How to Survive Your First Job As a Registered Nurse, Career Near Me

How to Survive Your First Job As a Registered Nurse, Career Near Me

Schoolwork, return demonstrations, and clinicals are done, graduation is over, licensing exams have been passed, and you've just been accepted to your first job. After years of training, you are now ready to practice. Here are some things to keep in mind to survive and enjoy your first job as a Registered Nurse.

Method 1 Preparing Before You Start Work.
1. Familiarize yourself with the workplace. Whether it is a hospital, a clinic, or a home, it is important to know details, such as who your bosses are. Know their names, what they look like, their contact information, and where you will be working.
Know the terrain of the hospital. Familiarize yourself with the layout of the hospital, such as where the relevant place are, such as the laboratories, the operating rooms, and the ERs.
Orient yourself to your specific wing, ward, or working area. That way you'll know where to get things from in a hurry.
Try to do this even before your first day on the job. Knowing what the area looks like will help ease some of the fear or anxiety you may be feeling.
2. Know your job description. Obtain a copy of the policies so you can refer to it as needed. You may get a booklet or manual for orientation that may have all this for you, but it is not a bad idea to be prepared. Policies you may come across can change from hospital to hospital.
For example, you may need to know how long to monitor someone who is in labor, how often to document certain things, and how often to do the patient’s vital signs.
Most policies are developed over the best practice and evidence based medicine, therefore they may change. Your hospital may list policies on its internet portal.
3. Relax and prepare for your first day. Pack your lunch and make your breakfast for the morning so you are not rushed. Have your scrubs cleaned and ready to wear. Have your work bag packed with essential nurse tools like pens, highlighter, paper, and stethoscope. You can also take time to relax. Hangout with your friends, sit around and watch TV, or do whatever else you normally do to relax.
Go to bed early because just like when you were a kid, you will be anxious for your first day.
4. Go to your shift early. Make this a habit. Knowing how busy the unit is will help you establish what kind of day you will have. Bring your breakfast to work so you can eat and be ready for whatever the shift may bring. Typically, there is a clock in nurse's station near the locker room. Change into your scrubs from your home clothes if your institution requires that. Get a pair of very comfortable nursing shoes, such as tennis shoes or clogs.
Make sure you take care of your feet. Typical nursing shifts are 12 hours, but usually last at least 13.
You may or may not get a set lunch time. Some days you will be lucky to use the bathroom, other days, you could have two lunch breaks.

Method 2 Being Prepared on the First Day.
1. Socialize on the first day. If you are a shy person, try to open up. Introduce yourself to everyone with a smile. Come across as friendly and ready to learn. You may feel stressed because other nurses may be stressed and vent about how their night was. You will become the same way. Nurses maintain a very professional attitude, but sometimes, to coworkers who understand, they may vent about the stresses of the day.
Do not be intimidated by this. Be prepared for report when you arrive to work and ready to work.
2. Learn the paperwork. Obtain copies of the various forms to be filled out so you have an idea what they entail. Also get to know the computer system the hospital uses. Most hospitals are electronic. You will most likely go through a formal training of the system your hospital uses.
There are many manufacturers for different electronic medical records, but your class will specify your area.
3. Familiarize yourself with bedside report. You can use any report sheet for yourself. Report sheets are sometimes referred to as the nurse’s brain. You will refer to it constantly during a shift and write all over it. Report sheets are the nurses way to communicate pertinent information in a format called SBAR to cover all aspects of the patient’s diagnosis and progress. You will go to your patient’s bedside with the off-going nurse and hear the reports on the patients.
SBAR stands for situation, background, assessment, and recommendation. It is a communication tool for nurses and doctors to be sure nothing is missed.
A verbal report is also necessary. Some things that are not appropriate in front of family or visitors is said outside the room, such as information about an alcohol problem or being involved with a counselor. There should always be a verbal report. No sheet should ever just be given to the oncoming nurse without a verbal report with it. You can only fit so much on a small piece of paper. There may be more you need to know.

Method 3 Taking Care of Patients.
1. Do your rounds. Doing rounds is checking on each patient in your priority order. You will have to prioritize your patients after the report to decide who needs your attention first. Prioritizing is not an easy skill and can involve a lot of critical thinking skills for the RN. Prioritizing will also help you time manage safe and effectively.
For example, if Ms. Brown is sleeping and was just medicated and has no pain, but Mr. Smith has been bleeding through his post op dressing and vitals are unstable, he would be the first patient that needs your attention.
2. Talk to them. Always assess your patient. It's important to verify the information given to you through verbal reporting and monitoring equipment so that you can appreciate any changes with the patient. Do not rely solely on what you see. Ask the patients how they are feeling. In other words, use the concepts of therapeutic communication and nonverbal communication to understand your patient’s needs. Therapeutic communication is a key tool to understanding your patient and helps your patient be open with you. Therapeutic communication uses words to come across as a caring individual. It does not put your patient down or make the conversation abrupt. These methods serve to build rapport and trust between you and the patient.
Nonverbal communication is the way most communication is done. Look at your patient, if he is rolling his eyes when you talk to him, or crossing his arms, it does not show that he is open to what you are saying. With these type of individuals, the key points of therapeutic communication like listening, asking open ended questions, and understanding can help them be more open to you.
3. Check your charts. Look at the standing Doctor's Orders and the medication record. Verify allergies and understand your patient’s diagnoses. You should also check for other relevant information such as patient history, allergies, and special instructions like DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate) documents.
4. Administer ordered medications and treatments. Keep in mind the basic concepts of administering medications, the five rights of administration. The five rights are the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route, and the right time. Ensure that you have the right:
Client. Check the client's ID tag. If the client is conscious and coherent, verify their name by approaching them with something like "Mr. Robin Hood? It's time for your medications".
Medication. Be extra careful to avoid mistaking a drug for another, especially if their names sound alike.
Dosage. Sometimes even the smallest mistake in dosage can have drastic effects. Check and counter-check the dose you have prepared against the dose ordered.
Route. A medication indicated for intramuscular injection should not be used intravenously. A suppository is not an oral med.
Time. Do your best to administer medications and treatments on schedule.
Documentation. Record the client's status before you gave the medication, as well as where, when, and how it was given. Indicate the dosage too. You should also indicate the client's reactions to the medications.
5. Do charts and other paperwork when you can. Some of the time you get in between seeing patients you should use for tasks like this. It is very easy to get swamped by paperwork if you delay. Write down what you did for the patient, or bring the roll around computer around with you to constantly chart what you do. Do not get behind or you will be there for a long time after your shift.
Ensure that your charting is complete and accurate. A chart can become evidence in the event of a lawsuit. Remember to only chart the facts, not an opinion or diagnoses.
Note changes in a patient's condition, new doctor's orders, and any other relevant information to include in your end-of-shift report. It is important to let the next shift know about these things so nothing will be overlooked.
6. Get ready for the next day. When your first day on the job ends, think about what you've done. Remember the new things you've learned and try to analyze the mistakes that you've made. Make sure you get a good night's rest and prepare for the next day.

