5 Ways to Cope within Your Work Environment As A New Nurse

Things can change drastically going from nursing school into a hospital or facility. That transition can be a shock and make you question a lot about yourself and the profession you’ve chosen.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! This video discusses 5 simple ways you can cope within your work environment as a new nurse. 

Today I want to talk to you about five ways to cope with in your work environment as a new nurse. When we come out of nursing school, we graduate so prepared. We know a lot of stuff. The problem is, when we get into a real-world work environment, things change.

They change in the way that we don’t feel the same level of confidence. Many times because we’re new. We think that a lot of the things we’re doing are new to us. I say “we think” that because they are the same things you already learned in school.

You just have to learn how to apply them in the work environment. So it is a change, but it’s all about perception. How you look at it. How you look at what you’re doing and how you feel about it.

1. Don’t Take Shortcuts

One thing you don’t want to do is take shortcuts. Don’t start leaving out parts of what you know you need to do because the next nurse is doing that. Even if it’s a senior nurse doing it.

To be a good nurse you want to do everything you need to do because there was a reason for each part of what you’re doing. You know that. Keep it all in there. Don’t take shortcuts. That’s what often leads to big problems that may end up in litigation or at least a claim. You don’t want that.

2. Remember What You’ve Learned

The second thing is to remember the steps as you’ve learned them. You may have to go back and look at the policy. Take time to look at the procedures where you are. You have to try to commit that stuff to memory. You also want to remember what you learned.

Why did I do this? What was the concept behind this? What was it? Sterile to sterile to sterile. What does that mean when something’s sterile? If it’s clean, what’s the difference between sterile and clean?

What am I doing and why? I need to keep infection down. Why am I doing that? How do I do that? Keep it out of all openings. So, when you start to think of concepts and you apply them in this awesome career, remember your steps.

You’re on a good path as a new nurse. That’s a good path. What you don’t want to do is find yourself locked in a corner, identified a certain way, and you know that’s not who you are. It’s negative and it messes you up. It hurts your reputation. It’s really hard because then you gotta come out fight like a lion to redeem yourself. You don’t want to have to do that.

3. Be The Change You Want To See

The third thing you want to consider is being the change you want to see. You may not like the way something goes. You may not like the way that it’s done; you feel it’s done wrong. You think, “this should not be the way that we’re doing this” or “if we did this it would be better” or “every time we do this, this is a problem”.

But I think we tend to forget the options open to us to fix these things. Bring it to the huddle or to meetings. Tell leadership or somebody above you like your charge nurse, manager, or director. Let somebody know what you’re thinking because you may be that change to help our nursing profession in a big way.

4. Be Confident & Believe in Yourself!

The fourth thing you want to do is be confident and believe in yourself. Believe in what you’re doing. If you don’t believe, who can? We are here to help patients. You can’t help them very well if you’re all passive, unsure, and don’t know yourself. You can’t help them if you’re constantly wondering if what you’re doing if is the right thing.

If you feel unsure, ask questions and find out. There are no stupid questions. The problem comes when we have the questions and we don’t ask them. Whenever you want to know something, ask someone who knows and seek out the answers. Then move forward.

We have to operate that way if we want to make a difference. We have to be confident. Feel good about yourself. Your patient is going to feel that and they deserve that.

5. Intentionally Change the Course of Your Day

The fifth thing you want to do is if you’re having a bad day, you feel like, “oh my god today is going really bad”, change the course of it. By that I mean say to yourself, “in this moment, I have to change the way this is going. Everything’s going wrong for me today and I need things to go differently and I need to do that now.”

How do you do that? You look at what you’ve done already and you make an assessment. Then you put in place a plan, implement it, and then you evaluate it. Basically the standard nursing process.

Look at your first patient. Look at what needs to be done for them and what you’ve already done. Make a checklist of what you need to do and start to do that. In the second patient repeat that same process. You may notice that you forgot to do something or need to add something to your list. Use your checklist as a reference as you treat your patients.

Make sure you stop, take a deep breath, smile, and then start to look at each part of what you should have been doing, what you’ve done, and figure out where you go from there. that’s what you need to do.

I guarantee if you look back and see what you’ve done and what you’ve left off, you’ll see you’re doing pretty good. You can smile because the course of the day has changed. That’s what you want.

Take it from me, I’m a registered nurse and attorney and I’ve been doing both for a very long time. I’ve done a lot of injury law, medical malpractice, and I’ve helped both sides, plaintiffs and defense. I’ve worked as a risk manager.

I understand a lot in health care. I’ve done ICU, the ER, and high-tech home health. I’ve delivered chemotherapy in a home and wound care. I’ve worked on the floor and I know what it’s like when you make a mistake or you lose a patient. I fully understand bedside and how you feel as a new nurse. I’ve been there.

So I can talk with you about what you need to do now. Looking back at what I’ve done as a nurse and what others have done, I can tell you that you need to stop and evaluate yourself. You need to look at where you are and where you want to be. You CAN get there. Remember that.

And if you need a little extra motivation and a reminder of all the amazing things that you are absolutely capable of, download my free 3 Week Mood Booster. It’s in the sidebar and at the bottom of this page. You’ll get 21 days of motivation and affirmations designed specifically for healthcare professionals just like you straight to your inbox.