struggling

Nurses New Nurse

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It's been a while since I've posted on here... I've been working at a reputable hospital since May 22, 2010. 3 1/2 months later, I feel so unprepared and i feel like I'm struggling. I wish i could just hang out with my pts and educate them and give my meds and chart my assessments and that's it... I strongly dislike the paperwork side... I have so much to do in 1 shift and it's soooo easy to miss something. Also, I'm always losing pens. I don't know wen they'll kick me out of orientation, but I'm nervous and scared, I just wish nursing was a little bit easier. I'm always missing something, and i hope someone could give me a bit of advice.. Sometimes I forget to give out my pt friendly mars, forget to sign my rounding logs, forget to check my tele strips, forget to sign off orders (though they get done.. most of the time), oh and I lose my med sheet all the time... My preceptor says I'm too task oriented, like I haave to get this 1 thing done before I go on to the next thing, idk. This is what i TRY to get my schedule to look like every day

0638-Clock in

06-38- 0730- get report, look up labs if they're not ready, check to see if everyone's alive

0730-0830- check charts/labs

0830-0930(hopefully done at 0930) pass morning meds/assess pts

0930-1030 chart/meds/check orders

1030-1045-1055 INTERDISCIPLINARY ROUNDS. (my least fav part of the day)

1100-1200 meds/check orders

1200-1245 - Dude's gotta eat

1245-1300-check if everyone's alive/ chart/check orders

1300-1500 meds/check orders

1500-1600 chart/meds/check orders

1600-1800 meds/here's where the problem occurs.. every single doc seems to come in at this time and write pages worth of orders. . and then I go cry... and then it's hard to explain to the night shift that MD so and so came in at 5 and wrote orders for this and that and it wasn't ready until 1800.

MY SCHEDULE LOOKS AWESOME ON PAPER BUT WHEN I TRY AND FOLLOW IT, I CAN'T BECAUSE SO MUCH OTHER STUFF IS GOING ON.

I gotta change this IV, I gotta prepare people going for OR, I gotta get consents, I gotta constantly check orders, I'm getting "reports" from ER, I got to do some d/c papers for a pt who got d/c, pt x is asking for pain meds, gotta call docs for this and that.. ugh. So i guess I'm having trouble prioritizing... Idk what I'm supposed to do first cos I feel like I have too much to do. =/

Thanks for letting me vent,

NI4CP

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Specializes in I/DD.

I know exactly how you feel! I do fine as long as I can do my assessments, pass my meds, and check my orders. Once people start coming and going, new orders come in, I need to constantly talk with the team to try and get new orders for patients...its crazy. I can't really make you feel any better though because I am newer than you are...but at least you aren't alone?

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This may sound wierd, but what helped me was finally realizing that I CAN'T HAVE a schedule. Sure, one can have a general routine in mind like get report, assess patients, chart, give meds, etc... BUT that really never happens. It's about prioritizing and re-prioritizing ALL THE TIME.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.
I

1600-1800 meds/here's where the problem occurs.. every single doc seems to come in at this time and write pages worth of orders. . and then I go cry... and then it's hard to explain to the night shift that MD so and so came in at 5 and wrote orders for this and that and it wasn't ready until 1800.

MY SCHEDULE LOOKS AWESOME ON PAPER BUT WHEN I TRY AND FOLLOW IT, I CAN'T BECAUSE SO MUCH OTHER STUFF IS GOING ON.

I gotta change this IV, I gotta prepare people going for OR, I gotta get consents, I gotta constantly check orders, I'm getting "reports" from ER, I got to do some d/c papers for a pt who got d/c, pt x is asking for pain meds, gotta call docs for this and that.. ugh. So i guess I'm having trouble prioritizing... Idk what I'm supposed to do first cos I feel like I have too much to do. =/

Thanks for letting me vent,

NI4CP

When the doc comes in and writes all the orders at 1800. This is why there are shifts that are 24/7.....you can not do everything yourself. Give yourself a break and quit being so hard on yourself. Relax, take a deep breath and do the best you can do. You'll get the hang of everything soon enough. Take care of you!!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Geriatrics, LTC.

Yup, that's nursing all right, constant interruptions, changing gears, running this way and that. When I was in orientation my preceptor said it would take 4-5 months for me to feel competent and she was right. Somewhere in that time frame I realized I was "doing it". It takes awhile.

Get a pen that goes around your neck. Get at least three pens that you don't care about like bic sticks.

Keep a notepad and write everything down that you need to remember. Take a shorter lunch for now. Watch how competent nurses work and copy their ways. Good luck.

