Reality shock, Marlene Kramer writes in her fast-becoming-a-classic book of the same name, is "a term used to describe the phenomenon and the specific shocklike reactions of new workers when they find themselves in a work situation for which they have spent several years preparing, and for which they thought they were going to be prepared, and then suddenly find they are not"(1). This concept doesn't apply only to new nurses; it is true of all new workers. But in nursing we're intolerant of the novice's incompetence. We want finely honed manual skills and immediately successful interpersonal interactions. We expect students who have had only a modicum of patient contact to be, upon graduation, comfortable and confident with the most anxious, problemridden patient. This is unfair. Even old pro's need time to adjust to a new situation. We must encourage new graduates and nurture their commitment to science