Surviving Your First Year as a Nurse

It’s pretty hard for me to believe that I have been a nurse for almost two years. While the 12 hour shifts are long, two years is short and has truly flown by. The first six months of my being a nurse, I was orienting on my unit– aka had a preceptor helping guide me. For some, this may seem like a long time, for others it may seem short (I have heard of 9+ month long orientations)!

But once I was by myself, reality came crashing down and it was a little scary at first. I was fine (and you will be too), but knowing that I no longer had a preceptor to fall back on was scary as heck. I wish I had read more blog posts about tips to be a great nurse or how to get through that first year because I cried…. a lot. And honestly I still do sometimes. But now I have (slightly) better coping skills to get through the tough stuff and maybe a tiny bit of wisdom that I wish I could have told myself two years ago.

1. Smile until it’s real

This sounds dark. But the reality is that nursing can be a dark profession. When a patient is throwing things at you, threatening you, and you get bodily fluids in your eye (all things that have happened to me in the past six months), sometimes you just have to go find your nurse buddy and laugh it off. If you focus too much negative emotion on things, it is going to break you (cause I’ve been there too).

2. Accept that you don’t know everything (or anything for that matter)

If you are reading this and you are about to graduate nursing school or just passed your NCLEX, know this: YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.

Your preceptor is going to roll their eyes at you, you’re going to ask a ton of stupid questions, and you are going to be frozen with fear at how to complete a skill at some point. And that’s OK. Nursing school gives you 20% of the knowledge you need to know– the rest you learn on the job. And you will learn. But PLEASE don’t pretend like you know everything. You don’t. And there is nothing scarier than an overly-confident nurse.

3. Ask for help

If you have accepted #2, then great, this part should come easier. Don’t think you can do it all, and don’t do something unless you know 100% the correct procedure or answer.

If your patient is circling the drain, grab a friend (or hopefully a more experienced nurse). Experienced nurses still need an extra set of hands some times too.

4. Don’t let yourself be a doormat

This was a really hard one for me to start doing. Yes, patient satisfaction is important. But if someone is cussing you out and has insane demands, you can kindly shut them down. It’s okay to stand up for yourself.

Example: ” I understand that you are scared and hurting right now, but yelling and being rude to me is not going to fix anything. I am trying to help you. We are on the same team.

5. Have strong support system

I still come home sometimes and cry. When a patient I’ve gotten to know passes… it still hurts. Everyone told me that you have to detach yourself. I don’t know if I agree with that 100%.

Emotion makes us human. It is okay to be sad and grieve over a tough code or the loss of a patient. That being said, don’t let it consume you.

Nursing is a hard job. Sometimes you will be screamed at, hit, kicked, and threatened. Sometimes you will go to the bathroom and cry. Make good friends on your unit to spill your guts to when work is hard. Cause they will get what it’s like. But also have friends outside of work or family, who are equally supportive, to disconnect from work who can hug you and encourage you.

6. Wear comfy scrubs

Cause that’s half the reason why we became nurses right?