Support Stickie for New nurses who are not coping

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I have read through lot of threads recently regarding new nurses who feel they are struggling and not coping with being an new RN. So I thought it would be good to start a support thread where all new nurses could post about their feelings and experiences. You are not alone, all new nurses feel this way and if they dont I would be extreemly concerned.

If you love this area of nursing, I would say STAY!! you have to do what you love! Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed before a shift I leave a couple of minutes earlier and sit in the parking lot at work listening to my favorite music and the moment that I get out of my car, my family becomes my patients and they become my main priority. The best part about your patients... At the end of your shifts you can go home. On your way home from your shift, take a longer route get some ice cream and let yourself unwind just a little of "you" no call bells going off, pumps beeping, patients desating and no one crying mommy.

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Hi, first let me say, this thread has been a huge encouragement for me! I'm not the only one:)! I am a new nurse, graduated in May 09 and started working in June 09 on a cardiac/telemetry floor. My support has been wonderful(not the docs of course), management on my floor is really great and, all in all, I feel like I'm in a safe environment to learn. I, however, am struggling with several different aspects of my job and am wondering if anyone has some insight from personal experience. First, I have three very busy children(ages 12,9 and 8) and have been really struggling with keeping my priority's as a mother in balance. Even though I "only" work 3-12s per week, I feel like I am gone all of the time. I do have 2hr commute each day, so that adds to my time away from home also. My struggle is with things like, homework, teacher conferences, sick kids, basketball games, 12 yr old needs to talk about friend issues, kids haven't had a single vegetable at dinner all week, etc, etc. I feel like I am not able to maintain my children and family as the PRIORITY. Combine these concerns with the fact that I feel no "calling" to this particular area of nursing(I took the job that was available) and you can imagine my frustration. I too experience all of the other symptoms of first year nursing, like: not sleeping well, upset stomach on my way to work, wondering if I'm cut out for this, crying to my husband when docs are hateful, etc., but I feel like every day I am better learning to cope with these issues. My main concern is, should I, at this point in my life(family focused) be looking into another area of nursing, or will I find a way to balance it all?:confused: Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I understand where you are coming from. I am a single mother of a 13 year old son, and I worked 3 12's nights during the week. My son hardly ever seen me, because he was going to school from his dad's house. So, I switched to the weekend alt. I only work Saturday and Sunday nights and I get paid for working 3 days. I see my son Monday-Friday. On the weekends, he's at my mother's house, and Sunday before I head to work, I take him to his father's house so he can go to school on Monday morning. I pick him up from school on Monday after I've been sleep, take him to his boxing lessons, and I help with homework. I cook dinner every other night. I feel so much better only having to work 2 days a week. You should check to see if your hospital have this option.

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Specializes in med surg, telemetry, stroke.

Hi guys, I too am a new RN and really struggling. I did the bridge program LVN to RN and graduated last June 2009. I have been working on a telemetry floor since November 2009. I don't know if I'm too old to be doing this (52 yrs old) but most days I cry and think why am I putting my body through this. I usually work on a team with an LVN and Nurse Tech and have six patients. Last week I had a 667 pound patient that took six nurses to move her and then the same day I got a homeless guy from the ER with poop and dried mud all over him. I almost threw up from the smell. I can't sleep the night before I go in worrying and during the day when I get critical labs or have all TPC patients I go into meltdown mode sometimes. I feel like I'm having panic attacks. I need to stick it out for a year to get my experience but I don't know how long my body can do floor nursing. My hospital is very understaffed and the acuities are very high for all my patients. I don't feel like I'm giving te care I want to because I am stretched so thin. But I live in an area where there are only two hospitals, both bad and I'm to old to commute two hours each way to Los Angeles to work not to mention no one is hiring new grads right now. I need to find a way not to let things upset me so much when things don't go smoothly, but I'm not sure how to do that. Any suggestions out there? Thank you so much and god bless you all.

