It is said that up to 90% of what you do on the job after graduation was not learned while in nursing school.
I’m not convinced the learning curve is that high, but there is a lot of on-the-job training required. Nursing is a complex profession.
KNOW this: the first year is the toughest. It takes time to develop good clinical judgment and quality time management. It takes time to learn how to recognize when a patient needs immediate intervention. These are challenging things to discover and it takes experience to learn them. You will start putting the pieces together. It will happen, but it’s not easy and it takes time.
Be flexible. There are certain things like drug dosages and turning schedules that should never be flexible, but when it comes to the ability to cover for a lunch break or learn about the new charting update, flexibility empowers you to meet the demands of an ever-changing work environment.
Find a mentor. Guidance is not just the old nurses telling the young nurses how it was in the olden days. A true mentorship encourages, inspires, motivates, and supports. As a matter of fact, it can be a two-way street. Often both the mentor and mentee discover they’re both achieving their life’s goals and aspirations. See the tips above on how to find a mentor.
Learn to say no. As a newbie nurse, you’ll want to say yes to everything. You want to see it all and experience it all. You want to make a great impression on your coworkers. But knowing your limits and having boundaries is crucial. You don’t want to get burned out this early in the game. Choose your experiences wisely. Pace yourself. There’s nothing wrong with a simple “no thank you” or “perhaps later” when your circumstances require it.
Set goals. You didn’t come this far to leave your career to chance. As you advance through school and land your first nursing job, you may still be wondering what your specialty passion is or how to find that work-life balance. The short- and long-term goals you set should be SMART: make sure they are SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, and TIMELY. It’s important to reassess your goals at least every 6 to 12 months.
Avoid complaining. There’s a big difference between complaining and voicing a concern. Here’s how to avoid complaining. Identify the problem (or what’s making you uncomfortable), brainstorm until you have a solution, then verbalize the problem to the right people with the intent to bring about change. Complainers will grumble about everything, but your approach should not be about fault-finding, you should be certain that your concern is legitimate and deserves to be addressed. Besides, you will have solutions to resolve the problem and this will show that you’re innovative.
Be assertive. Learn to listen to your inner voice. People with healthy self-esteem are more likely to speak out—with respect—against whatever brings them dismay. Speaking up is a method of asserting that they care about the situation; it is not an attack. Speaking up isn’t about proving anything or showing off what you know. It is about being true to yourself while respecting those around you.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. You are human. You are a nurse. You will make mistakes. You will make nursing errors. We’ve all made nursing errors. The first lesson you should learn from your nursing error is to give yourself some grace. The second lesson is responsibility. You report it, you do all you can do to immediately correct it. You analyze the situation and you learn from your mistake. Then you show yourself the same compassion you would show your best friend. You avoid self-criticism and punishing yourself with negativity. You must realize that a mistake doesn’t make you a bad nurse. You must realize that a bad shift doesn’t make you a bad nurse.
Take bathroom breaks. It really is not cool to hold your pee until you can’t stand it another second. You know you’re setting yourself up for ureter backflow issues, bladder stretching, and infections. Just find someone to watch your patients and go already. While you’re at it when was your last bowel movement?
There you have it . . . help to get through the toughest year of your life.
YOU GOT THIS!
XOX
