Tips for nurses in their first year of nursing

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Please share any tips you might have for our new nurses. Hopefully, this will become a great resource of nursing tips from all of our experienced nurses from around the globe.

I really needed to hear this because I've been beating myself up about not being fast enough or not knowing when someone asks me a question. Some doctors can make you feel very ignorant but I try to make sure that I'm not taking it too personal and respond to them in a way that shows them they don't intimidate me but be professional all in the same text. I try not to give my opinions or give a response at all to office gossip and as soon as it pops up I walk away. Sometimes I feel that some nurses take advantage of new people because they know that you're trying to learn so much and they find every thing that they can to interrupt you but as soon as you need them they're busy.

The advice and tips that were given are brilliant and whenever I find myself feeling the way I described above I'll read the tips and remind myself that rome was not built in one night.

Thank you;)

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you need only two things to be a great nurse

1. patients

2. patience

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Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

Ooh. We just switched to prefilled flush syringes, so I tried this out and haven't looked back. While grabbing alcohol wipes for pockets at beginning of shift, I grab a handful of the flushes as well and wind up flushing all my ports as I do the initial assessment. Instead of just jotting down where the IV's are on my brain, I jot it down after I flush it. One less thing to do later, and I was one who used to forget to do that, much to my dismay when I had to go start new IV's in the middle of the night to fix it.

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Specializes in disability.

Great advise is allways taken on board & acted on. This site is allways full of it! HA HA patience is a virtue but humor goes a long way too. I guess the message is not to be too critical on yourself when you do stuff up and everyone does. Yes I am looking forward to my career starting on a good note but as I have read it really depends on my oun personal attitude. I like everyone else wonder whats it like that is the real fear not knowing and the longer a person can get experience the less the fear is evident

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I am very happy for this forum. I just passed the NCLEX last week and will be starting a new job in February. I am very excited but very nervous at the same time. It is very refreshing to see others feel the same as I do.

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I'm not sure it is all that uncommon these days for us students to graduate without having much experience with "the basics". I personally have given about 4 bed baths during my 16 month accelerated RN program. I have no other nursing or tech experience aside from that, and so it really is the most basic of tasks that make me the most nervous about starting on the floor as a RN next week. Just planning to ask a lot of questions of my assistants and fellow nurses, and planning to be straightforward with my colleagues about the fact that I was fast tracked through & missed out on some things. So far I have found that being straightforward about my inexperience balanced with expressing a genuine desire and effort to learn it fast and well is an effective approach when I need help or advice.

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Love this tool (SBAR) - thanks so much for posting! I have printed it out and plan to have copies with me when I start on the floor next week!

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Its good 2see that nurses care about themselves.as a new nurse,Ifound out that nnurses donot help themselves.I'm glad I readthese posts.thanks for the tips.:smilecoffeecup:

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Specializes in telemetry/hemodialysis.

This is great!! I think I will print it out, shrink it down (but so that I can still read it) carry it to work everyday/night so I can refer back to it when I feel the need. Thanks for the great tips, I hope I am precepted by many nurses with your uplifting attitude.

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Specializes in LTC, cardiac, ortho rehab.

i think organization is one of the most important skills needed in nursing. im a new grad and when i started working at an LTC facility, my organization skills were a mess. i was a floater too, so memorizing the patients was out of the question.

early on i struggled with taking care of my patients but as soon as i set up a routine, i was pretty good.

there were times that i would literally cry while trying to pass all my meds out, and felt like screaming when i couldnt find the suction machine when needed. all in all, i lived and got better.

all i can say is be organized, prioritize, perservere, and cry and scream when needed.

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It is not just you. Basically the same thing happened to me, because I decided on a small community hospital. It is about the money. I work at least 14, usually 15-16h/day and usually without lunch. They threw me to the wolves and have driven my self-esteem to nothing. No one has ever spent a whole day reviewing me on handling 6-8 pts. I also excelled in my classes. You are not alone.

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I am sorry to disagree, but I do believe that older nurses do eat thier young. Not everyone, but many. I believe that when a time presents itself for the more experienced nurse to show off thier knowledge and put us in our place, they at itmes will.

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