I think I might be a scary nurse

1 I read quite a few posts on here from other new grads (I will admit that they are the ones who actually have jobs; I do not have a nursing job) about the anxiety levels.

I PM'd one of my AN buddies on here about this, but then I thought I would ask the masses, too.

I think there must be something wrong with me. I have a little anxiety, but not anywhere close to what I read on here sometimes about new grads. I guess I feel more like I must have known something to pass nursing school and NCLEX. I know textbook world is totally different than real nursing world. I do feel like my school gave me a decent education. I feel like I have a good base knowledge to get me started in the world of nursing. I definitely feel like I will have to learn stuff and will make mistakes.

Does having confidence (with a small amount of anxiety) mean I will be a scary nurse if I ever find a job? It scares me to actually find that I have some confidence in my abilities when I often hear that a nurse without fear/anxiety is a scary nurse...Where is the line drawn exactly?
Well, it is true that some of the scariest nurses are the over confident nurses. Some of the best are the nurses who know what they do not know. They are learning and have lots of questions. In time, they will get over that anxiety.I've been a nurse for 2 years and when i started i was frightened by any patient with a line, drain or tube. I was frightened by trach and ventilators. It's been 2 years and i'm like GIVE IT TO ME! I'LL TAKE IT. I'm confident enough to take care of them, and i feel i do a good job. Yes i run into things i don't know, but i ask. And that is just fine, just as long as i'm not over confident in myself.Being confident is good, being OVER confident is not so good. I don't think it is what is keeping you from getting a job. Sometimes i feel like hospitals are leaning towards hiring all new grads. Our hospital jsut announced they hired 45 new grads. Everyone that has come in, has little to no experience as a nurse. Not sure if that has alot to do with it, but it seems to be going that way. Hospitals can mold them into the type of nurse they want them to be.

I don't have any nursing experience, just an "old" new grad from 2012. I feel like if I had an issue or question, then I would ask and/or consult the Policy and Procedure Manual. I don't have the level of anxiety that other new grads have...maybe it is because I don't have a job offer yet, but the fact I don't have too much anxiety scares me because of what everyone says about the nurse without anxiety/the one with confidence/know it all and being scary.

For me, I wasn't anxious until I neared the end of my new grad orientation. Then I was terrified. It's kind of like playing a team sport...you have plenty of practice, you do know what you're doing...then it's game day! So you could be like that with your anxiety.

Maybe..I hope so. Maybe there's indifference/apathy mixed in there from not being able to find a job.

Quote from wish_me_luckMaybe..I hope so. Maybe there's indifference/apathy mixed in there from not being able to find a job.

You can be confident without being cocky. Learn the difference.

I don't think that makes you a scary nurse, but then again, I may be a scary nurse myself. I was never afraid going into a patient's room or starting something new. My thought process was that yes, there are plenty of things I don't know, but that's why I have instructors, preceptors, and coworkers. No man (or nurse) is an island, and even though there are things I do not know I'm not going to waste my time being afraid when I can just pop over to the computer and look it up or ask a coworker to help me. Besides, being afraid and nervous just makes you more likely to make a mistake, IMO.

I'm also someone where the anxiety didn't really start until I was at the end of orientation and it didn't get obsessively bad until I'd actually been off orientation for two or three weeks. It's hard to realize what you don't know until you've really experienced it. I know a lot of my anxiety was less about policies and procedures and more about multi-tasking, realizing trends, and putting the pieces of the big picture together.

For me I never had anxiety related to my first job as a new grad. I was confident, but I did not think I knew it all either. Part of this could possibly be do to the fact that I worked as a tech on that very unit for 8 months prior to graduating

What makes a scary nurse: someone who assumes they know how to do everything, one who never asks questions, one who thinks they know all policy and procedures, one who tries to talk about things they have no clue about. I still ask questions and constantly learning. No one knows everything

I am glad I am not the only one. I agree that it is hard to know what to ask until a situation arises. But I guess it is more that my anxiety has worn off and I just want to do it and start my nursing career and the idea of having a nursing job is more exciting than anxiety provoking. I feel slightly better, now.

I would say a scary nurse is one who doesn't even know what they don't know, but insists they know everything and can't be told otherwise. Arrogant, in other words. It's ok to admit that you don't have all the answers.