I am a new nurse. I graduated one and a half years ago, worked six months, then had to take time off for mat leave, anyways, just starting back at work. I have been reading some of these posts lately, and I am so perplexed by nursing. I feel the exact same way as a majority of you new nurses do. Overwhelmed, scared, nervous, I dread going back to work after days off. I literally count down the hours until I have to go back to work, just like I did when I was ten years old having to go back to school on a Monday morning after a weekend. I have all these feelings and a majority of you do as well, after spending tens of thousands of dollars in tuition and four years in university, only to have feelings of inadequacy and self doubt. I always feel like I am not smart enough, not knowledgeable enough, and don't have enough experience. I have two degrees and have worked other areas such as administration and hospitality, but have never felt like this. I am just wondering what it is about the field of nursing that makes us feel the way we do, because I hate how my career choice makes me feel. Is it simply lack of experience? Does it stem from lack of support from colleagues? A fear of making a mistake? Does this happen in other fields as well? Any ideas? Any advice how to get through these first few years and not only survive, but thrive?
"I always feel like I am not smart enough, not knowledgeable enough, and don't have enough experience."
Honey, there are things that we come across that even the most experienced nurses haven't encountered yet. Case in point, one time last year we showed up at work to find the whole place basically locked down and people walking around in hazmat suits...turned out there had been an industrial accident in the city with some chemical we'd never heard of that caused methemoglobinemia. The guys who were exposed ended up on our floor. None of us, not even those who had been nurses for 20+ years, had come across anything like that before.
Viva had a great reply. Nursing is about change, constant learning, and the ever present thought in the back of your head that any of your patients might tank at any given time. Some people thrive on that from the start, and it takes others quite some time to get used to it. Personally, I love the feeling of bringing order to the chaos, but others that I work with are consistently frustrated and unable to cope, regardless of how long they've been doing it.
It's especially hard as a new nurse b/c you can't be taught the skills required to manage a team of patients on your own in school. And if where you went was anything like where I went to school, there's a total lack of recognition of that fact by the instructors. Which leads to you not understanding why, after all that time and money you invested, you can't deal with it. Which is also why it's so important to get your first job at a place with a decent orientation and supportive veteran staff to help mentor you through that first year or two when you're still getting the hang of it. Unfortunately, especially in today's economy, a lot of new grads are having to take whatever they can get, which sucks.
Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one that felt this way. I am a new grad LPN who is still orienting in LTC. The seasoned LPN's make me feel like an idiot and don't want to be bothered with training me. I wanted to become a nurse more than anything and now that I am out there in the real world, I am wondering if I made a major mistake. The night shift nurses seem a little more accepting of a new nurse, and since I will be orienting with them later this week, I hope things go better. I just hope that there comes a day when I look forward to going to work, instead of dreading it.
I am so glad I'm not the only one out there! I thought I would have somewhat of a handle. I'd been an LVN for three years before getting my RN. And I got to tell you, as a New Grad in ICU, I feel like crying every day, there's so much I don't know. And it seems 100x easier to make a mistake than to not too. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells and always behind because I double check and then triple check with my preceptor before I do anything.
I hope it gets better for all of us. If it doesn't, I'm going to start looking into the jobs I know I can handle because I've done them before, psych, geriatrics or group homes!
I had the same feeling after I completed my orientation in the ICU. I was shocked because I had always had a high level of self confidence but as soon as I was 'on my own' I was terrified. I talked it over with a few of my collegues and one of the more senior nurses told me that being scared, as long as it's not paralyzing, is the hallmark of a good nurse. It shows you care and underestand just how important this job is.
I talked it over with a few of my collegues and one of the more senior nurses told me that being scared, as long as it's not paralyzing, is the hallmark of a good nurse. It shows you care and underestand just how important this job is.
Absolutely ... my coworkers (experienced RNs) say it's the fearless new nurses that scare everyone! LOL
"What this means to nurses is that we have to become comfortable with being UNcomfortable. We will always be just a little off-balance, because nursing deals with human beings and human beings are constantly changing, as is our knowledge of how our bodies work."
I love this, Viva! Especially the first sentence. May I quote you in the future? :)
mama_d, BSN, RN
1,187 Posts
"I always feel like I am not smart enough, not knowledgeable enough, and don't have enough experience."
Honey, there are things that we come across that even the most experienced nurses haven't encountered yet. Case in point, one time last year we showed up at work to find the whole place basically locked down and people walking around in hazmat suits...turned out there had been an industrial accident in the city with some chemical we'd never heard of that caused methemoglobinemia. The guys who were exposed ended up on our floor. None of us, not even those who had been nurses for 20+ years, had come across anything like that before.
Viva had a great reply. Nursing is about change, constant learning, and the ever present thought in the back of your head that any of your patients might tank at any given time. Some people thrive on that from the start, and it takes others quite some time to get used to it. Personally, I love the feeling of bringing order to the chaos, but others that I work with are consistently frustrated and unable to cope, regardless of how long they've been doing it.
It's especially hard as a new nurse b/c you can't be taught the skills required to manage a team of patients on your own in school. And if where you went was anything like where I went to school, there's a total lack of recognition of that fact by the instructors. Which leads to you not understanding why, after all that time and money you invested, you can't deal with it. Which is also why it's so important to get your first job at a place with a decent orientation and supportive veteran staff to help mentor you through that first year or two when you're still getting the hang of it. Unfortunately, especially in today's economy, a lot of new grads are having to take whatever they can get, which sucks.