When does it get better!?

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Had a horrible two days. I'm only taking 4 patients at this point and am still with a preceptor but wow. Last week I was doing well, but this week I was beyond overwhelmed. All my patients pretty much needed total care. Constant pain, vomiting, blood transfusions, an incident report, a code, doctors giving me orders (and I can barely understand their accents), chem. strips, IV infiltrations, meds. almost every hour., family members wanting to talk with me.. and to boot my back and shoulder are killing me, I may have pulled them while assisting a patient. I didn't end up leaving until 3 hours past my shift with no lunch and no breaks!

I feel like an awful nurse, totally incompetent. I wanted to sit in a dark corner and weep. I just feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I have trouble explaining things, when something unexpected happens I just don't know what to do.... I know its not good.. just don't know how to fix it. And if I keep "learning" like this (hectic and haphazardly) I feel like I'll never truly learn.

How long until it gets better? I'm supposed to be by myself with 6 patients in less than 2 weeks! I feel fortunate to have a job, and I think the experience of floor nursing will be great - but wow, can't imagine doing this forever.

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Well in my nursing school we were required to do complete cares on 4 patients the last semester. I can relate to you seeing as I was on a stepdown unit and always had blood or a drip that needed to be titrated or start a new iv and add in the post cardiac cath fresh to tge floor in the middle of a med pass. It will get better. By the end of the first month (clinical being 2 days a week) 4 patients was easy to care for. My advice is if you dont already have a cheat sheet made up for the day make one. On it put pertinent labs, dr, time of meds, if they are an accucheck or not and anything special going on for that patient. Our hospital had computer shift reports and I just used those sheets and put the info at the bottom. Hang in there :)

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Specializes in Psychiatric Nurse.

There are many patient report sheets and other docs that can be found within AllNurses. There was a post where nurses provided copies of what they were using on their unit. They have a specific name they used for them; but I can't remember what they called them.

Here are a few that I saved to my computer. I hope they can help you. I prefer the second (bottom) document.....

Hang it there. It will get better. :) If not, talk to your unit Educator/Manager about a move. Also talk to other nurses at your facility to see what's going on where they work. You might feel more comfortable working on another unit. In the end, you have to find your own niche.

Hope the attachments help! Good luck! :up:

FORM_PATIENT report sheet - from AllNurses.com.doc

FORM-Patient Report Sheet - from AllNurses.com.doc

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I have a cheat sheet already. It is good in the morning when I get report... I really find it hard to use during the day because I just feel so scattered. I started out great yesterday, everything was on time, I was getting assessments done, but then things started going down the crapper fast. I just feel like this unit's patients can be SO sick and need SO much care and attention, but they still expect you to take on 6. Most of the patient's have cancer, so to stay on top of all the cancer-related side effects is very difficult so far. I mean, it doesn't help that I still don't know how to do certain things (ie, I never had an opportunity in nursing school to put in a foley for instance) so waiting for someone else to assist me the first time is a huge time waster itself...

I've had rotations in ambulatory surgery, PACU, and doctor/specialty offices, and I think I'd be happier in that type of setting. Yes, you still need to have good time management, but you don't have 6 very ill patients at the same time. Ideally I'd like to be in a setting that is more teaching based, particularly with those in poverty. But I realize I absolutely need this experience. I know it will be great, I just feel like a failure everyday after work and its already bringing me down and I haven't done it for long....

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

HOLD EVERYTHING!!!! If I read the OP correctly, you 'may' have sustained an injury to your upper back??? If so, you need to address this ASAP through the proper channels at your organization. Don't ever let an on the job injury slip through the cracks. Back injuries tend to become cumulative and cause huge issues down the line. Get this taken care of now - Please!

If you're in pain, there is no way you can actually focus on anything else very well. At the very least, it will sap your energy and make you grumpy/depressed. Take care of yourself first.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

it gets better on the 9th day of your 10th month of being on your own.

no, seriously, the first year sucks. i felt like the most incompetent person in the whole world. i cried all the way to and from work, and i felt overwhelmed most of the time. at some point, usually during the first year but in my case not until after the one year mark, something just "clicks" and you find yourself able to handle the six patients, the nasty visitors, the english-deficient doctors, the codes and the incident reports. (vomiting still makes me nervous, but you'll have your own "favorite".)

if you're in pain, take care of that. it's hard to focus on other things when you're hurting.

understand that you are not alone. we all went through this, remember it vividly and are thankful to be through it. try not to cry at work, but cry at home if you need to. eat right, sleep enough and exercise. that helps. take time for hobbies or reading and friends on your days off. take care of yourself. take care of yourself first, even at work. there are very few work situations that cannot wait for you to drink, rehydrate or have lunch and you'll find that rather than setting you back, your break will improve your attitude and efficiency.

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Yes I had an obese patient fall (saw her starting to fall as I was entering the room) so my instinct was to run and do my best to support her so she did not smash her face. Had to support her for around 5 or 7 minutes (until additional people came to lift her). My back still hurts today (the left side). I thought I might mention something, but didn't want to seem like a whiner. Now I feel like I should have, just in case. Today was my day off, maybe I'll mention something tomorrow morning, though I suppose it might be "too late." Don't know how that stuff works.

I really try to stay positive... some days are harder than others. :p

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Did you mention 4 total care patients and a code? Well then it is normal to feel overwhelmed. I am new grad on my 2nd week on my own, and really I will cry if they give me 4 total care patients or none of the experienced nurses on the floor ever get 4 total care patients. That is way too much. Also, if you get a code, a code requires team work especially with new grad. It is normal to not know what to do in those situations for now:) I only experienced Rapid response once, NOT CODE, and I went from sitting around and look at moon and stars to run my A off for the 2nd half of the shift. With what you listed, I think you already do amazing. Some shifts no matter what you do, it means to be bad. It is not you who are incompetent. It is the shift that means to be suck!!!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
yes i had an obese patient fall (saw her starting to fall as i was entering the room) so my instinct was to run and do my best to support her so she did not smash her face. had to support her for around 5 or 7 minutes (until additional people came to lift her). my back still hurts today (the left side). i thought i might mention something, but didn't want to seem like a whiner. now i feel like i should have, just in case. today was my day off, maybe i'll mention something tomorrow morning, though i suppose it might be "too late." don't know how that stuff works.

i really try to stay positive... some days are harder than others. :p

most hospitals have a policy about how long you can wait before filing an incident report to be eligible for workman's comp. i don't think tomorrow will be too late -- as i recall, it was months when my husband had his incident. back injuries can be a career killer -- not to mention change your life forever. please get it looked into.

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Yes, it gets better. But it sounds like you are well within your right to be overwhelmed.

I would ask your preceptor how you are doing, how can you improve. Does she think you are where you should be at. Maybe it is very normal to stay late on that floor?

Good luck!

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You have 24 hours to report an injury as per our state workman's comp policy. I'd say it's the same for nursing school. Please call your teacher, coordinator, who ever is in charge and get this taken care of. You cannot afford to lose your back. It will kill your career.

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Specializes in Emergency.

It gets better. It really does, but for each person WHEN it gets better is very individual...

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