Trial by Fire: New Nurse Stories | First Shift

"Eight weeks of orientation. A wonderful preceptor. And then... her first day... on her own. Six patients. Three on heparin drips. And the minute she got report... all heck broke loose."

Her first day by herself on step-down: six patients, three on heparin drips, one on a Cardizem drip, four diabetics, two on contact precautions. A patient got up when he'd been told not to, fell, and fractured his ankle — on a heparin drip. Another started bleeding heavily and needed blood STAT. A third was signing himself out AMA. A fourth waited on dialysis. With one tech on the unit, she ran to the pharmacy herself. She ran to the blood bank herself. She wheeled the fracture patient to the ER for his X-ray herself. In her words: "Between hanging drips, calling MDs, stat EKGs and X-rays... I thought whatever hair I had left after nursing school... it was gonna fall out."

In this episode of First Shift, Jon Haws, RN — founder of NURSING.com — tells her story, then gets honest about his own: he dropped out of nursing school ten weeks from graduation... and came back a year later to finish. Three things for the trial-by-fire days: asking for help IS the clinical skill. When everything explodes, line it up — sickest first, one thing at a time. And don't quit on day one: the doubt is the proof you care enough to be good at this.

If you're a nursing student or a new nurse, this one's for you. New episodes of First Shift drop every Friday — real stories from nurses' first shifts, and the honest talk that gets you through yours.

Studying for the NCLEX? Try SIMCLEX — the adaptive practice exam that tells you when you're ready: https://nursing.com/simclex

It's time to go out and be your best self today. Happy nursing, y'all.