Tell me someone else has felt like this....

I am a new graduate LPN. I am currently looking for a job with little luck. I have been freaking myself out lately because I feel like I don't know anything. Yes I feel like in nursing school I learned pretty much the basics and how to be safe. I am soooooooooooooooooo worried because when I do actually get hired say it be a nursing home and they put me out there on the floor I am going to be completly lost!!!!!!!!! All the what if this and what if that keep poping up in my head.....and how am I going to know this and that! AHHH!!! Please share your thoughts on this matter! I have little confidence! Did you feel like this coming out of school? How did you get over it?
Hey I just graduated in May from an RN program and I am glad to hear I am not alone. I feel like my school prepared me enough and I have learned what I need to and there is a lot more to learn. But I am very nervous about being on my own, yes nursing school was a pain but sometimes I wish my instructor could come with me haha. I have faith that we will all do fine that this is how we are supposed to feel I would be a little worried if I was over confident. So even though I may of not helped in answering in the way you wanted, I just wanted you to know your not alone and many others feel the same way. If you made it through you will do fine, I am told the first year is hard and stressful but if you push through it then you will do ok. Good luck

You do this by familiarizing yourself with policies and gaining experience; tincture of time

i'm not a pn grad yet, i'll graduate in 2011 -hopefully. i know confidence is one of my biggest issues too. just remember you were trained for this. remember how hard you studied and most of all that you earned your licence!sorry i can't speak form experience but i just wanted to encourage you. you are a nurse! congratulations!!! the job market is tough all around, nothing new for nurses, we can only pray that things pick up.good luck, don't let your worries steel away all you have accomplished.

I utilized the NCLEX books (multiple diff. copies) to retain that knowledge, for about a year. Here in there, while on hold making a phone call, for a few minutes after dinner, etc. Also getting to know policy and procedure where you do get hired, will be key.

They aren't going to throw you out on the floor cold. And if they do.. find another job.You will have to break away from orientation and in LTC its sooner. You will feel lost on your first night alone but it gets better.

someone has felt like this.

Been there, done that. Nobody is born knowing everything about nursing, and nobody knows everything about nursing. It's just your turn to learn. Wishing you compliant patients and legible orders.

Quote from HiHoCherry-OYou do this by familiarizing yourself with policies and gaining experience; tincture of time

Its time to learn and adjust to the nursing profession.

I graduated with my LPN last May and my RN this May. It took a good year for me to feel even remotely comfortable working on med/srg as an LPN and now I have new responsibilities as an RN. The one thing I have learned.....is there is still A LOT to learn. No one feels comfortable straight out of the gate. I've learned more by doing, seeing and watching. I ask a ton of questions. You aren't supposed to know everything and if you find a mentor at work, use them. As time goes on, you will gain confidence, but the learning never stops.Good luck to you and just keep remembering that you passed nursing school, you passed the NCLEX so you CAN do this!! Take advantage of the people at work who want to help you and use every opportunity as a learning experience.

Hello!I just received my LPN license this month and have a job in acute rehab. I believe I have a leg up on you by having worked in this facility for the past year as a tech so I'm not as intimidated. But I'm intimidated nonetheless. You have to remember you passed nursing school and the dreaded NCLEX which proves you are competent to practice nursing. You will have an orientation to help you transition and ask a lot of questions. As someone said, also learn your policies and procedures. I. read up on common dx and meds I will be giving in my specialty. On the contrary to what a previous poster said, I use my med-surg book to review this info because I like a more in-depth explanation of the subjects I'm covering. My NCLEX review book is awesome, but not AS detailed. Exhale. Take it one day at a time.

Everyone feels like that at first! The cure for that is a good orientation process, and a gradual set of increasing responsibilities with a supportive preceptor however! That doesn't happen in LTCs often from what some of the new LPNs have said about their patient load. If you take a job in an LTC, be aware that your most precious posession is now your license and don't expect yourself to do the impossible. There are lots of tips and tricks in the Geriatric nurse forum.Quote from NurseinprocessPolicies? I barely have time to juggle the pts let alone read any policies. Darn it, I knew I was forgetting to do something during my shifts .