes. Also remember, a "good" facility will not finger point at you. They will perform a root cause analysis, to find out what systems in place could have prevented this from happening, and implement safety protocols to prevent it from happening to another nurse and patient. After all, we nurses are human and humans make mistakes! Your error can very well prevent a more serious one from happening and improve/implement better safety protocols. I know it's hard right now but hang in there!! You worked hard to get where you are now, - don't let this one event take that away from you.