Susan, RN in California

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
Hi guys, I too am a new RN and really struggling. I did the bridge program LVN to RN and graduated last June 2009. I have been working on a telemetry floor since November 2009. I don't know if I'm too old to be doing this (52 yrs old) but most days I cry and think why am I putting my body through this. I usually work on a team with an LVN and Nurse Tech and have six patients. Last week I had a 667 pound patient that took six nurses to move her and then the same day I got a homeless guy from the ER with poop and dried mud all over him. I almost threw up from the smell. I can't sleep the night before I go in worrying and during the day when I get critical labs or have all TPC patients I go into meltdown mode sometimes. I feel like I'm having panic attacks. I need to stick it out for a year to get my experience but I don't know how long my body can do floor nursing. My hospital is very understaffed and the acuities are very high for all my patients. I don't feel like I'm giving te care I want to because I am stretched so thin. But I live in an area where there are only two hospitals, both bad and I'm to old to commute two hours each way to Los Angeles to work not to mention no one is hiring new grads right now. I need to find a way not to let things upset me so much when things don't go smoothly, but I'm not sure how to do that. Any suggestions out there? Thank you so much and god bless you all.

Susan, RN in California

I am sorry to read about the stress you are under. May I respectfully suggest that you may need to look at your day and plan it out ie organise your time management. It will help you be more organised and in control because lack of control will be worrying you now and it is a vicious circle which will cause you to be panicing and worrying over night. Ask a more senior member of staff who you trust to help you organise your day and once you are in a strict routine it will make your day easier. I know we cannot predict the day emergencies happen, but if you have a very strict routine are organised it becomes easier.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
Hi, first let me say, this thread has been a huge encouragement for me! I'm not the only one:)! I am a new nurse, graduated in May 09 and started working in June 09 on a cardiac/telemetry floor. My support has been wonderful(not the docs of course), management on my floor is really great and, all in all, I feel like I'm in a safe environment to learn. I, however, am struggling with several different aspects of my job and am wondering if anyone has some insight from personal experience. First, I have three very busy children(ages 12,9 and 8) and have been really struggling with keeping my priority's as a mother in balance. Even though I "only" work 3-12s per week, I feel like I am gone all of the time. I do have 2hr commute each day, so that adds to my time away from home also. My struggle is with things like, homework, teacher conferences, sick kids, basketball games, 12 yr old needs to talk about friend issues, kids haven't had a single vegetable at dinner all week, etc, etc. I feel like I am not able to maintain my children and family as the PRIORITY. Combine these concerns with the fact that I feel no "calling" to this particular area of nursing(I took the job that was available) and you can imagine my frustration. I too experience all of the other symptoms of first year nursing, like: not sleeping well, upset stomach on my way to work, wondering if I'm cut out for this, crying to my husband when docs are hateful, etc., but I feel like every day I am better learning to cope with these issues. My main concern is, should I, at this point in my life(family focused) be looking into another area of nursing, or will I find a way to balance it all?:confused: Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The commute to work is horrendous and adds to your already busy day, I know this because I have a long commute and I dislike it I am always thinking about my drive home and how long it will take me. Stay a little longer until you have done a year and then start looking for a new less stressful job closer to home. Start looking into what jobs may be available in your area, remember you will have an excellent excuse to why you are moving on you can blame the commute and the need to be closer to home. Good luck

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I am sorry to read about the stress you are under. May I respectfully suggest that you may need to look at your day and plan it out ie organise your time management. It will help you be more organised and in control because lack of control will be worrying you now and it is a vicious circle which will cause you to be panicing and worrying over night. Ask a more senior member of staff who you trust to help you organise your day and once you are in a strict routine it will make your day easier. I know we cannot predict the day emergencies happen, but if you have a very strict routine are organised it becomes easier.

While I agree that good organization skills are a must, as I am terrible with organization but have gotten better through trial by fire, I must say that this nurse's anxiety and mental stress is more likely due to the higher acuity and shorter staffing we are all experiencing. However, I was quite jealous when she said they do team nursing with only 6 patients. At my hospital, we do team nursing with 12 patients, all with high acuity. Rarely do we get walkie-talkies, they are usually all major surgeries, cardiacs, demented or total care turners. All this with totally unsupportive management who tends to blame the nurse and never listens to both sides of the story. I believe in the 1 year and 8 months that I've been a nurse, that I've become a really good nurse, and my coworkers and patients feel the same. However, there are many days that I feel the same as her because there is just so much to deal with.

