Severe Anxiety

[Serotonin2]

Hello, I have been a nurse for a year now but am still struggling with so much anxiety. I'm sick to my stomach before entering work and stay awake at night after my shift worried that perhaps I missed something or made an error. I find my OCD kicking in during my shifts causing me to check and recheck and recheck something I already double-checked. I'm starting to wonder why I ever became a nurse. I'm especially stressed when multiple important things all need to happen at once. I do my best to prioritize. I was placed on an improvement plan due to getting out late and some errors I made shortly after orientation. I have since successfully passed the PIP, but feel an ever increasing dread of going to work and making another error. I find myself asking for reassurance because I doubt my own judgement. This makes me either look paranoid or like an idiot. I struggle with anxiety when communicating with the physician (specifically neurosurgery) when orders appear to be either not placed or inappropriate for the pt. I'm pretty sure neurosurgery dreads hearing from me LOL. This anxiety is impairing my ability to be at my best at work and outside of work. Help!

[JKL33]

You must seek professional help. Seek a consultation where a thorough assessment can be obtained. There are a million and one other little pieces of advice about nursing itself or managing in the workplace that members could give you, but (IMHO) you will struggle to implement them without addressing the underlying issue.

It will be okay. Gotta take care of yourself and you deserve to seek the care for yourself that you would want for others. ??

[Serotonin2]

@JKL33 I am seeing a counselor and started on an SSRI a few months ago. Perhaps I need to see a psychiatrist or psychologist instead.