How to Thrive as a New Nurse
While nursing is a wonderful profession that brings great benefits, both personally and professionally, there are a great deal of challenges that go along with it. Here are some ways to help make sure the benefits keep outweighing the stress and strain that comes with the job. Thriving as a new nurse can take some time as you find a comfortable pace and continue to learn and gain experience as a registered nurse. Here are some tips on how to thrive as a new nurse!
Handling Stress as a New Nurse
When searching for your first job as a RN, be sure to ask yourself several questions that are in line with what you expect and want. Some of the questions would include:
- What is your preferred hospital setting?
- Do you love adventure and would love to be a travel nurse?
Remaining open with what you want will allow you to access a wide range of options. You should go ahead and look for employment openings in local government agencies, nursing homes, and clinics. Widening your search is always a good approach in increasing the success rate of your applications.
Your first days as a nurse can turn out to be most challenging and stressful. Thankfully, new nurses undergo orientation. As such, it is important to take advantage of the orientation period and learn as much information and practical skills as possible. This approach will require you to work closely with your mentor. Be sure to remain calm and avoid trying to fit in during this period. Implementing this method will allow you to learn the appropriate professional responses for different situations.
Maximizing the Positives
Keeping and maintaining a positive attitude while at work as a new RN is important. Such an attitude will make it easy to maximize on the positives that the job presents. When starting out, the opportunities to learn are vast. Based on that, you should always remain open-minded and ready to learn. Asking questions is a good way of learning. If you make a mistake, be sure to remember that criticism will help you become a better nurse.
Try to be a team-player and co-operative. Getting the best out of this approach will enable you to form professional relationships with all the staff and management. Such a professional relationship with co-workers will form a good basis for respect across the board.
Tips for Avoiding Burnout
Experiencing burnout is an unfortunately reality among nurses. When burned out, your performance can easily drop, affecting your life as new nurse both at work and home. If you fail to address this condition, you would be prone to making mistakes. The mistakes could dent your reputation.
Based on the above information, it is clear that nurses have to know how to recharge their batteries. Here are some useful tips for avoiding burnout.
- Negotiate for a reasonable work schedule
- Perform your duties within the given periods
- Take job breaks to relax and de-stress
- Have hobbies outside of work
- Communicate with co-workers and management about your experiences
Importance of Celebrating Victories
Emerging victorious in any task or challenge revitalizes the brain and mind. This means you should take advantage of any victory in your work as a new nurse by celebrating or noting it down. Victories can be in many forms. Some of them include being part of team that performed a successful surgery, correctly diagnosing a patient with a direct positive impact on their health, and saving a life in an emergency through responsive first aid.
Celebrating your achievements will give you the opportunity to reset and prepare for the next task. In a way, the celebration will also help in handling stress. If you express stress at another time, you can look back on your past victories to remind you that there are making a difference in peoples lives.
Are you interested in becoming a registered nurse? If you would like to earn an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing, consider ECPI University for your education. From year-round scheduling to hands-on learning, there are many benefits to earning your degree from ECPI University. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions advisor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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Gainful Employment Information – Nursing (RN) - Associate’s
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