When will I quit feeling like a dumbass?

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I was an LPN for 3 year and now an RN for 13 months- I have been on a busy Med/Surg floor for about 6 months. All of my co- workers are awesome and I had a great preceptor. I had a great review after my probation period- but when will I quit feeling like a dumbass!?

I know there is so much to learn with experience, but I go home after a shift and think about things I missed or could have done different. I worry about a missed critical lab, sign or symptoms...ugh... is this normal?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

I start thinking about all things 'non-nursing' as soon as I hit the clock! Time to go! Quitting' time is the best time of the day!:yes: you did your best for the day. Let it go! Pobody's nerfect!

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Specializes in Emergency.

I'd say pretty normal. As a newer nurse I remember spending my friend's rehearsal dinner perseverating on an extremely small error in judgment (no adverse consequences for anybody except me) that I had made 4 days earlier (and yes it had been on my mind the entire time). It ruined the whole event for me and I had to make a conscious effort to keep busy for the wedding the next day in order to keep my mind off it.

I'm much better now at shaking it off, unless it is really a horrific day I can leave it all at the door.

This too shall pass!

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Specializes in ER/ICU, CCL, EP.

Well, so far it's five years for me and I still occasionally feel like a dumbass. I will let you know if anything changes. ;)

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Reflection never stops - and that's a good thing! Stop beating yourself up, and don't be so hard on yourself (I know that's easier said than done!).

One of my preceptors said it takes a minimum of two years to really feel like you have the swing of things. I agree with that. But even after two years, you'll get something thrown at you that you haven't handled before. But that's why there are people around you to ask and policies to consult.

After three years working various types of med-surg, one of my coworkers had never pulled a JP drain. She was an excellent nurse, but it had just worked out that she had never had a patient who needed one pulled. She's not a dumbass for not knowing; it's all a part of nursing.

That being said; thinking about how you can do things differently in the future, or self-assessing your skills every now and then is NOT a bad thing. I wish more people would do it, in fact. Just try your hardest not to be negative towards yourself when you do it. There is a difference between thinking, "I am such an idiot, I can't believe I did/didn't do x, y, and z."and thinking "How can I do this better next time/provide better service in this circumstance?"

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Exactly what delilas said....reflection never stops. New meds, new procedures, new equipment, new diseases, will be a part of your job until you quit.

Nothing wrong with feeling like a dumbass (thought it is a little harsh), as long as you keep it to yourself and say to your patient, co-worker, doctor, pharmacist, patient's family etc., "I don't know about that, but I will find out".......or......."can you tell me about that, I am not familiar with it."

I've been a nurse over 30 years and don't feel the least bit "dumbass" to ask the patient, for example when they bring in their med list,...."What is that med....I don't know that one." Half the time it is a medication I do know...just not under that name. And I don't feel the least bit "dumbass" if I don't know what it is and the patient tells me. (I will then go look it up to make sure.)

I don't feel at all dumbass to ask the patient to tell me about their illness or disease process if it is something I am not real familiar with. Of course it varies, but many patients are well educated about their illness and enjoy sharing their knowledge to someone who is interested.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

I have been a nurse for 12 years and I still occasionally feel like a dumbass.

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RN for two years here. Definitely still feel like a dumbass, though I'm assured by others that I'm not on the rare days when I'm particularly insecure about my dumbassness. Some days I'm the most experienced nurse on the floor - that scares the heck out of me!

On those days, we tend to discuss our mutual dumbassness, and it's clear that the ones who seem to have it all together still have the same insecurities, and may in fact be struggling more than I am. But we're trained to at least pretend to be confident and competent, so we see our all our own foibles while looking at everyone else's public face.

When I look at it objectively - I've learned a lot in the past two years, and am a lot more competent now than I was when I started. Where will that put me in another two years (5 years, 10 years, etc.) if I continue to learn and improve?

I also find myself holding myself to ridiculous standards - I should be as good as the APN whose been in nursing for 30 years and has a decade more education than me. Yeah right.

What I'm finding is that I now feel like I have enough context to better integrate all the stuff I was taught in school, and I want to go back and do school over again! Doing CEUs actually feels useful and not just a hoop to jump through, and I'm glad I put off the RN to BSN program because I think I'm at a place where I can get a lot more out of it now.

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