Transitioning from student RN to staff RN

[FloridaRN0614]

I graduated May 1 from nursing school and was offered a position on a med-surg floor pending licensure. Well, I passed my NCLEX and am now an RN (woohoo!!). And, I have a job at a great university teaching hospital on a med-surg floor for which I start orientation on Monday. I'm getting nervous. I've been a full-time student since I graduated high school in 2006 so I have next to no experience working.

I will have an 8-week orientation with a preceptor but I want to make sure I don't go in there TOO bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I'm so thankful I gained employment on a great unit. They want me! But, i also understand it is a job. I am being paid to be there. I'm used to being a student in clinical, "what can I do for you?", "what's next?"

I am afraid of letting myself be a carpet. I am pretty passive. I don't want to miss anything and I want to do everything. But I know that's not realistic. Am I going to learn most of what I need to know?

i'm excited about not being hand-held but I'm also afraid of letting go. Any advice or otherwise would be appreciated. I'm just unsure of what to expect. The whole first week is hospital and staff RN orientation. I'm not sure whether I'll even be on days or nights (I think days but that was never confirmed for me ). I'm also anxious: what will my schedule be like?, will my coworkers like me?, will I remember what I learned in school?, will people scoff at me for being a noob?

I'm sure everything will work out great. The unknown is just a little scary. I am so happy to be a nurse and thrilled to be offered a job right where I wanted: med-surg nursing!

[rachel0609, ADN, RN]

One piece of advice I can offer is take advantage of your orientation period. Ask questions, jump in and volunteer to do skills. You should have the undivided attention of a preceptor, use it to your advantage to soak up as much as you can. That 8 weeks will fly by and you need to take advantage of the opportunity. Good luck!

[wchailstate]

Hi, FloridaRN0614! I just graduated as well in May. I had a job offer contingent on passing boards, and I did last week! I don't start the job until the first week of July, so maybe I can brush up on a few things. Lol. I am definitely nervous! I'm just going to try and be a sponge and soak everything in one day at a time and hope that I can put forth what I've learned! Oh, and I graduated high school in 2006 too. Looks like we have a few things in common! Good luck!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I hope you have a list of competencies to complete. This at least gives you a sense of purpose and a board from which to bounce off questions. Volunteer for skills, like IV starts. It helps if there is some organization to orientation, but you can help by focusing on how to admit a patient, how to discharge a patient, where to find policies. The secret is to ask questions and try not to get too upset when that one someone (every unit has one) makes a smart aleck remark. Some people confuse smart and smart-aleck. Good luck! You will do fine. We all had this initiation period!