Ready to quit. Advice please!

I remember when I first started nursing I rushed around trying to get everything done, it was overwhelming going from 2 patients in nursong school to 6 or seven as a patient assignment. It took me a while to learn to slow down ,concentrate on the task at hand, do not allow yourself to be distrated. Don't give up, there are many opportunities in Nursing if medical nursing dosen't appeal to you try another area.

Can you give us some examples of the mistakes you are making?

Take my word for it, it takes longer than 2 years to feel comfortable at this job. Is it the same mistakes and or you learning from each one. Is there someone with senior experience at work you can confide like your former preceptor to figure what the heck is the problem. We would like to help but we need a couple specifics why you feel this way.

Just a thought- but if you're having some anxiety, guilt, difficulty concentrating, feeling overwhelmed, negative feelings about yourself- maybe you're having some depression? Especially if this is a change for you or you think it's getting worse and harder to cope. Perhaps you should see your doctor?

I'm so sorry you're feeling this way, you sound miserable. I know you're not the only nurse who has felt this way.

I would first go to your doctor, and then consider counseling.

Take care.

Have you shared your feelings w/ co-workers? how was your last evaluation?

Even though I am not a nurse yet, I expect my first several years to feel exactly the same way you do. Just for the fact that you are caring about all of this means that you are in the right profession and seriously care about the level of patient care you are giving.

~ Slow down, concentrate on the task at hand. (great advice given earlier)

~ Smile, things could be a lot worse.

~ Prioritize your tasks... that bathroom break might be important but should it be the top of the list?

~ Ask for some help if you can. (great advice given earlier)

There are some things you cannot change and therefor you should not worry.

Sounds like you need a . Always keep in mind that there are SOOO many different jobs out there that you could do as an RN.

~Steve

I would first like to know if Chris feels unsupported and if her coworkers and management are unapproachable OR if she is just having self doubt regarding what she perceives as stupid mistakes, and is just being hard on herself,( before making the analysis/assumption that she is being bullied)...Chris??,, thoughts,comments??

Bullying does exist, but ascribing every self-doubt or insecurity that a nurse might feel to 'bullying' is an over-simplification, in my opinion.

Wow. I didn't get that whole rant at all. Speaking of anger management....

Some people need to leave their own issues out of other people's issues.

I can see how a diagnosis of depresson could fit your problem, but I would like to explore other scernarios first. Could it be that you are in the wrong aspect of nursing? I went to an L&D unit and thought I would love it, I adored it in school, made some of my highest grades in it, loved it. I've been on the unit for a year now, and I'm ready to leave it. It's just not what I thought it would be. Also, everyone makes mistakes. EVERYONE. We may not all admit it, but we are human. I think perhaps the severity of the mistakes you say you are making must be taken into consideration. Have you given a percocet when it should have been a lortab or did you overdose someone on potassium? It's obvious that you care about your pt. safety, otherwise you woudn't be so worried.

Chris: you dont need a 'doctor' and you are not nuts! You are a victim of bullying which has become an increasing issue in the workplace, not in nursing professional alone. Make an appointment with the hospitals DON, or Director of HR. I have been in the profession LOTS longer than you

& recently experienced a hostile working environment upon hire in a new town. So, new town or new nurse, NO PERSON should have to be made feel to doubt self. DON"T GIVE POWER TO AN ABUSER, OR TO ANY PERSON for any reason! Be strong in your knowledge and your confidence with grow! This is how the nursing profession USED to be, CONTROL FREAKS THAT WOULD EAT THEIR OWN! Join in the forces to become a HEALTHY,POSITIVE, WISE ROLE MODEL OF A TRUE PROFESSIONAL NURSE... and remember WHY you were called to be a nurse in the first place: to the love for all HEALING ARTS! Optimistic as it may seem,

it IS possible if more PROFESSIONAL NURSES would speak up and STAND UP to 'THEY' with POWER, there wouldn't be the nursing shortage that we are currently experiencing! Personally, I would rather stay home than risk the liability of someone elses ANGER managment!

I've been a nurse for 2 years now and my second year has been much worse than the first. I find myself not wanting to go to work because I know I'm going to make some stupid mistake. I feel like I have been making a lot of mistakes recently and I go home feeling guilty after many of my shifts. It makes me wonder if my first year I was too stupid to see all the mistakes I was making or if there's something wrong with me? I'm ready to quit nursing and do something else before I really screw up something major and hurt someone. I thought I would start feeling more comfortable and more like a nurse at this point in my career. I actually feel worse because anytime I do something stupid I think I should know better. Has anyone else had feelings similar to this after atleast 2 year in nursing? Will I ever be a real nurse? I hate feeling the anxiety and guilt and like I am incompetent.

christmas... you should find a experinced nurse whom you trust and tell her/him how your feeling. You would be surprised at how many people have felt the same new-nurse pangs such as yourself. You must remember that you are not perfect... everybody makes mistakes, even seasoned nurses do. As far as not knowing whether being a nurse is for you or not YOU must answer that question for yourself; only you know where your heart is. I know that this sounds corney, but if you love pt care , and if you believe in god, then know that this is a trial of sorts and that the good lord will not put more on you than you can bare! None of us know everything, but i do know this... you went through countless hours of study, sweated over papers and paperwork, and spent money to take your state boards, do you really want to end it now?

Good luck to you with what ever you decide to do.

Two years is a long time to feel like you do-if you know it to be the floor you are on speak with your DON or mentor program about tranfering, or maybe if you can afford to switch to prn, get relief from the stress, the nursing environment is tough sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader-I know I'm not person who has to constantly hear praise but to never hear that you are doing somthing right can chip away at your self esteem-unil I did floor nursing I didn't experience this. Not even in US Army boot camp-they tear you down to create cohesiveness not to cause to self doubt or out of meanness.

Two things.

I am not a nurse yet

Mmmm hmmmmm.

that bathroom break might be important but should it be the top of the list?

Yes they are important. In fact I think nurses should do what they can to make their bathroom breaks more important and stand their ground about it. Nurses already do too much for others and not enough for themselves.

I understand your anxiety around making mistakes. It doesn't help that when you are trying to concentrate, there are family members gathered around you whining about stuff like getting Mom extra Ranch dressing for her salad, when you are trying to focus on her medical care.

It fries my behind that it's the hotel experience stuff that patients and families complain about and take up most of your time with.