Newly Qualified - One Week In

After nearly bankrupting myself paying for my registration it has finally happened. You are now looking at one of Britain's newly qualified nurses, and it's terrifying!

My first shifts on the ward as a RNA have had more ups and downs than the Grand Old Duke of York! The month off - and god, I needed it - has left me working at a snail's pace, which, on one of the busiest units in the hospital has made things 10 times as hard! I look at the other nurses and wonder to God how they get through a working day without a nervous breakdown? I have already shed my fair share of tears and more and I'm only a week in! Despite this, I am working with a wonderful group of nurses who have already given me the reassurance needed so that I don't run for the hills screaming - believe me, I was close!

A particularly bad experience on my second shift, not involving any patients I hasten to add, has really knocked my confidence and unfairly made me question my capabilities. Luckily, reading letters from patients throughout my training and comments from previous mentors has, and rightly so, reminded me that I am good at what I do and this is exactly where I am meant to be. It's amazing how one person can make you doubt yourself so much.

I know I will bounce back from this stronger and more determined to be the best that I can be, after all I'm only one week in and supposedly it's perfectly normal to feel like this.

Good luck and Congratulations to all you newly qualified nurses out there, we rock!