Hang in there new nurse!

So I wanted to share the message below with you, the new nurse who is reading this..
..To provide some encouragement and support because it is easy to feel incompetent starting your nursing career. Yes.. we are licensed BUT we are brand-spanking-NEW.. the transition will take getting used to because we are professional registered nurses and no longer student nurses. Now, we are performing the nursing skills we, as nursing students, were so used to watching our clinical instructors do.. BUT .. be patient new nurse.. and learn everything you can!! Ask as many dumb questions you see fit and don't be so hard on yourself, it will come with time!:

Hey new nurse,
You terrified yet?
Have you wanted to quit or reconsider your career choice yet?
If not… you probably will.

But, little nurse- take heart. Please take heart.  You are not alone.
That confident nurse you admire so much, the one whose work is done on time and is always available to help out.  The one who everyone asks questions and who can usually offer more ideas than the doctors. The one that always gets the hardest assignments and who you hope to see in a code.

That nurse was once where you stand.  They also once shook a little starting an IV.  They were also afraid they put the catheter in the wrong hole.  Their voice also quivered when they talked to their first ‘mean’ doctor.  They also woke up, put on their scrubs, looked in the mirror and thought. “OK…I can do this.” 

The thing about nursing is, you don’t know everything.  You never will.  But, that is both the beauty and the pain of the job- you never stop learning.  So, little nurse, hang in there.  Because that nurse that you admire so much didn’t get to where they are now by quitting.

(Disclaimer: The clinical suggestions, advice and recommendations described on sicunurse.blogspot.com are based on my personal opinions and are not medical advice. The content is for entertainment purposes only. I, surgicalnurse.blogspot.com, do not own, nor did I create any of the animations above. I did create the captions written above and below them, customizing them to my experiences along with learning tips I have found helpful in my practice).