And So the Journey Begins

In life, every great journey has to start somewhere. In this case it was your eureka moment, that realisation that you had a calling to become a nurse and to dedicate your life to helping others. For some, it happens at a young age. For others, life experience or the kindness that they were shown by another nurse helped ignite that fire inside them to follow the same path.

Let’s think back to your first day as a student nurse. Do you remember the nervous excitement you felt? That electric energy you had as you put on your fresh, crisp new uniform, and your thoughts about what the future would hold? Now, here we are, a little older and a lot wiser, and once again we think about what lies ahead as we prepare to don a new uniform. Perhaps it’s a tunic; maybe it’s army fatigues or even a simple shirt. Whatever the outfit, the key difference this time is your name badge and the words ‘registered nurse’ written across your chest.

It may seem as though you went from being the student with a mentor to rely on to the nurse in charge of actual patients on your own in no time. Exciting, isn’t it? Or is terrifying a more accurate representation of how you are currently feeling? In reality you’ve done it, you’ve achieved your end goal, you’ve worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get here. Don’t let the fears and doubts get in the way of what can be an amazing journey.

At this point you’ve already opened the gate and are on your way. The preparation and skills gained from your nurse training should provide the foundation blocks to build upon.

Starting a new job can be frustrating for anyone, whatever the profession. However, fear not, you will be okay. Unlike people entering most other jobs, you have a head start on being able to adapt to new areas, different teams and fresh challenges. You’ve done this all before; think back to the many times you were the new person on placement and all of the feelings of excitement yet that nervous energy you felt. Do those memories feel similar to how you are feeling now? From the moment you entered the lecture hall or stepped foot into a daunting placement, you were preparing for where you are right now. Let’s take a look at some of your worries one by one.

I was so confident when I was a student, but now that I am actually qualified and out working on my own, I feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

Stop right here. Take a deep breath. Feeling like this is normal. You will feel overwhelmed, you will feel like you can’t do it, but all those years of hard slog in your nursing degree prove to you that you can and that you will. There are many things you don’t know and so much more that you do. This stage of your career is about learning, about adapting and about finding out what type of nurse you want to be. Don’t expect too much from yourself. Yes, some colleagues will outrank your experience. Even some of your fellow newly registered class may give an air of confidence that you have yet to master, but Rome was not built in a day, and your nursing journey will not be defined by those early days. Allow yourself to grow into it. No one is expecting you to show up on your first day and run the show.

These lists should not come as a surprise. Some of them translate to every area of work; competence, punctuality, being respectful, appreciating that you will not nor be expected to know it all. Are they expectations which differ from your life, perhaps mere months ago, as a final-year studying nursing?

There is one difference, of course: the level of responsibility which now rests on your shoulders. But, to repeat it again, you’ve got this. Although the skills and expectation levels will be similar from your placement days, now you are more accountable and need to ‘step up’ to be the nurse you wanted to be when you set off on your journey. The stabilisers are off; now your ride can begin.

I don’t feel ready, what happens if something goes badly wrong? Will the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) get involved?

There comes a point in every nursing career when you have to trust your training and believe in your instincts. And there is no better time for this than when you are first setting out. As a newly registered nurse, you should be up to speed on the latest standards and the most up-to-date methods. If you are not, you need to address this, or ask for help. Sometimes it can be the more experienced nursing staff who could be liable to make mistakes, mostly through complacency about updating their skills or pridefully thinking they are immune to making errors.

Always remember that to err is human, but if you are unsure, always, always, ask for help. You will likely be judged for making a mistake, but good colleagues should be understanding if you ask for help before this happens.

Coming up, we will discuss ways in which you can deal with the risk of burnout and the stresses which come from your daily life as a nurse. For now, let’s park that. Instead, focus on these simple rules for what you should do if you make a mistake. The same as in normal life, small mistakes can eat away at your confidence. Big mistakes can feel like you would rather a hole in the ground opened up for you to step into. Really though, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world, even if, in the moment, it can feel that way.

As far as the NMC getting involved, it really all depends on the mistake. For most cases, small lapses in judgement or things that can be easily resolved, it is unlikely that they will ever cross the NMC’s desk. For the bigger things, they may need to be notified. At the end of the day, the NMC is there to help protect the public and support nurses; it is not the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ you picture in your head. If you stick to your training, provide care that is backed by evidence and always ask for help when you need it, then you should have nothing to worry about. It will often be more experienced nurses who are more likely to be called in front of...