First Day of Work

Well yesterday was my very first day of work as a nurse practitioner. Needless to say, it was quite overwhelming! As most of you can remember, I graduated school in August of 2007 and haven't really been in the NP mindset since then. So of course I have been freaking out for a the last couple of weeks and trying to study notes, etc. I was slightly at ease though when the doctor said about a week ago, "Don't worry, I'll hold your hand the whole way through". So I showed up Wed. morning with a hand ready to be held:-) Instead, I show up to a schedule that has me seeing 10 patients by myself!! I basically had to b.s. my way through the first day and act completely comfortable and that everything was no problem. I was there at 8:30 and didn't leave until 7pm. (Then of course, I had the 1 hour drive home). Needless to say, it was overwhelming. I did annuals, contraceptive planning, HPV counseling, pyschosocial consults, and more cultures and paps then I've done in a while. I've realized that I'm working with a brilliant doctor and that is also a little intimidating. She is a VERY OCD with cleanliness and she says everything is "beautiful" (ex: beautiful uterus, beautiful cervix, beautiful breasts.... you get the point:-)) Anyways, today is a well needed day off and I'm hoping I can recoup a little bit. I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes!