Were you nervous when you first started nursing?

[hope2007]

Now that I have passed the NCLEX, it is time to look for a job. I plan to stay with my full time job, the pay is good, and work p/t on weekends while pursuing my RN, my current employer pays for my education, (I should say, my union pays). Now that the reality of passing has set in, I find myself getting nervous starting in nursing, AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOT AN LPN job yet! Just found out today that I passed. LOL. Just wandering, were any of you nervous starting out in this field? Is this normal what I am feeling?

[swee2000]

Just wandering, were any of you nervous starting out in this field? Is this normal what I am feeling?

Yes...and yes.

[sleepyndopey]

Yes, I was very nervous. I remember my preceptor(who became a very good friend of mine) used to laugh:lol2: at me because I was so nervous. It's good to have a few butterflies in the stomach, and it's normal.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Congratulations. Yes, it is entirely normal to be nervous. You just have to walk through it. Good luck!

[DTC]

I couldnt have been more nervous if you had your foot in my back trying to push me out of an airplane at 40,000 feet with no parachute,,hahaha. Logically, I know its normal to be nervous as heck,,but emotionally I was not grasping the concept. Welcome to nursing! This too shall pass~

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I was nervous, stressed, and rather slow when I was new. In fact, my first medication pass took nearly 4 hours! By the time I had completed the 4pm med pass, it was immediately time to start the 8pm med pass. Also, rude coworkers didn't really help the situation much. I arrived at work daily with feelings of nervousness, but these feelings were soon replaced with confidence. Hang in there, because the nervousness will dissipate with the passage of time and the acquisition of grace.

[jean333]

Well this is my first week of nursing I feel so incompetent I could throw up. I have a new job in a large doctors office and all the nurses have been there 10 years or more and here I am fresh out of school and have not done much in a doctors office in my year of nursing school. Mostly I was in the hospital/nursing home for clinical. I did 2 days for clinical at a doctors office and that was it. So here I am in this big practice with all these skilled nurses and they are mostly in their 30's or above and I feel like so behind. I never had any idea of the responsibilities LPN's have in a doctors office. They have been teaching me to draw blood and check patients in this week. But there is just so so so much much more to learn. I feel like I am back in school again. There has been a very nice RN that has warned me that some of the other nurses will eat me alive but not to get discouraged. To be honest it has been so overwhelming this week and I feel so discouraged I have even asked myself why I got into this profession? Its pretty intense and stressful. So I know this will pass and its all part of the job. I just wish nurses that have been nurses forever would remember what it was like for them when they began. I am sorry for whining but I needed to vent. I most def need some confidence.

Jean