Does or did anyone feel like this about clinicals?

[luv2shopp85]

Whenever I'm at clinical I feel like I don't know anything. I've been a nursing student for 7 months now and I just feel like I don't know a darn thing. Now I know that I know a lot more than I knew when I first started out but still... I dunno. Sometimes when I ask nurses questions they seem kind of rude, cocky, or stuck up and act like I should know the answer. When I ask my instructor she says LOOK IT UP. And I feel like she's judging me too, and also thinking I'm stupid for asking certain questions and all that. Is this just a typical feeling at clninicals? My instructor is kind of intimidating so maybe thats the reason? I'm scared to even ask her questions cause she kind of gives me an "are you kidding" look. For ex. at pre clinical on wed I was looking at my pts Kardex and I asked what DM was because I momentaarily had a brain freeze. This was funny because just 2 weeks ago I took an exam on diabetes mellitus. My teacher just said "are you serious?" I don't even think she told me the answer I think another student did. Things like that make me scared to ask her any questions because it feels like she will be judging me and thinking "wow, how did she make it this far without knowing that", or she'll say Look it up, or give me and "are you serious" look. Its just so frustrating. I don't want to fail this semester because I'm supposively doing "bad" on clinical. Maybe its just because I'm unsure of myself? Isn't it better to be unsure of yourself than to be sure of yourself and do something drastic like commit a med error, or something else that could harm the patient? On mid term evaluations my instructor did tell me that I need to become more sure of myself at clinical but I just don't know how to do it. Ahh this is so confusing and stressful. Anyone have any advice... or feel the same way I do about clinicals?

[guislander]

Thank you all for being just the shot in the arm I needed today. I'm in my fourth semester less than 3 months for graduating and my instructor balled me out. I wanted to quit then and there, but you guys are a great encouragement. Thanks.

Andrea:mad:

[rn2binca]

Thank you all for being just the shot in the arm I needed today. I'm in my fourth semester less than 3 months for graduating and my instructor balled me out. I wanted to quit then and there, but you guys are a great encouragement. Thanks.

Andrea:mad:

Are you sure you aren't Me? That was my day...... actually she didnt ball me out, but I have been making mistakes that I shouldnt be. So, I feel stressed and worried about making it through this semester.....

Hang in there everyone.

[GrnHonu99, RN]

Are you sure you aren't Me? That was my day...... actually she didnt ball me out, but I have been making mistakes that I shouldnt be. So, I feel stressed and worried about making it through this semester.....

Hang in there everyone.

I am graduating in seventy some days and I got 'balled out' this week too! It was one of those days where I felt two steps behind where I needed to be! Everything I did was wrong...By the end of the night I was convinced I was the worst student ever! lol...but you guys are right when you say there are days when I feel like im doing a great job and things just flow and then t here are days where nothing goes right and i feel like I know nothing! But we are all getting there!

[daisey_may]

I feel the same way about clinicals. I'm in my second semester of nursing and not only are clincials bad, but school is tough, too. Never in my life have I been so grateful just to be PASSING and it's not like I'm a bad student or anything. I've always been an 'A' student. And it's not so much that the information is touhg, because biology is a breeze for me, it's the way that you answer the questions. 'looking too deep into the question' and 'completely missing the point' are phrases I hear all the time. And clincals are just intimidating. The other day, I pressed a thermometer into a patients ear too hard, and she let me know it! And come to find out later that day that my patient was once a nurse! I suppose with practice and experience, everything will get better. I still have another year to go to be an RN!

[DZcarrie]

I keep telling myself that if i can make it through ____________ (example: today, clinical, this week, this exam), I will be fine.

I am not a crafty person, but I am just heading over to the craft store to find something that will take my mind off of everything routine (mostly school) for a few hours.

how did you guys put that countdown thing in your posts? I want one!!!!

Also, I always feel less anxious at clinical if I am over-prepared. Like, I still carry around cheat sheets with lab values, insulin peaks and troughs, and abbreviations on them in case I have a temporary lapse of memory. I have probably only referred to them once in the past 2 years, but they make me FEEL better...which is what counts!

On days that I knew I would be REALLY busy, I actually wrote down a schedule for the day the night before. I never used them, but they made me feel better going into the day.

Maybe this stuff could help you feel less nervous! hope i've helped and I really feel your pain :)

good luck :)

[StudentC]

The first time I responded to this post, I had a wonderful instructor who fully believed in gentle encouragement and I could confidently tell anyone to just ask q's and it'll be ok. Ha! Just started with a new instructor two weeks ago and tomorrow will be the second Monday in a row I'm going to need to talk to her in her office. She upsets me so much during clinicals that I actually went to an empty room at one point and cried for 5 minutes! So thanx to everyone who posts on this thread, because at this point I desperately need to be hearing some of it.