Sure wish I'd had an idea of what it's really like before I got out of school.

Best of luck to all the newbies, and to all the seasoned nurses who I hope will show compassion to someone who is struggling.

'May I never judge my neighbor before I walk a mile in his shoes."

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Hi everyone,

I'm a new nurse who started working in January. I have 12 wks with a preceptor nurse on an ortho/neuro floor and I'm only up to 3 pts. I like my floor but have a hard time with time management. I feel like I'm behind on everything. I hate writing my assessment notes after PT and the Doctors and anyone else who has to chart on my pts because I have so much other stuff to do. I really feel like I need to build my confidence so I can be a great nurse. My nurse preceptor is a very straight forward and intellegent nurse, but sometimes I feel like she should take more time to help me understand things. I feel like she thinks I should already know all the answers and I get uncomfotable asking her questions when I know it's my job to ask. There are also techs who when I ask them to do something they turn around and ask me to do it because they are busy. I feel like they are taking advantage because they know I am new. I ask Jesus everyday to guide me and get me through. I don't expect to be perfect but the expectations are set very high. Any suggestions?

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Sooo I am a new grad working in a small community hospital. It is almost daily that I find myself stressed out. This facility told me I would have all this orienation in my interview. However when I started I very quickly found myself feeling very alone.

Many of the nurses I work with are less than helpful and I feel that the only time I get feed back is when there is a incident report with my name on it. Lets just take my latest shift. I am the new one and have already been the charge nurse, which I am okay with. It's when I find myself having to TRAIN the RN that has worked for years but still has no clue!!!

UGGGHHHH I needed that......

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This is one of the biggest things I hate about working over night - deciding what's important enough to call the doctor for and what can wait till morning. I had my first experience with a doctor who I apparently upset because I called him shortly after midnight. My patient had a foley and was putting out bloody urine. He was having spasms and was in a lot of pain. He needed his foley irrigated, and we need a doctor's order to do that. The doctor was so condescending when I called him, talking to me like I was an idiot. He said "You called me at midnight for this??" Then proceeded to give me step by step instructions on what to do in a very condesending tone. I just bit my tongue and answered him without emotion. I don't have the greatest tolerance for people like that, but I refused to let him get me riled up. I did complain to my co-workers after I hung up. :icon_roll

I remember a night I had to call a Dr. for an order and he was foreign, and I could NOT understand what he was saying. I asked him three times and I could tell he was getting aggrivated but I wasn't about to write the wrong order so I finally asked him to spell the medication. This really made him mad, but he did spell it, and I got the correct order!

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Don't forget about past medical history, allergies, and precautions (isolation, fall, seizure, etc.).

I can't believe you give all that info in report! The only info I give is something abnormal or a problem. All the rest of that stuff they can look up for themselves!

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I can't believe you give all that info in report! The only info I give is something abnormal or a problem. All the rest of that stuff they can look up for themselves!

Wow you are being really helpful especially to the new grads,your advice is so sweet "go look it up yourself!!!!"

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Wow, I really love this thread but cannot help but be astonished by all the new nurses who have been new for 6months plus and have never been involved in a code. What? I have certainly gotten the short end of the stick. I am not makin this up. First day of orientation, walk into bathroom and found an rn lyin on the floor with iv hangin out of her arm, she was ok but lets just say she no longer works there. Week #1 pt died was a no code. Week #2 orientation, pt started bleeding out, pukin blood(more like niagra falls) couldnt breath and seized out. I was the one who called the code while my preceptor was gettin better suction. Week #3 pt. died no code. So on and so on. Im beginning to feel like I am the angel of death. I couldnt take it anymore on telemetry and will now be workin a med surg starting next month. When they tell ya that new nurses should get med surg experience first, I def believe it. I wont even go into what I have been through but I have had several close family members die recently and have been through a lot the last few months. I am determined that this med surg floor will be better.:confused: How much can one person take before they completely loose it?

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