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New nurse with severe anxiety

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Hello I'm hoping someone can help me. I've only been a nurse for 2.5 months and I'm having a terrible time adjusting. I'm on a busy med/surg floor working night shift and I have severe anxiety and panic attacks. I'm not healthy and I cannot eat or sleep because I just hate it. I don't know if I'm just overwhelmed it if I hate being a nurse but i can't take care of my patients when I'm having anxiety like this. It clouds my judgement. Before I was a nurse I did home health care as an STNA and I also worked in the office. I have been offered a position there but they want me to continue to work at the hospital a little bit too. I just don't know if I can go back to the hospital because it sends me into a panic attack. Someone please help.
We can not give medical advice per AN TOS, however, I would seek some counseling for stress management.Best wishes

Comment:
As the previous poster said, we cannot give any medical advice. However, I can share with you my experience...I have a very similar story to yours - was a new nurse on a busy busy floor and felt completely overwhelmed and anxious all the time. I had never suffered with anxiety before and didn't know how to cope. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and every day my work suffered from all of this. Everyone told me it would pass with time but in the moment it was hard to believe that. I knew I couldn't continue the way it was so I saw my doctor and she prescribed me Klonopin to take the night before I worked (I work days)...since it's a longer acting benzo it helped with anxiety and allowed me not only to sleep but also to function with a decreased level of anxiety the next day. As I felt more comfortable on my unit I began weaning off the Klonopin and haven't taken any for a few months now. I'm 8 months in at work and am thriving. Hopefully this gives you some encouragement. It does get better, but there's no shame in needing help to get there. Best of luck. Stay strong!

Comment:
Please see a mental health professional. We can't help you here, per TOS.
Author: peter  5-06-2015, 17:51   Views: 4182   
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