Nursing student with ADHD, struggling in clinical!

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi everybody,

I am struggling in my advanced med-surge clnical rotation. Although I am a really compassionate and meticulous person, I don't do well under pressure and with lots of things to balance at once on my plate. Under those circumstances, I freeze under pressure and become clueless. It's absolutely embarrassing to have my classmates see me be so clueless!

At clinical, I have learned to manage to workload of one, maybe two patients, and the required tasks within the shift, such as taking vitals, doing an assessment, giving meds, and performing treatments. However, I do struggle a lot with being able to do this in a timely manner. I have to REALLY try to not hyperfocus, and I have to REALLY try to get things done in a timely fashion-and even when I am successful, I embarrassingly still take much longer than my classmates to do the bare minimum, while they've done that and more. Now if unexpected tasks or events occur, then I really run around like a headless chicken, jumping from one patient to the other, one task to the other, jumping all over the place. I really struggle with organizing things in my mind. And working harder does not work. It's all a complete mess. I'm a complete mess.

I don't know if I am just really not good in this setting, if my ADD really has the better of me, or if I am just really not set for nursing because I'm incompetent.

What do you think? Does anyone share a similar problem? What have you done about it? Does anyone have any advice that could help me?

I've only got 6 more weeks of this semester to pick up my act or else I'll fail and be kicked out of nursing school for good. Somebody, halp! :(

I tried PMing you again but was denied! Not sure why! Here is the important part of the PM:

I was never consistent with herbals I bought so I am not sure what really works. I would research what are the good herbals to deal with anxiety on reputable sites. Use your pharm text book and drug guide too! Check out some forums that help people with anxiety and see what are some common ones that seem to really help.

Good luck!!! Keep me posted!!!!

1 Votes

milksgalore,

I totally get what you are going through. I haven't been diagnosed with ADD, but it's like you describe for me in clinical: a whirlwind, chaos, absolute hysteria in my head. I'll go in the morning with a plan, then it just falls apart. I'll try a timesheet and see if that helps. Hate that you're going through this but glad I'm not alone. It's like no matter how hard I work I'm always behind and everyone else is so together. I did great first semester, but for some reason this go round has been like a crazy blur. Keep your head up and good luck:up:

1 Votes

Hi there, I'm a nursing student in the UK. I'm in my late 20's and have a degree in Chemistry and worked in labs for a few years. I was diagnosed just over 18 months ago and so had a few months with diagnosis and meds (dexamphetamine sulfate max 20mg daily with citalopram). I also have mild dyslexia which I was diagnosed with during my first degree (another story for another thread). Luckily I'm intelligent and really grasp scientific concepts, which gets me through a lot of the theory stuff (apart from essays... but I have support for that).

Out on practice it's a different story. I have the same issues as a lot of you on this thread - I'm great when it's not too chaotic and can really shine - especially when I only have a couple of things to concentrate on e.g. really ill patient, one bay of 4 patients, one or two basic tasks for all patients... but yes I do tend to take longer because I converse freely with the patients, which we all know they love! When it's "all hands on deck" but there aren't enough hands I really struggle. The medication for me is essential, and I wouldn't go on shift without it (it's been very difficult when I haven't been unless I've been really lucky with an especially bossy and organised nurse on a quiet shift).

These are the things I do to help me:

Meds - I have a keyring "cash stash" and key safe (complies with Controlled Medication rules to keep staff and patients meds separate whilst keeping the meds themselves secure) so that I have a decent amount of meds for a few days that only I can access and don't need to rely on anyone's locked drawer.

Time management - I have a pager-like sports timer that vibrates every X minutes (in my case 3 or 5) so that I have a better handle on time passing. I keep forgetting to use it, but when I do it makes one hell of a difference to my productivity!

Anxiety/moods - I get easily frustrated when I can't find thing easily. Tape, pens and other small basics I keep in my pocket - but not just any pocket. I have a pocket organiser! This is especially handy for tape because mine has a band you attach it to so you can just use one hand to pull some off from your pocket. It also gives the impression that I'm really organised which makes me glow! people always ask me for tape when they can't find any themselves!

I also have a small filofax in my other pocket that I keep phone numbers, routines, notes, and flash-card-type info in so it's all in one place. It's also used as my wallet and med-store when bringing in meds from home (I use a compact sized basic model when student-ing or a pocket-sized Kendal when healthcare-assistant-ing). Only having 2 things to take out of my pockets and put in my bag also prevents me from destroying things in the wash!

Other organisation - I have a laminated sheet that has a basic medsurg routine on it for things like QDS lifesigns-observations (obs), mealtimes, med rounds and other things that need/tend to happen at certain times or the day for a 24 hour pattern. I can write on this with a whiteboard pen other things I need to do, but I need to find a pen that doesn't wipe off in my pocket (thinking permanent pen and get some alcohol wipes to use at the end of the day).

All wards at my hospital use a handover sheet, which is similar to the brain sheets below in concept. However when I'm working as a healthcare assistant I go to all sorts of different wards and each one has a different style (and are inefficient with use of paper space - grrr!), so I think the idea of having my own brain sheet printed out is going to be my way forward with this! Thanks for these below - they are awesome!!

Esme12 said:
1 Votes
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