If you remember nothing else from this entire book, remember that it’s always better to ask for help than to forge forward and try to do something you aren’t prepared or experienced enough to do.

The truth is, though, that four common problems can ‘help’ you make mistakes. Avoiding these will help you not make mistakes. Avoid:

You know that you have to pay attention to what you are doing if you are going to avoid mistakes. That means having a plan for what you need to do, not getting flustered or stressed, taking care of yourself, knowing your limits and not taking short cuts. Later on in the book I’ll be helping you to plan and to avoid stress. For now, though, just accept that during your nursing career you will make mistakes. Most of them will be small mistakes; a few will be big ones. If you do make a mistake, remember these simple rules:

As you can see, you already have the basics you need to be a competent new nurse: all of the expectations – that you would ask for help if you needed it, that you would reflect on your actions and practice, that you would work as a member of a team, and that you would treat others with respect – are things you already know and have been assessed on while a student.

The transition from student to staff nurse is frightening but it really is only one step in the middle of a long progression of steps leading to really being a nurse.

Let me give you an example from my own practice. When I was appointed to a senior nursing role, the first things I thought about were:

Does that sound familiar? This is because the steps you take come in two kinds: the little day-to-day steps that you won’t notice and the big landmark steps like getting your PIN or changing to a more senior job. You will have the same fears and worries about every landmark step as you have about the step between being a student and being a qualified nurse.

Because you don’t notice the day-to-day steps, you don’t really see how far you have come and how much you have grown. This is where reflection is so important. In my case, I went to another person (my friend Linda) who was in a similar role as my new job and asked how she had felt. I had reflected at length about my skills, my knowledge and my experiences; I shared these reflections with Linda. To my great surprise, when she started her new role years before she had felt same as I was feeling. That’s when I realised that it wasn’t me – it was the nature of changing roles.

By reflecting, I could answer my doubts about my skills and experience. I could say ‘OK, you might be worried, but you do have the basics you need to take on this new role.’ And you can say that too. If you were a competent and safe final-year student, you are a competent and safe newly qualified nurse. Don’t let your doubts and fears distract you from the joy and personal growth that awaits you in your new career.

Everyone – from Doctor to Consultant to Sister to Domestic to Student – is worthy of respect and should expect to be treated with the same dignity and be appreciated for their worthiness. In my opinion, the most important nurse is the one who spends the most time with patients giving direct care – and that’s most often the HCA: the one there giving care is most important.

Gossiping, back biting, giving junior staff or students the worst assignments – these are all ways of perpetuating a system of fear and intimidation. Everyone should have the same chance to not work Christmas as anyone else. Everyone should believe that their team will support them even if they don’t have a degree or a qualification.

If you communicate well, treat everyone with respect and learn about what others in your area do, you will avoid the conflicts and hierarchies that drive everyone mad. Trust me, it’s either that or always feeling as though you are on the outside. Even doctors today are willing to speak to nurses, or so I’ve been told!

In fact, doctors have a lot to teach nurses. Most people really want an easy life – at home, at work, everywhere. If your area has a regular doctor, or if you are in a GP’s surgery, take the time to find out how the doctor likes things. You are not being the GP’s hand-maiden, you are being a team member, and that’s a worthy role. By making things better for members of other disciplines, you make them better for your patients and that’s really what it’s all about.

Working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team is a sure way of promoting nursing as a key, integral profession: not one that is superior to others but also not one that is worth any less than any of them.

How well you work collaboratively will influence the care your patients receive: the better you communicate and work with therapists, the better your patients’ therapy will be; the better you work with the medics, the better your patients’ medical care will be. Is there any better incentive to work collaboratively, share information and understand what others need to know than to see your patients getting better care from you by getting better care from others?