1st week of CNA clinicals

[francine79]

This is my 3rd day of clinicals for my CNA program. I am doing my clinicals on a med/surg floor, most of the patients are post gastric bypass. However, I have found that I am still quite nervous about moving them around and ambulating them. I am sooo scared that I am going to cause them severe pain or accidentally pull their tubes out, in fact today I was trying to move one post gastric bypass patient with another student, the patient was very lethargic and in the process of trying to put her back in bed I accidentally disconnected her iv from the needle. Even though it wasn't a problem this really scared me. I am not sure if I will ever feel confident enough to perform this task.

Just wanting to know if my nervousness of hurting them and accidentally pulling their tubes out is normal.

Thanks for your response.

[Jennerizer, ASN, RN]

It is totally normal to feel nervous. I think as a student, there will always be areas where we feel nervous...because we're learning. By the end of your clinicals, you will be able to look back & see how much you have learned. I haven't had to work with gastric bypass patients, but I imagine it is hard work---yet you're doing it!

Pat yourself on the back, it's ok to feel a little uneasy. The confidence will come with time & experience & also in believing that you are doing the best that you know how. I'm sure you're not the only student in your class that has that nervous feeling. Don't be afraid to talk about it with others. In my clinical group, we were always relying on each other either to help us out when we needed advice or to lend a hand or to give us a mini pep rally to boost confidence right before doing a procedure.

[Caitlin's Mommy]

When I first started my clinicals I was so nervous,so what your feeling is normal.I think everyone is nervous to some extent when they start out.Even the people that come off really confident.To tell you the truth if you weren't nervous at all I'd be worried.I've always found that the very few people who weren't nervous were the ones who did not need to be a CNA and did a crappy job. This is only your third day so try not to be to hard on yourself.You'll find the more you take care of patients the more confident you'll become and you'll start to relax some.I did the same thing with an IV on my first day so your not alone.

I work on a critical care floor and a nurse showed me an easier way to get post op pactients in bed.You might want to ask a nurse or an experianced CNA to show you how to do this.I know it made my job alot easier once I found out how to do this.

It sounds like you really care a great deal for your patients,because of your concern and thats the kind of CNA we need in hospitals,nursing homes ect.

I was in the hospital nine mounths ago due to a bile duct injury and had tons of drains on my sides and one nurse accidently pulled one out ,so even the people that have tons of experiance,do make mistakes sometimes.

Good luck in clinicals ,and like I said before once you have more experiance I think you will do just fine.