Advice I’d give myself starting out
There are so many things I wish I could go back in time and tell the excited, terrified, didn’t-know-what-was-about-to-hit-her version of me at the start of my career.
Right now I’m 6 months qualified, in another 6 months I may look back on this list and laugh at the fact that I thought I knew something, but I can only go by what I know now, so this is what I would say to me six months ago:
- Take care of your mental health. It’s like a lot things, maintaining it seems a lot of work but it’s a lot more work to fix something once it breaks.
You’re doing fine. Not knowing everything immediately or taking a while to get something does not make you a bad nurse, only human. You do not have to be perfect. - Have confidence in yourself. (I’m still working on that one).
- Learn to detach from work. Nursing is your job, not your life. Don’t think about it unless you’re getting paid to.
- You are not just a nurse. Three years of uni and all the effort you put in to get here may have made you think this is all that you are. You’re going to want to prove yourself, take everything on and take all those extra shifts to help when work is short staffed. Don’t. You will burn out. Have your hobbies, see your friends, and take time off. You are so much more than your job.
- You are going to have rough days, so so so many rough days. You are going to question your ability as a nurse, and you are going to question why you are in this job and why you ever chose nursing in the first place. You are going to cry, and swear, and be pissed off at everything.
- But you are also going to have great days. Days where you love being a nurse and can’t imagine doing anything else. Days where you laugh until your stomach hurts. You are going to make friends that you cherish and care for patients that you love.
