Everything Went Wrong: New Nurse Stories | First Shift

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.