Everything Went Wrong: New Nurse Stories | First Shift
NURSING.com Podcast — NCLEX Prep for Nursing StudentsShow Notes
Six months pregnant, first day in the ER — everything that could go wrong did. The disaster shift every nurse survives.
"She was six months pregnant. It was her first day in the ER. And everything that could possibly go wrong... went wrong."
She'd been out of clinical for four months — a new grad, back for her first ER shift. Her hands were so sweaty the sterile gloves wouldn't go on. She blanked on the foley kit, forgot IVs she'd done as a student, pulled the glucometer strip out mid-reading, forgot to hit START on the blood pressure cuff. In her own words: "Everything that could have possibly gone wrong... with the exception of killing someone... went wrong." She cried the whole drive home.
In this episode of First Shift, Jon Haws, RN — founder of NURSING.com — tells her story, then tells his own: his first day in the Neuro ICU was a total disaster too. He names the massive canyon between nursing school and BEING a nurse, and shares the three things that get you across it: your skills didn't disappear (they're buried under adrenaline), nobody expects you to know much of anything yet, and slow down to speed up. Plus: write the story down — one day you'll tell it laughing.
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.
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Two years on the unit as a tech — then her first night alone as the nurse. The quiet shift that teaches you everything. "She'd worked the unit for two years. As a tech. And then came her first night... alone. As the nurse." Not every first shift is a disaster. Some of them are quiet — and the quiet ones teach you something too. The night team took care of her with a fair, gentle assignment. She made it through. And she wrote something worth keeping: it felt "really, really lonely"... with no preceptor beside her. But she didn't mind the sound of silence. In this episode of First Shift, Jon Haws, RN — founder of NURSING.com — tells her story, then tells his own: his first solo shift in the Neuro ICU, sitting with a family as they withdrew life support. Afterward, the patient's mother hugged him and said, "I love you. I will never forget you." He didn't do anything special. He just stayed. Three things for the quiet shifts: you're never actually alone — build your team, learn their names, say thank you. Asking for help is the job, not a weakness. And the oxygen mask rule: take care of yourself first, so you can take care of everybody else. 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.