Method 4 Staying Alert When You Have a Night Shift.
1. Be ready for night shift. Most people do not want night shifts, but as the new nurse, you will have to be prepared to survive it. Some departments have no openings on day shift for many years, depending on the turnover of the nurses. To be ready, get enough sleep. Aim for seven to nine hours per day.
This can be very hard for nurses with 12 hour nights to do, so on your days off, you may need extra rest, or a nap before work.
A lot of people get sales calls during the day, it can make your sleep very broken. Try to keep your phone off so you can rest.
2. Take care of yourself. To keep yourself energized, you need to exercise. Exercising in the morning is ideal for a lot of people and can warm up your body. This will keep you more energized during your shift and help keep you awake. Don't over do it because you don't want to expend all your energy.
You should also eat well balanced small meals and healthy foods. Especially on night shift, nurses get tired and their bodies crave sugar. Avoid sugary beverages and caffeine loaded drinks that can leave you dehydrated and crashed later in the night.
The morning for a night shift nurse is not morning, but when you wake up.
3. Prepare for work. There are certain activities that will help you adjust your schedule. Shower before work to help you wake up. Try to stick to your normal morning routine, even if it is 3pm when you wake up. Keep your phone on silent. If you have a choice, try to not work one night on, one night off, and another night on. It will throw your body off very badly because it won’t know how to sleep.
Try to get your family to understand. They won’t understand, they never will. They need to know that your 2pm time is their 2am time. You need rest and they need to understand not to wake you and that you may miss certain events.

Method 5 How to Improve your Nursing Skills.
1. Ask often for feedback. Usually after your orientation is over, your preceptor and manager will meet with you to see how you feel and comment on your needed improvements. No one is perfect. Expect criticism and don't take it personally. Everyone has room for improvement.
Internalizing all of this will make you a better nurse.
2. Continue learning. Depending on your specialty, your hospital will send people conferences in the area. Try to go to these to help you advance your skills or hear the most up to date practices. You should try to attend as many as possible to help with your career.
You should always be reading about your work. Keep a book by your bed. Look up things you don’t know after your shift, or during them if you have time. If you kept your nursing school books, it is smart to keep them in visible sight. You can also visit websites that have evidence based practice guidelines updated all the time.
3. Know the members of the health team. Nursing is a team effort, and you will not survive for very long if you try to do everything on your own. Especially get to know your nurses aides, housekeepers, and charge nurses. Be kind to everyone. The most liked people are the people that are nice and treat everyone the same. If you are a secretary or the MD, you are a key part of the team. Greet everyone with a smile and if you ask them to help you. Let them know it is not because you cannot do it yourself.
Your nurse aide has her own very important tasks to do that you may not even know. Be respectful to everyone’s job, but know that they are there to help you if you are overwhelmed.
Treat physicians with respect and not like a friend. When giving them information about the patient, use the SBAR tool and have a pen ready for a verbal order. Giving them the SBAR gives the physician the full story of the patient.
Remember, you may have a handful of patients, but they have many more.

Tips.

Learning, is the number one job of a new nurse, so demonstrating an open mind and receptivity is key - whether that’s asking a ton of questions, taking a million notes, creating a binder filled with information. Whatever the topic, acknowledgment that you are new to the craft and humility is important.
New nurses should never feel uncomfortable with asking questions. Being too embarrassed or feeling ashamed at your lack of knowledge could place your patient in jeopardy if there is an issue you are unsure how to solve as a new RN. Older, more experienced nurses should be receptive to inquiry. A new nurse is the patient’s advocate and should feel comfortable representing their needs when they are unable.
Admit your mistakes. If you make an error that may potentially harm a patient, tell your superiors and the physicians involved immediately. Trying to cover it up will only get you in trouble even more.
Take care of yourself too. Take bathroom breaks. Eat and drink. Do not neglect your own needs. Nursing can be a stressful job and your first line of defense against burnout is caring for yourself.
Keep notes. This way you can easily keep track of things that you have or have not yet done.
Ask questions. Don't be afraid to look dumb. It is better to mildly annoy your senior nurses with questions than to endanger lives by trying to do what you do not know how to.