The Nurse Who Remembered What It Felt Like to Be New

Nurse mentorship can make the difference between feeling alone and feeling supported. These two publicly shared accounts explore finding support and passing it on.

Researched editorial feature based on published accounts. The Nurse Life did not interview these nurses. No scenes or dialogue have been invented.

Barbara Robinson started her nursing career ready to learn. Her first job was on a cardiac care unit, and she expected orientation to help her find her footing.

Instead, she described struggling to locate her assigned mentor and feeling dismissed when she asked other nurses for help.

Even lunch offered little relief. When she approached colleagues in the cafeteria, she was told the available seat was being held for someone else. She ate alone.

By the end of a distressing shift, she was questioning whether she belonged in nursing.

Her story continued elsewhere. Encouragement from nurses in her family helped her keep going. After a move, she joined a long-term care and rehabilitation facility where colleagues welcomed questions and offered support. Her confidence grew, and she progressed into leadership.

In her published account, Robinson described making an effort to introduce herself to new nurses and check how they were doing. She also volunteered to mentor colleagues. She remembered the isolation of being new and chose to offer a different welcome. Read Barbara Robinson’s account in RN Journal.

Passing support to the next generation

That thread of support appears in another publicly shared story. Nursing student Aaron Pitt Jr. was paired with registered nurse Bryan Pemberton through a mentorship program. Aaron described the reassurance of having an experienced person to help him work through career questions. Bryan, whose own career had benefited from mentors, saw this as a way to support the next generation. Read their story from Johnson & Johnson.

Making room for someone new

For The Nurse Life, these accounts offer a question worth carrying into the next shift: what would make it easier for someone new to ask for help?

It might begin with an introduction, a patient explanation, or an invitation to sit together.

Who helped you feel welcome when you were new?

Have your own experience to share? Submit your nurse story or meet The Nurse Life community.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration. It does not depict the real nurses discussed in this article.