fumbling in clinicals

[time4mydream]

hi. i am in my first semester of an ADN program. boy, the reading load is overwhelming! anyways, we have spent two clinical days on campus learning basic skills such as bathing, moving a patient out of bed, ROM. i feel like a fumbling fool trying to do simple things. i feel awkward working on other students, but i know i would do fine working with patients. i have already done most of the skills on my 83 year old mom at one point or another in real life. do others feel awkward doing these things at school? i walked out of school today feeling so discouraged. i have always had a problem with a lack of confidence in myself so maybe that is what is bothering me. any words of encouragement would be appreciated.:)

[heatherbless]

hey, you will do fine. I felt the same way when I did CNA

heather/:p

[BarbPick]

Originally posted by time4mydream

hi. i am in my first semester of an ADN program. boy, the reading load is overwhelming! anyways, we have spent two clinical days on campus learning basic skills such as bathing, moving a patient out of bed, ROM. i feel like a fumbling fool trying to do simple things. i feel awkward working on other students, but i know i would do fine working with patients. i have already done most of the skills on my 83 year old mom at one point or another in real life. do others feel awkward doing these things at school? i walked out of school today feeling so discouraged. i have always had a problem with a lack of confidence in myself so maybe that is what is bothering me. any words of encouragement would be appreciated.:)

Hey fumbling fool, you are in good company, we stand thousands strong. How many baseball players hit a home run everytime at bat? Very few, they need expereince, why shouldn't you?

[Wheaties]

as long as you get the job done, it dont matter if your clumsy.

just make sure you are clumsy in a way that dont harm the patient.

[Dixen81]

You're certainly not alone...but I promise, it does get better. Hang in there. :)

[suzy253, RN]

Not to worry. My first few clinicals I felt like a fumbling idiot. Plus I was nervous as all get-out having never had any experience working in health care. But now I've gotten much better....still I have to admit I have my 'off days' but the good days outweigh the 'bad' ones. I'm feeling much more confident and no longer nervous. You too will gain confidence as you go along. Good luck to you!

[MisterArnold]

I'm in my third semester of clinicals and it's still a challenge. The other day my patient would not cooperate getting the vital signs. I had to take his temp axilliary and he would yell every time I placed the probe under his arm. I went and got my instructor and she walked into the patient's room and before I knew it all the vital signs were done. I felt like an idiot. Everytime I feel incompetent I keep telling myself that my true education will start once I'm an RN and on the floor. It's the daily exposure over and over again where you really learn.

[LydiaGreen]

It happens to everybody. I am a bumbling idiot on the first day of every clinical rotation. I just started my preceptorship (full time 12 hour shifts, days and nights, for sixteen weeks) and the first two shifts, I felt like I was starting all over again from scratch because I had spent the last two months of the previous semester in a community placement instead of the hospital setting. I had to reorientate myself to hospital nursing all over again. You just get used to it happening. I have spoken with many nurses about this and they all say the same thing - even an extended vacation leaves them coming back to the floor cold and it takes them a shift or two to get back in to the groove. You sound like you are very dedicated to your studies... that's great... keep reading because you need the theory before you can apply it in the practical setting. And it does take time. But, once you've got it, you've got it. And you will get it. Just give it some time. No one is the perfect nurse, or even a good nurse, right off the bat.