on my own

I have been on my own since 9/17/2017.

I started my job as a registered nurse on June 19, 2017. At my hospital, I am in a nurse residency program that lasts an entire year. The first week of work is in-class orientation. After the first week, I had 12 weeks of preceptorship. Preceptorship is when you work under another nurse. My patients were my preceptor's patients. So basically, my patients got two for the price of one. I learned A LOT during my 12 weeks. I tried to focus on practicing skills and learning how to manage my time because once you're on your own, you are on your own. There won't always be an extra hand to help you with your patients. I say this in the sense that all other nurses working during your shift are busy.




I was very nervous to be on my own. I knew that I felt more confident with patient care and managing 6 patients, but I was still nervous. My very first shift on my own, the other nurse working was my preceptor. That made me feel less nervous and more excited! Since starting on the floor, I have learned that I definitely have great coworkers that I can count on. Our floor has a high turn-over rate. During one shift in particular, I remember we had 14 discharges. FOURTEEN. The maximum amount of patients we can have on our floor is 24, and I doubt we had 24 patients that day because it is a rarity to be completely full. Let's say we did have 24 patients the day we discharged 14, so by the end of my shift, only 10 patients were on our floor that were there when I started my shift. You will then have multiple admissions to replace the patients you discharged. The high turn-over rate can be extremely stressful, that's why I am so glad that I work with my coworkers. We are always asking each other if the other needs anything. As long as we have each other's back, I feel like we can get through any day with ease or at least we can make it to clock-out time!

I am extremely happy to be on my own and to constantly be learning. I am so incredibly grateful for my coworkers and how well we all work together. And yes, I STILL can't believe that I am finally working my dream job. It still feels surreal. I'm so happy.