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I appreciate the support. There's still too much to learn and I'm going to be on my own soon. (I started night shift and have 6 days of orientation... 4 more left) and I'm scaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaared. =/. Giving report to dayshift makes me nervous.. and my sleep schedule is messed up. . i feel like i have to ask a million questions about things i should already know... The first night shift I ever had was AWESOME. but the next day all hell broke loose. . all the day shift was still there till like 9 finishing up charting and such. .. I guess if day shift has a bad day, it's going to be worse for nights. .. or that's what my night preceptor says.

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I am also a new nurse in a hospital as of May 2010. I have been off of orientation for about a month now. I work days as float RN and may be assigned to any of the 8 med-surg floors, each floor has its own specialty (ortho/cardiac/renal etc), which is very stressful, not knowing where stuff is or who to ask. There are times at work where I feel I'm struggling too, I mean like on the verge of having a melt down for the entire first 8 hours of my shift. When there are so many things to do I feel paralyzed for a moment and need to go lock myself in the bathroom. Last week I started a shift at 7am with 4 patients and then got an admission at 7:15, pt with a trach, the Stretcher was coming off the elevator before i even had time to look at the ER report, the patient gets in the room, and he has horrible loud wet rhonchi, and the room has no suction set up! i have no idea where the equipment is or how to set it up. I Asked the charge nurse she walks away says she'll be with me in a minute. Ask the manager, she tells me to ask the tech, ask the tech, she tells me to call engineering, now I'm on the verge of tears, finally another senior nurse helps me, and suction is set up 45 minutes later. AHHH, and meanwhile i had 4 other patients yet to assess other than a quick once over. Even on a typical day there is the am med pass, new orders constantly coming in , phone calls from various departments, family members, and patients who seem to take an ETERNITY to swallow one pill, I maybe get lunch at 2 or 3pm and have so much tension the food is tastless to me. I check my pulse at work, its usually 120-130 from anxiety. at home I'm 60 resting. I don't know if i can go on.

The thing is I asked the manger of the float pool how I'm doing, for feedback etc... She said I'm doing fine, no complaints and some good reviews! So maybe its normal and expected to feel this way? People tell me it will get easier. I hope to god it does, I'm giving it one year, after if it doesn't get better, I WILL NOT work in a hospital any more.

As far as organization, I carry only one 4 way ink pen on me, one roll of tape, alcohol swabs and flushes. If i carry anymore, my pockets become way too disorganized. I do carry a binder with dividers, one section for each patient, and in my binder a pencil case for extras pens, markers, scissors, calculators, pen lights and anything else I might need. I get to the floor at 6:30 am to take report and look up labs so by the time the other RN's arrive and things get loud in the Nursing station I'm already out on the floor doing my assessments. This helps, but even my the best laid plans are blown to hell on a regular basis!

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Work night shift!

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I tried night shift on orientation for two weeks. I was an emotional mess. I got home every morning and cried, as my husband was leaving for work and I prepared to go to my dark room to sleep alone while the sun was shining. I'd rather the craziness and anxiety of days than depression:idea:

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I do work night shift, and I'll say this. If day shift has a bad day (for some reason seems like most days), than night shift has a bad night too.. I will say it is a LITTLE less stressful than days cos there's not so many people around, but you still have departments calling you, family, pts, etc... same as day, but as soon as I say something like that, i go into work and it's hell. lol.

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Specializes in Psych, LTC, Acute Care.

Who takes the orders off when the MD writes orders at 5 and 6pm? At my job we have secretaries that take them off. They are slow as molasses in the winter time and often it takes them a couple of hours to take them off if they have alot of charts. If its not a STAT order then they next shift will pick it up. I work night shift and Day shift leaves orders all the time. Its frustrating at times but "It is, what it is". Don't work so hard and throw that schedule out the window. You should not be taking 1 hr in the morning reviewing labs and charts. You are waisting time. When I come it to get report, I get on the computer and review the labs on each patient as I get report. I take about 10 minutes tops to look over charts. I assess patients as I bring meds to them. Everyday is different. Your time management skills will get better with time. Its all a process.

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Hang in there! It is very rough I know, I just started my first nursing job a couple of weeks ago on a skilled/sub acute unit. I have around 18-20 patients a day. As a new grad I am feeling overwhelmed. The unit is completley disorganized, labs are not followed up on, meds not re-filed and when I catch mistakes I have to cal the doctor and I am the one to be ******* at. I am giving 110% to do things right and fix the mess that the previous nurses no longer working there created. I feel that the term, "eating your young" still exist as I have experienced on several instances where a nurse has told me to do something a certain way and later to find out it is totally wrong! They don't tell me it's wrong, they just run to the supervisor and all other nurses to tell them my mistakes and then laugh as it is funny! I am so frustrated. I am not liking my first nursing experience at all! The first year of being a nurse sucks!

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