Tips for nurses in their first year of nursing

elthia · Jul 26, 2005

I started working evening shift, within 5 months the other 2 evening shift RN's a.) retired, b.) transferred to another unit. I had less than 6 months experience as an RN and I was the senior evening shift RN on a 32 bed unit. I was, and unfortunately still am , charge nurse almost every night I work. Some things I have learned.

1.)LISTEN TO YOUR EXPERIENCED LVN'S AND AIDES!!!! I work with some wonderful LVN's that have saved my patients and my license more than once. Respect them and their experience, you may have more formal schooling, but they have experience that you don't. Always let them know that you will listen to their concerns if something just doesn't "seem right with Mr. so and so.", or "I have a question about this med".

2.)Make a list of what concerns you need to address and prioritize. The charge nurse does walking rounds at my facility, and I carry a paper to write things down such as room 1 needs an IV site, room 2 is constipated, room 3 needs a social worker, room 4 needs pain meds, room 5 has new onset abdominal pain in RLQ, etc. Then I prioritize them in my head and cross them off as each problem has been addressed appropriately, or MD notified.

3.) Don't be afraid to jump in and help out others. I have found out that once some of my coworkers realize I am not afraid to "get my hands dirty", then when I really need to stay at the desk and verify orders or call MD's/lab/xray etc, those coworkers will pick up my patient care needs until I can leave the desk again.

4.) Vent your frustrations as needed, but only in private and to those people you can trust to not "carry tales".

5.) Remember to laugh and to cry as needed.

perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2005

Once again, after my first two shifts with "real patients" as a "real nurse", I have to come back and say THANK YOU ALL!!! I now can read this list with fresh eyes related to my recent experience and the thousand new fears and thoughts whirling through my mind. I copied your tips onto a new sheet in order to take with me and refer back to later. Once again, I just have to keep saying it :), THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :D

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 31, 2005

Your tagline says it all:

Siempre tu puedes.

Believe it!

Eli · Jul 31, 2005

Hi i want to become a pediatrician but i dont know what the majors are and what kinda colleges to go to in Nj? Can anyone help me plz. :nurse:

perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN · Jul 31, 2005

Deb,

Thank you for the encouragement... and the reminder! :) A Spanish teacher who became my friend this year on a month-long class in Mexico said that to me all the time, and her spirit and personality inspired me very much.

kimmcgill · Aug 1, 2005

I started my first nursing job as a GN the first week in June on a 40-bed Med/Surg unit in a small community hospital. I passed my boards about 3 weeks ago and am now an RN. A week after passing my boards, my nurse manager said she wanted to take me off of orientation. I gave it a try for a few days, and realized I wasn't ready yet. I asked her to put me back on orientation and she agreed to. She kept me on orientation for 7 more days, then took me off again. All together I have been on orientation about 6 weeks. I know the reason for wanting to get me off of orientation is monetary as it "costs the hospital a lot of money to orient a nurse." Somehow I don't feel I am ready to be 100% responsible for 7-8 patients after only 6 weeks of orientation. The hospital is very antiquated. There is no "PYXIS" for medications (they still use the little plastic drawer system), you can only fit 2 nurses in the med room at a time, and we have to mix and reconsistute all of our own meds (the pharmacy does not do it for us). The school I went to had us doing clinicals at a hospital that had modern, up-to-date equipment and a full-service pharmacy. This antiquated way of nursing takes so much time....some nights I never even get a chance to assess my patients other than to look at them and talk to them for a minute while delivering meds to them. I am always there late catching up on charting that I never had a chance to do before the end of my shift. I graduated in the top 10 of my nursing class and received an award at graduation as "Best Clinician" out of a class of 42 graduates. Someone tell me....is it me? Or is the hospital administration being unrealistic in their expectations of a new nurse right out of school? My preceptor never spent any time with me during orientation working directly with the patients. I was given 2 patients to care for my very first night with my preceptor, pretty much to care for on my own. I am considering leaving and finding a job elsewhere. Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, comments? :confused:

nurscee · Aug 3, 2005

Just got a job at a new hospital. The pts will be total care.

Any tips on baths???? I have never done this (much).

i don't have an aversion to it just want some tips to be faster, or better at giving them. Thanks! Nurscee:nurse:

SmilingBluEyes · Aug 5, 2005

Deb,
Thank you for the encouragement... and the reminder! :) A Spanish teacher who became my friend this year on a month-long class in Mexico said that to me all the time, and her spirit and personality inspired me very much.

wow that is great. I loved my Spanish classes and had an awesome Spanish professor "way back when"...

AMARTIN1 · Aug 6, 2005

Thanks For All This Great Advice!!! This Makes Me Feel Sooo Much Better!!!! Now If I Could Only Have A Semi-perfect Day!!

God Bless You All,amartin1 From Sa,tx.

SmilingBluEyes · Aug 7, 2005

Welcome to allnurses, Amartin!

RaeT,RN · Aug 7, 2005

Kim - I think you have 2 options: you can give yourself a little bit of time to get in a routine and get more time-efficient (remember when you first started doing pt care in nursing school and how long it took you to do everything), or you can leave and go to another hospital where you may find yourself still swamped when you get out of orientation. If you got the "best clinician" award, the faculty at your school really thought that you excelled on the floor. Give yourself some time and I think you will find that you'll get it after a while. Remember that there were several "nursy" things that you could not do as a student (like writing orders, etc.) that you are having to learn how to do now. Don't be so hard on yourself! You can do it!

RaeT,RN · Aug 7, 2005

Just got a job at a new hospital. The pts will be total care.
Any tips on baths???? I have never done this (much).
i don't have an aversion to it just want some tips to be faster, or better at giving them. Thanks! Nurscee:nurse:

How on earth did you go through nursing school without giving many baths???????????? My only advice is to 1) do your baths when you do your assessment (you really get to see skin this way, plus turn and listen to lungs!), or 2) save it for when you have a code brown.