Please Let Me Off the Pedestal......

[vashka25]

I'm not writing this to ***** and moan, nor am I writing it to pat myself on the back....quite frankly I am scared out of my wits..!

I am not sure how other students "consolidation/preceptorship" portion of their degrees work, but at my school a group of faculty sit down and view your "wish list" of placements, then discuss what two areas they think are suitable for you to do your final 650 hours of training.

Today I sat down with my coordinator to find out what my first placement was going to be....and she started the meeting off with..."with you we decided to something a little different"

She then proceeded to tell me that they have refused to send students to the PACU for consolidation for the past 6 years due to the high level of stress and expectations of the staff (staff are reluctant to train consolidating students)

But this year they are allowing one student to consolidate there on a "trial basis".....and during the meeting my teachers and faculty unanimously chose me out of a class of 130 to be that student. This placement was not on my "wish list" I know I should feel GREAT about the fact that my teachers/faculty have so much faith in my skills and ability.....sending me out to set a good precedence for future student hopefuls.....but let me just say, the pedestal they have placed me on is a little scary. My coordinator was adamant that I "give it a shot"....and told me that they would never have chosen me if it wasn't for the fact that they knew I'd be able to cope and adapt to the demands of the staff on that unit, whereas any other student they would "crucify or eat alive".

I agreed to do the placement, telling her I was up for the challenge....but now that I am home the fear has started to set in (and I am sure many sleepless nights worrying between now and Jan). I keep wondering if it was wise to take on such a role, or if I should have just played it safe and taken a less challenging placement this being my last component before graduation. I'd hate to "let down the team" as my papa would say.......

[CountrifiedRN]

What a great honor! First let me say congratulations!

I can understand that you would have some fears and anxiety about this assignment, but don't sell yourself short! It is obvious that your instructors see in you the potential to handle this assignment. I'm sure that after seeing so many students go through their program, they have a good intuition about reading the qualities in people. Often times our own fears of the unknown far exceed what is true in reality.

Just study, organize, and prepare for this challenge in the next two months, and go in with the confidence that your abilities will shine through and you will win those nurses over! You will not "let down the team" if you do your best and give 100%.

Best of luck to you! Be sure to let us know how things are going. You can do this!

[maire, ASN, RN]

Originally posted by RN2bNC

What a great honor! First let me say congratulations!

I can understand that you would have some fears and anxiety about this assignment, but don't sell yourself short! It is obvious that your instructors see in you the potential to handle this assignment. I'm sure that after seeing so many students go through their program, they have a good intuition about reading the qualities in people. Often times our own fears of the unknown far exceed what is true in reality.

Just study, organize, and prepare for this challenge in the next two months, and go in with the confidence that your abilities will shine through and you will win those nurses over! You will not "let down the team" if you do your best and give 100%.

Best of luck to you! Be sure to let us know how things are going. You can do this!

I am plagiarizing, but what RN2bNC said! LOL You'll do great! :)

[BadBird, BSN, RN]

It is natural to be scared at first, if you truly do not want this assignment then speak up !! You will learn to speak up many times in nursing anyway, if you do want to trial this just know that you are there to learn, soak up the knowledge and don't worry what you don't know, they don't expect you to know anything now anyway and it will be a good learning experience.