Gaining confidence

1 While I was in nursing school I struggled with finding confidence in clinicals, it became such a problem that my instructor took me aside to talk to me about it. Inserting foleys or any other nursing skill for the first time on my own would make me very nervous, once I completed the skill I gained confidence. I have been a nurse for a year now, but I still feel like a new nurse. The areas I still struggle with are speaking with patients and their family, talking to doctors, and critical thinking. I really lack confidence in those areas and I know that it shows. I see other nurses who have the same amount of experience as I do, just take charge and have that confidence. If I were to transfer to a med/surg floor I feel like I would struggle just like a new new nurse just out of school because I lack confidence. Although I feel like I have come a long way since first starting as a new nurse, I'm still frustrated at myself.
It's normal to feel unsure when you're new at something. There's been lots written about it. In fact, one of the major nursing theorists, Pat Benner, wrote books about it. Her book, From Novice to Expert, covers it in detail.Experience will give you more confidence. It can take a couple of years to get past the nervousness you feel in new situations. It will pass though! Then, bad news...if you go to a different specialty, it will be back! I hate the word normal, but....you are normal, normal, NORMAL!

You are normal. And you are smart to recognize and area for improvement. I would ask one of the facility educators to assist you. I do remediation for staff having issues, but I also help individuals. improve their skills. For instance, if a nurse lacks confidence on IV starts I arrange for her to work in Same Day for a day and start a lot of IV's. Or go to another dept. and hang blood. Or whatever is needed. Consider your resources. None of this were born knowing this stuff

I was like this. It took me some time to build up the skills you mention. I tend to have some social anxiety, which contributes. Other people appeared to be hotshots right out of the gate.One thing I built on is my intelligence. I was a top student who really understood underlying pathophyisiology better than a lot of my peers. I have a really good vocabulary and can converse with highly educated people and be taken seriously. I learned to adapt to speaking to patients on their varying levels, and honed my bedside manner skills to a fine art, winning over patients right and left. In other words, capitalize on your strengths while gradually improving your skills. I worked in several different areas of nursing over the years and now am a competent ER nurse. No, I'm not the biggest hotshot in our department, but I get the job done, and do it well. And the patients love me.

I feel like I could have written this post. I was so nervous when I finished nursing school. I still hate taking to doctors, managers. I feel uncertain of my skills at times. It does get better as you start to feel more comfortable in the environment. I've also switched jobs a few times and this last time was the easiest since I am already confident in my other learned skills.

How do we develop expertise and confidence?practicepracticeand practice some more...You are socially shy, so you must motivate yourself to speak with the patients and families so that you have opportunity to develop those skills and that confidence.Everyday you likely learn something new. Celebrate that, reflect upon it, savor the new knowledge and give yourself a pat on the back. When confronted with the opportunity to repeat that new task or to utilize that new knowlegde, jump at it. Rather than reminding yourself that you are not expert at it, remind yourself that you DO know something about it or that you HAVE done it before. Your thought and thinking patterns can cause us to feel uncomfortable even when we shouldn't. Identify those patterns in your life and seek to minimize their influence on your work.Good luck.

I agree with the above posters. However, OP, you stated that you also lack confidence when it comes to critical thinking. I guess I just don't see how one could lack confidence in critical thinking; I can certainly see how one could lack competence in critical thinking. I could see it if you thought critically about something, but were then too timid to offer up your ideas. I feel that, at least in acute care, critical thinking is not optional. And don't get me wrong, I get it that some people are shy but you need to get over that if you're actively taking care of patients. Unless you address your concerns about your self-reported lack of confidence, you are not going to be able to reach your full potential as a nurse. Regarding transferring to a med/surg unit... Well, I'll give you my opinion in a very factual way. Based on your post, it's 50/50 that you would either sink or swim. Med/surg is not for the faint of heart or the timid. You don't have time to sit there and worry about not being confident, because if you do then you will likely fail at that job. So, med/surg would either force you to become confident because of the sheer pace, or you would simply not be successful in that area of medicine.With that being said, what do you think the basis of your lack of confidence is? Is it lack of knowledge? I mean, if you work on a med/surg floor you NEED to be able to critically think re: labs, meds, etc... You're also going to be doing patient teaching and speaking with their families. Oh, and you're going to be speaking with providers quite often, too. So, unless you get to the core of why you think you lack confidence, and take steps to correct it, med/surg may not be for you. Incidentally, what area of medicine do you work in right now?

Some people are more self-critical than others. It might be part of what makes you different from your more confident-appearing peers. A small error can ruin the day of a self-critical person while their confident peers are praising themselves for leaving patients alive at the end of the shift. My preceptor told me "you have to crawl before you can walk". Part of the difficulty of being new (and one year in is still new)is the mismatch between your actual skill level and what you aspire to.Keep practicing. Praise yourself when you do something new. Watch and learn from the nurses you admire.

Quote from RNperdiemSome people are more self-critical than others. It might be part of what makes you different from your more confident-appearing peers. A small error can ruin the day of a self-critical person while their confident peers are praising themselves for leaving patients alive at the end of the shift.

Everybody goes to that kind of process. Just dont stop believing in yourself and improve! Your just starting and its all part of it.

Quote from Squirrely18The areas I still struggle with are speaking with patients and their family, talking to doctors, and critical thinking. I really lack confidence in those areas and I know that it shows. I see other nurses who have the same amount of experience as I do, just take charge and have that confidence.

Quote from Squirrely18Whenever I make mistakes in the clinical setting I am definitely self critical of myself and it takes me a while to get over it, but whenever things are going okay then I feel more confident.

Quote from sslamsterThis makes me wonder if you've considered talking to a professional about your issue.