The first year

This is so, so cliche but first and foremost you have to remind yourself that you are only *one* person who cannot possibly control everything that happens over the course of the day, much less events on a med-surg unit like last minute admits and needy patients. I am Type A myself so I understand your struggle! The other thing that I have grown to realize is that one thing that separates those nurses that you think are "supernurses" from the rest is not that they have magically figured out how to make those crazy days so easy but simply that they have learned how to roll with the punches. The calmer you can stay - even if such calm is totally faked (especially initially) - the more positive the outcomes will be amidst the chaos. Along with that, your crazy days will be better when you learn how to effectively and decisively delegate (I know too that that is hard, but worthwhile!). If you are in with one of two last-minute new admits, call your aide to settle in the other...simple but I feel like we are nurses are often really bad about delegating or even just pulling in other coworkers that may not be as busy.

With stress at home and your BSN courses going on, you probably don't have much time for yourself, but sometimes "going back to the basics" (striving to get a reasonable amount of sleep, eating as well as you can, exercising at least a bit - even if you just walk most days!) can make you feel better and give you a sense of control. This will help you tough out bad days at work too. Seriously though, the fact that you say you like it most days even as a relatively new grad is an awesome thing! Every nurse no matter how experienced has awful days so don't beat yourself up. Good luck with everything!