When do you start feeling like a RN

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I have been working for a month and my preceptors tells me I am doing well but I still feel like a student. When do you start to call yourself a nurse and not feel like you are lying?

Rachel RN

Specializes in ICU/CCU/MICU/SICU/CTICU.

You will learn new things daily from now until the day you retire. I have been a nurse for almost 12 yrs and still learn something everyday. If I have a patient that I know a little about what is going on with their disease or illness, but not enough to comfortably ask questions, I look it up, either in my down time at work, or when I get home (love my PDA and the internet).

Just be careful with that knowledge, everyone in your family will come to you for medical advice. Im an ICU/CCU nurse..... I know nothing about psych or OB, and what does my sister in law ask???? Psych questions and OB questions. Ummm, go to your MD!

Not to mention, the day you quit learning, is the day you need to step back and look and decide if you still need to be in nursing.

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Just be careful with that knowledge, everyone in your family will come to you for medical advice. Im an ICU/CCU nurse..... I know nothing about psych or OB, and what does my sister in law ask???? Psych questions and OB questions. Ummm, go to your MD!

That's been happening to me a lot, the, "you're a nurse, what do think about (insert something I know nothing about here)". I've been working for 5 months (almost), and I still don't really feel like an RN (but I do have the urge to write it after I sign my name on a CC reciept out of habit). It's like, someone threw this title at me, and I worked my butt off to earn it, but I still feel like I'm not deserving of it. I'm feeling more comfortable in what I'm doing, but RN? Me? Really?

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I totally feel your pain!

:bugeyes:

It seems like my new challenge (along with figuring out if what I am doing is right) is trying to asimilate to the crazy work environment. I feel like an idiot when I am trying to make sense of how to talk to my coworkers. I can't seem to see my foot coming, only taste the dirt after I inserted it into my mouth! I had a nurse hero and proceeded to get caught up in a flaming session with other nurses. I felt so bad that even though the nurse didn't know anything about the conversation, I apologized. WORSE MISTAKE. My honesty has ruined our relationship and now I REALLY feel like maybe I need to rethink acute care. I used to work in a clinic and it was so cool. I can't imagine how to learn to play this crazy game of taking smack and then kissing booty! I don't even know if I should talk to anyone.

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I have now been a RN for 1 year and 2 months and I think I still feel like a student-lol

Kidding aside I think it was more like 6 to 8 months. Things were starting to click more and I felt just a tab more confident.

I was shocked at how hard it was for me to let go and realize that I am now the RN in charge of the patient.

I work in a busy NICU and they keep telling me it takes 2 years before you really feel like you know what you are doing.

I guess I have another year to go

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