Rehab, new grad!

[RN-Ella]

Hello fellow nurses! So with the way the economy is and how difficult it is to get a job, I feel very fortunate to have found a full time job so soon after getting my license. I started my new job this week and it is in a rehab unit in a LTC facility, the majority of pts are all post ortho surgeries (knees, hips, ankles, etc). I get 17 to 20 pts. I feel overwhelmed, i finished my first day and i could only remember maybe 8 pts! I could tell that they were all stable and not in great danger as I would get their meds and treatments ready with the nurse I was working with, but as we were giving report I had a really difficult time rememebering what they pts looked like...

I guess what I am looking for are some tips and advice on what to do, should I give it more time or what? I came home last night freaked out, because well, I felt that I could handle a hospital job much better (I could remember my pts)...what should I do?????

[dibuh0]

wow.. that's a lot of patient loads.. i work in a hospital with a rehab unit.. sometimes i get float in rehab unit and we still get the same patient load as the other units with maximum of 6 patients..