What was your First Day like???

I have been a nurse for one year!!!!! Whooo hoo never thought I would make it. Everything is totally overwhelming at first. I went into a specialty right off the bat, Labor and Delivery. I don't recommend this at all, after 8 months I moved to a Med-Surg floor and while it is totally crazy and you don't have a minute to breathe I love it.

In Labor and Delivery my orientation was 4 months but the first time on my own I was a mess.......when I moved to med-surg I had 4 weeks of orientation but I was OK and handled 6-7 patients for a 12hr shift. I was lucky because my preceptors were awesome and the group I am with now is great and always there to pitch in and help.

I still feel overwhelmed at times especially when the acuity is high but it does get easier. The biggest thing is to find your groove and what works for you. Once you get a flow going, it is manageable.

I started out on the ICU and like the OP, I recommend med/surg before going onto a speciality unit. I know that starting out in the ICU can be done, but those patients are SO sick and to be honest I just didn't feel safe as a new RN. I need time to refine my nursing skills first before dealing with patients that ill. I interviewed on a medsurg unit a couple days ago and crossing my fingers for that position.

My first day in the ICU I just followed my preceptor around, that's it. She taught me the basics- where to document, where the meds are, where the equipment is kept, stuff about the charts, etc. On the second day I gave meds/started IVs but my preceptor was next to me throughout everything. My preceptor eased me into things which was nice and did an excellent job at explaining things to me.

In the short time I spent in the ICU I did make mistakes, it seemed like everything I did I managed to do it wrong. Thank god they were only small mistakes and it didn't effect the patient, but it's so upsetting to keep messing up. I felt so dumb all the time. We give verbal report at my hospital which I think is easier than a recorded report because this way if you leave anything out (which I always did) the other RN would just ask about it. Everyone was really understanding though.

As far as starting pay, I'm working nights and I should make almost $65,000 this year. However I now realize why nurses are paid so much- you have so much responsibility. I never realized it in nursing school because whenever one of my patients had a major issue I always went to my instructor or the patient's RN. It's scary since now I'm the RN. If my patient is having a problem I need to try and figure it out first before going to another nurse.

Good luck w/school and I hope this helps!