Best Advice for New Nurses on their First Job?

This question is for my experienced nurse colleagues. What is it that you feel makes for a successful nurse? What advice would you give to a new nurse grad starting his or her first job? I am preparing to begin my first nursing position in a hospital and really want to give it my best. There seems to be a huge learning curve between being a student nurse and a professional RN and I'm looking to do what I can to give the best patient care possible and help myself in my development into my new role. Thank you for sharing your insight!
Listen more than you speak.

Listen to your preceptor, communicate with them constructively, be there early and come prepared to hit the floor running. Don't assume that all nurses eat their young because they don't. And don't be too hard on your self you have a lot to learn and it may take time.

Do your 6 rights of medication every time.

Ask questions if you are not sure of something, show interest, be respectful and receptive to your patients and staff, and finally have a positive attitude.

Make progress! Write things down, look things up, etc. We each move at our own pace, but we should all be moving forward. Be able to accept constructive criticism without getting defensive or shutting down.

Learn to say no, especially if your asked to stop doing your med pass to do a task an aid could do.

They say, "fake it til you make it" and while that may be true around patients (who wants a nurse who has never done whatever procedure before)? Fake confidence where you can, but never, ever fake knowledge you don't have to your coworkers or doctors. If you don't know how to do a thing, ASK. If you don't have the answer, look it up.Respect experience, it counts for a lot. Many new/young nurses write off older nurses as "old" and that should retire already. These folks are a wealth of knowledge. Respect them, and they will share it with you.Don't be late. Don't call out sick often. Show up ready and willing to do the job, with an attitude to match. I wish you well..

If it's remotely feasible, clear your calendar for a year and devote everything to preparing and concentrating on work, rest and good self care.

A few things:-Ask if you don't know/don't understand but pick your questions. If you leave the things that you can just as easily look up for yourself, you have more time for questions that have gray zones and intricacies. Regardless of that, ask if you have a question, no matter how simple the question is.- Reflective practice! It is easy for people to say "critical thinking" is important and it is. But how do you develop it other than by adding more info and connections to your mental filing cupboard? (And this takes time.)By reflecting on your practice, you can join the dots, see patterns, learn from your and others' mistakes AND successes. Reflecting on events assists the learning process and is a vital ingredient in the successful nurse.-Organization/time management - here and there on this site you'll find shift planners, cheat sheets, brain maps etc to help you organize not only your time but all the info that's coming in. As you experiment, you'll find a way to organize your time, thoughts and info in a way that works best for you.-keep a mini note book on you at all times and jot down any unfamiliar words, abbreviations or concepts that pop up. Then you can look them up later. I still do this because I'll come across an obscure condition or a medication that I broadly know but want to revise, or just anything that I want to look into a bit more.-Medications: you can also write a list of all the most common medications given on your unit and learn them in more detail. You can then use that as a cue as to which aspects of pathophysiology to revise. When you have a really good handle on the science behind it, there's no need to memorize anymore. You will be able to critically think based on what you know about what's going on in the body. So you can join the dots on the spot.(This might sound straightforward and something you've already done in nursing school but we can always learn more about the background science, and the more solid and broad your understanding, the easier it is to think critically. Also, the easier it is to access files from your mental folders and apply them to situations.)-Teamwork: make an effort to be a good team player. Be aware of what's going on around you and help others when you can. Eg. "Here, let me do that and I'll watch your patients while you go have your break. Then we can swap."(One of the things that irks me is when nobody helps your patients while you're on break. Would it kill them to cover for you? )Also just being available to help in little ways, or just a "you OK, do you need a hand?" Everyone's flat out but in the medium term a culture of helping one another saves time across the board.Being a team player makes an impression on everyone. You would be surprised what your supervisors notice when it seems they're too busy to see how well you're doing. Feedback - seek out feedback from your supervisors/preceptors and take critiques gracefully. Take an honest look at the feedback you get, without pride involved, and use it to improve your practice. If people think you're without hope, they wouldn't bother to offer constructive criticism in the first place!That's about all I have at the moment but one last thing: try to remember your motivation for becoming a nurse. Hey, something has to keep the passion going in the hard times!

Take care of yourself. This sounds trivial, but the stress of the first year is real. Protect your sleep, especially if you work nights; chronic sleep deprivation affects your mood and morale. Find a way to eat real food while working full time. Get outside once in a while and get some exercise. Be mindful about the shoes you wear on your days off. Nurses spend most of their time up and about; those cute sandals that give you blisters are ok for office workers, but not you. Maintain your friendships, hobbies and other things that bring you joy. Don't expect work to provide all the satisfaction, adventure and friendship you need. Have a life outside of work.

Good advice you are getting here. Watch, listen and learn is always a smart idea. Work on that time management/organization and don't be too hard on yourself when you are not as fast as the experienced staff. Speaking from the perspective of the experienced staff I much prefer a new nurse that is slow and thorough instead of fast and sloppy. The speed will come as you get your routine down. Also be friendly with your co-workers without ovesharing and try your best to avoid the gossip mill that seems to exist in most work places.Congrats and Good luck in your new job!

Wow! These are all amazing suggestions. I am making note of them all! Thank you so much for taking the time it means a lot to me and I hope other new nurses also benefit from such rich information.