Question:
Dear Donna,
I?m 25 years old. I have been a nurse for close to three years and a travel nurse for 1 year. I recently had my first code, and my patient ended up passing.
Since then, my confidence level has dropped. I am unhappy with any med/surg hospital I?m at. Bedside nursing no longer feel right for me. I go to work scared that patients and families will have questions I cannot answer. I?m scared my patients will code, and I?m just scared. I guess my anxiety level is too high.
Anyway, I have always loved the medical field ever since I was a child, and I would like to stick with it ? but maybe on the business end? Weekends off, etc. What do you suggest? I am currently going back for my BSN. I have looked into utilization review, but I have no idea how that works.
Kathy
Dear Donna replies:
Dear Kathy,
Certainly there are opportunities for you beyond the bedside. But I am concerned about your growing fears and dropping confidence level and am worried that you may be running away from something. I can hardly believe you?ve been in nursing for three years and just had your first code. Let me say that every nurse?s first code is a traumatic event. And when the patient doesn?t survive that first time, it can compound the situation in your mind.
Your confidence level will not get better if you flee what you fear. How about trying a different clinical specialty other than med/surg? How about not traveling for a while and working somewhere that you can have more stability and support?
Do you belong to any professional associations? You cannot stay isolated in nursing. Read the article ?Lean on Me? at http://www.dcardillo.com/articles/leanonme.html. At the very least, join the American Nurses Association and the state chapter in your home state or current state. You can easily change your state affiliation if you move.
It?s good that you?re going back for a BSN. And it?s always a good idea to explore other employment options whether you?re happy where you are or not. Start doing some informational interviewing with nurses working in other specialties, such as utilization review. Consider some other clinical specialties as well. Find them at your current place of employment or at other area hospitals.
If you leave the bedside out of fear, you will carry that fear and low confidence with you throughout your career. Take steps to master the clinical setting, even in a different specialty and a different hospital while you consider other options for your future.
Best wishes,
Donna
Donna Cardillo, RN, MA, well-known career guru, is Nursing Spectrum?s ?Dear Donna? and author of Your First Year as a Nurse: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional. To ask Donna your question, go to www.nurse.com/asktheexperts/deardonna. Find a ?Dear Donna? seminar near you: Call (800) 866-0919 or visit http://events.nursingspectrum.com/Seminar.
