still overwhelmed

[sunneeRN]

Hi, I am new to the board but have been a nurse for a year and a half. i work as an RN for inpatient gyne onc. Looking for some answers to the questions that always burn in my mind!

the first is this...why after a year and a half do i still have major anxiety going into work? i still don't feel completely comfortable at my job and once i get there, the first few hours are crazy...i work the night shift and i feel very overwhelmed for a couple of hours. i am running around while everyone else is calm...and i even have good time management! Is it because i care too much? I feel like I need to see my patients all within the first hour. is that even possible?

the second is this...i want to help my patients, i want them to be comfortable, i want to give them the best care possible. but i am too hard on myself and i put too much pressure on myself. are my feelings normal? i mean this far into the game, were all of you still feeling this way? seems like the people that i work with are very laid back. will i ever feel that way? or will i always be so high strung?

finally, this one is simple and probably been asked on here a thousand times. what is the typical nurse to patient ratio on nights for oncology patients?

thank you all for your time. its nice to have nursing professionals to lean on. i have no nurses in my family that can talk with me about all of my fears. have a great day!

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

Here, here! I sometimes feel like I'm running my butt off to do things that a year ago I didn't even know I needed to do. I'm not making myself sick with anxiety, so much, but I'm still nervous on my way to work. I try to remind myself that it's usually better, once I'm there, but there are still those moments when I want to lock myself in the med room and let the grown-ups handle it.

I'm also getting the impression that I've been getting tougher assignments than I used to. I like to believe that means my CNs are getting more confident about me. I guess that's good. Sort of. But I do relish the nights when there are no surprises, everything goes smooth, and I finish on time.

Next time I feel like I need some new challenges in my life, I'm going to try to pick some easy ones.

[oldiebutgoodie, RN]

Next time I feel like I need some new challenges in my life, I'm going to try to pick some easy ones.

Hee hee. Me too! I went to nursing school at age 50 because my other well paying (but unstable) jobs were not fulfilling enough. Now I dream about my unfulfilling jobs!

Now I am just nervous and not sure if I am fulfilled.

On the bright side, I have lost weight!!

Oldiebutgoodie

[sunneeRN]

Everyone, thank you so much for making me feel normal! Yes, it definately has gotten progressively better, but like I said, I do make it hard on myself. The other day, I found a mistake a doctor made and instead of saying to myself, "good job on finding that mistake" i said to myself "oh my gosh, i wonder if i would have found this any other day?" isn't that weird? Regardless, i'm glad that other semi-new nurses feel the same way as I do. our nurse to patient ratio in onc is usually 7-8 to one nurse on nights. until i came on allnurses, i was told that this was a very good ratio and that it was much worse at other hospitals. now i feel better because i know that on most nights, i can handle 7 onc patients without too much stress. thank you to all who responded. I really appreciate you taking the time to ease my mind!