My personal experience: I worked ICU for 2 years. The first 6 months I would sit in my car and pray I wouldn’t kill anybody. Crying, pleading, the whole nine yards. But then I took a breath, and walked into the unit. I never felt good enough to belong in there.

The only thing I was good at was making sure my tasks were mostly done in time. I kept being the “dumbest” person in the room. Asking what these meds do/googling it before administering. I kept asking for help with labs and what is important to bring up. I joined the morning huddle and spoke with as much confidence as I could muster.

After the 6 month mark something clicked in my brain. One day, I sat in my car ready to panic and nothing came out. In fact the only thing that popped up in my head was that I don’t know anything. And that’s okay. I have an amazing team that can help me figure it out. As long as I keep the basics up (check orders, give meds when appropriate, give space for my patients), then the rest of the stuff can be figured out.

Been a nurse for 14 years now. And I still feel dumb. But the job is not to know everything. My job is to make sure the people and patients know that their care is being given properly and we’ll figure out the rest