New Nursing Student

[dex77]

Is anyone else out there a new nursing student with NO prior medical experience, not even a close friend or relative in the field? How are you getting along in your classes/clinicals? I'm in my first semester. I'm feeling more and more like I should have tried to work as a CNA or something before school started. Now it's really too late for that. I'm used to getting good grades until these nursing classes hit. I'm one of those students that is having trouble 'connecting the dots' but I feel as if it is an experience thing. I'm terrified in clinicals, mostly because I feel like i'm thrown into it w/out having a clue what i'm doing and no one to watch over me (to protect the client from mistakes I could make). Does anyone have any pointers for me? I feel like I understand the material (as far as the physiology goes) but when it comes to evaluating symptoms even in a case study...i'm just lost!

Help!

[LisaCRN05]

Don't give up please! I didn't have any experience either and out of 8 students in my clinical, only two of us didn't have CNA experience. There are some positives to this. You are fresh and will be taught the right way to do it. You will not have to undo what you have already been taught which happens a lot. ASK QUESTIONS. Don't be afraid to go to your instructors for anything. You are paying for your education. I can remember sweating making a bed because the CNAs made perfect beds. To this day, my beds aren't as good but my clinical skills are. GOOD LUCK. Nursing one is hard. It's okay to feel lost. USE THOSE RESOURCES!

[NaomieRN]

Dex, like you said, you are a new nursing student. You cannot learn everything over night. It takes a while to get comfortable. I was a CNA a while, so I have a little knowledge. Just hang in there, you will get it. After the end of the semester, can you work as a student nurse or a sitter at the hospital where you doing clinical? That way you can prepare better for next semester. One thing I always do in clinical, if I am not sure how to perform a skill, I would ask the instructor to walk me through. I am not going to put the patient at risk. I want to show caring. So, I will tell my instructor, I do not feel comfortable right now to perform this task, can you walk me through it? I have done that once so far and it worked. Last Saturday, I was changing a dressing, where I had to measure the wound. It was my first time doing it, and my instructor walked me throught and it did.