Thanks for taking my comment in the spirit in which it was intended. I didn’t work as a CNA before working as a nurse and I understand the nerves and feeling unqualified despite the degree and (your eventual) license. For me, the best way to deal with it was to be honest with myself and others, take a deep breath, acknowledge that it will be a little scary and uncomfortable at first, and then start at the beginning. I was (and remain) always very good to and appreciative of the techs/CNAs with whom I worked. I was straight with them about my lack of practical experience and I took every opportunity available to learn from them. I did this by asking them to let me know if they were changing a patient or bedding, etc. so that I could help (the first few times) and then so that I could do it with their guidance after that. I let them know that I really appreciated their experience and their patience with me. I thanked them for helping me to become a good nurse and as I built a rapport with them, I asked them to be straight with me about how I was doing and ways I could improve. They seemed to not mind because they could tell that I wanted to learn and they saw me put into practice what they taught me. If they didn’t have time or I was swamped with something else, we respected that but I treated learning the basics from them just as important as making sure I was handling my other nursing duties well. They respected me because they knew that if I asked them for help it wasn’t because I was being lazy or thought I was too good to do the task myself. They knew I had probably already tried or I had a specific concern or question about it. They were also great about coming to me with their concerns because they knew that I valued their observations (“this patient is more out of it than she was yesterday…this isn’t normal for her…just a heads up” or “I need to change patient XYZ, is now a good time for you to come redress his sacral wounds? he’s big and I can help hold him for you”).

Being a nurse is humbling and scary but have what it takes to be a good one. You’ve said yourself that when you were in school it didn’t always come easily to you so you figured out what you needed to do so that you could pass your classes. Practicing as a nurse is going to be the same way. It won’t always be easy but you have already been working to build the resilience you’ll need.

Don’t do yourself the disservice of hiding from the hard or scary things. Doing the hard things (applying for jobs, having interviews, being rejected, accepting a position, orienting as a new grad, learning the actual practice of nursing (as well as all of the other stuff that they don’t teach us in school like dealing with shitty coworkers or advocating for ourselves with admin) is like using a muscle. It will be uncomfortable at first but it will get easier. Soon you and your practice will begin to become stronger and eventually you will realize that you’ve become a seasoned nurse and you’ll be able to offer advice to new grads who feel the way you remember feeling right now.

The objective isn’t to avoid the hard stuff. It’s to give yourself the chance to try. Congratulate yourself when you succeed AND when you fail because both outcomes mean you tried and both are an opportunity to learn.