Here's the 60,000 question...

When do you stop feeling like youre just a body standing around getting in the way?! I worked on peds last night, the first time, the only cna with 16 patients and 2 nurses and 3 really bad RSV babies..I'm talking turning purple and oxygen sats at 76! Really all I do is take vitals, fill water, fill croupette humidifiers, measure pee and poop...and so forth. And I do ok at it..I guess I just need to get my sea legs or whatever the saying is. Really, I guess the question is this: when do you start gaining confidence? Because right now, I'm looking at the RNs and going "Hm...theres REALLY no way I can do all this is there!!!" Someone placate me, please!

You are in a great place to learn. Ask questions whenever you can. You are probably in for a few years of discomfort, feeling you don't know enough. It takes a year or two after nursing school to really start feeling comfortable. More if you change positions. I worked in psych for 7 months after getting my RN (a comfort area as I had lots of previous experience in that area), then 18 months on a tele unit, then hospice. I've also worked as a CNS in LTC and pain management. Now I'm back in critical care working on a step down unit and I finally feel the confidence I wanted to feel. I was in an entry level masters program, so there was a lot of pressure to advance quickly. It has worked out well for me, but it probably would have been smoother if I had had a couple of years in one area to develop my skills before moving on. It'll all fall into place in time. Keep up the good work. Caryl Keep up the good

You are in for a rough ride, but hang in there! All through nursing school, I felt like I was three steps behind, trying to keep up with everything I was supposed to be learning. Then, when starting my new job, I felt like I had not even GONE to nursing school! It took about a year to feel comfortable as a nurse, but then, when I switched to L&D, there was sooooo much more to learn that it took yet another year or so before I felt like I knew anything there! Just keep your eyes open, learn what you can on the job and in school, and try to "make it through" the best you can! Also, remember...those nurses that seem to know just what they're doing at just the right time ALL started out where you are now with the same uncertainties! And you aren't just in the way! Everything you do, whether taking vitals, cleaning poop, or just holding a crying baby, is one less thing those RNs have to do, so they can be working on all the things you can't yet do--documentation, med passes, treatments, assessments, etc! Good luck to you, and hang in there! Megan

Hey Kathy, I have been doing this since 93 with 2 years PCT before and nursing school was by far the worse. Nursing changes daily and you will always be learning. I still feel somedays like a new grad. What brings it home is when a trauma comes in and I jump in with both feet and don't question what I am doing that I know how much I have learned, or when a new mom asks questions over her sick baby at 3am and I can answer intelligently. Don't ever be scared to ask the nurses you are working with questions. Learn from your co-workers everyshift. Work as a team and you will be surprised how fast you will become the senior/leader of the team. Good luck - Beverly