Scared To Be A Nurse

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 22, 2017

Hi everyone-
I am a new nurse and I am not sure if this is a normal way to feel and if it'll ever end... But, I'm scared to be a nurse. I am scared of making a mistake or not catching something before something terrible happens. I am scared of forgetting to chart something and then getting deposed/sued later because of it. I'm scared of violating our ever changing hospital policies (I just started and I don't know how I am supposed to know every single policy). I am scared of violating HIPPA by mistake. I do talk to my other nurse friends and significant other about my work life, but I never use identifying factors. Is that okay? Should I just flat out never talk about work unless I'm at work? I feel like I need to tell people about my day or about certain situations (using no identifying factors and trying to keep it as vague as possible). Is that normal? Is it wrong?
I could really use some advice how to stop feeling so anxious about all of this. Do you feel this way ever? Is it normal to talk to your loved ones about patients (without violating HIPPA)?
Thanks everyone.

When you're new, you're scared. That's pretty normal. The fear of making a mistake is what keeps you from making mistakes . . . I'd be really worried about a new nurse who wasn't scared. You don't want to stop feeling anxious, but maybe less anxious would be a better thing.

Everyone makes mistakes; absolutely everyone. Patients seem to survive most mistakes -- what matters the most is what you do after you've made a mistake. That's what separates the good nurses from the bad ones. Recognize the mistake, admit it, tell everyone who needs to know and immediately set about mitigating the harm or potential harm to the patient. Tell your manager before anyone else does, and make sure she knows that you recognize how serious an error it was (and when you're talking to your manager, they are ALL serious errors -- no such thing as a "small error" when talking to management!), have thought about what contributed to your making the error and have considered how to prevent it from ever happening again. Make sure that you take full responsibility for your error. I suspect you know all of this already, but it never hurts to reiterate for others reading the thread.

No one expects you to memorize every single hospital policy. We do expect that you'll know the ones most pertinent to your day-to-day practice and that you'll know where to find the rest. Sometime when you have a moment, page through the titles of your policies -- who knew there would be a policy for what to do if you lose or damage someone's dentures? For how long a body can stay on your unit before it must be removed? For which nursing units can give Dilantin IV push? For 101 other odd things you've never thought about? If you at least glance through the titles, you'll know that there IS a policy for that when you run across the situation and you'll be the one in the know when you produce the policy because you know where to look them up.

You can talk to your nurse friends as long as you don't use any identifiers. Your colleagues are excellent people to talk to about work situations. You can learn a lot just by running through the situation with a more experienced colleague and discussing things you could have done differently, what you did right and what she's found helpful in similar situations in the past. And you don't need to worry about HIPAA. As far as your SO -- to be perfectly honest, I've always discussed work situations with my husband WITH patient identifiers. But then, my SO is also a nurse and works with the same patients. So he's also a colleague. I would be mindful of HIPAA when talking to an SO -- but if your SO isn't in the medical field, there's no point in discussing specifics. It's probably more useful to discuss your feelings. "I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew where to find out what I needed to know, and I feel pretty good about that," or "I felt so bad for that family because they're going through such a difficult time right now and it's Thanksgiving!" Your SO doesn't need to know the specifics to be a sounding board or to empathize.

The first year of nursing is awful, but just keep on going and you'll get through it. Somewhere around the first year mark, you'll realize that you aren't as anxious and that you feel like you've got a handle on most things and no where to look up or who to ask about the rest. In the meantime, a certain level of anxiety keeps you safe. If you think you're feeling more anxiety than is normal, it may help to speak to a counselor. Journalling helps -- just sit and write for 20 minutes. Even if you don't know what to write, just write "I don't know what to write" for 20 minutes or until inspiration strikes. Exercise helps. Just practice good self-care. And reading through the various threads on AN helps, too.

I hope this helps.

RN2k17 · Nov 23, 2017

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and reply to my post! It helps knowing other people have gone through similar stuff. Thanks again & Happy Thanksgiving!