Should I reconsider nursing if trouble with hands-on proc.?

WDWpixieRN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

I posted my suggestion for this on your other thread.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

i'm the kind of person that would need to practice things 20 times to get it imprinted in my brain.

then do them 20 times. i have always advised employees and students that just learning a procedure off a piece of paper is no different than learning a part in a play. it takes memorization and performing the physical action (in the theater it is called "blocking") over and over and over. and i can tell you that they do it a lot more than 20 times. probably more like 100 or 200 times. they repeat it so much they can say the words and do the accompanying action without even thinking about it. that's what you want to strive for at this time. it would help to see at least one video of each procedure being done by someone.

eventually, when you start to do these procedures on real patients, the various actions you are supposed to take will start to make a lot more common sense as you actually perform them.

for now, you memorize.

and with doing care-plans-i never seem to get good remarks on my papers and these things take me several hours to do

(1) the first care plans do take several hours to do

(2) do you read the remarks the instructors make on your care plans? what do they say?

(3) care plans are the written documentation of the nursing process. the nursing process is the problem solving process that we nurses use. a care plan is a determination of a patient's nursing problems and strategies to attempt to solve them. i didn't get the hang of them until well after i graduated!

(4) see the sticky thread

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/help-care-plans-286986.html

-

assistance - help with care plans

(in the general nursing discussion forum) for information on constructing a care plan

memorization and common sense have no relationship to each other that i know of.

how long did it take you to learn to:

tie your shoes?
ride a two wheeler bike without falling off?
read?
write your name?
drive a car?

do you remember being scared when you were first doing some of these? were there a few steps in the process of tying your shoes or driving a car that you forgot at the time you were struggling to learn? did you want to give up then too? but, you didn't, did you? how many other nursing students do you think are in the same situation as you right now? i'd say 99% of them. you are not alone.

heavenly14313 · Mar 29, 2008

People change their major all the time. And nobody can really make that decision but you. BUT my suggestion is whatever you decide, DON'T DO IT NOW! you are going through a lot. It's human nature to try to find a way out, something that will be easier, or more enjoyable. HOwever, right now you are in the middle of a semester. If I were you, I would make getting through the next 4 weeks my one and only goal. Then, at the end of that four weeks I would re-evaluate the situation. If you choose to change your major, then do so. Make sure you leave your school in good standing (by not dropping out middle of semester, etc.) so that if you decide you want to go back, you always have that semester taken care of!

I agree with what another poster said about taking your pre-reqs first. I cannot imagine taking H&P II with my first semester nursing courses. It is not a wonder you are stressed. But let this make you stronger. Once you get through this semester, whether you decide to change your major or not, you can always look back and say I DID IT! let that be your focus for now, b/c in order to accomplish that, it needs your full attention. Get through this, then talk with family, friends, a school counselor, us here!, when you're not emotional and so stressed, then you will have about 2-3 solid weeks to make your decision.

I feel like we have so much in common. I have gone through what you are EXACTLY. I posted here about 2 months ago and I said I didn't think I could ever step back on my campus b/c I was so humiliated. It's HARD to have people tell you that you aren't meeting their expectations, ESPECIALLY when the things you're doing effect other people (patients).

Nursing is hard. NOBODY said it was easy. I imagine you heard horror stories b4 you applied. But you did it anyway. Now you are living those stories. HANG IN THERE! Get some thick skin and let this form you into a STRONG person.

Practice your skills. Practice them EVERY morning before you go to class. When you are sitting in class and you get a break, or on lunch, run through the steps in your head EVERY day, then at night do it in front of a family member and pretend it's your instructor.

I am in my second semester, and when I started my 2nd rotation on the med-surg unit I had to perform an Accu-check. My teacher wanted to be there for the first time just to make sure we knew how. I knew basically how to do it. But it had been almost a year since I had done one, so I was jumping steps (started to prick the finger b4 I put the strip in the monitor). When we walked out my teacher said she wanted to be there when I did my next one. I felt horrible. I couldn't even do a freakin Accu-check right. But she was right! I simply didn't do it right and she DID need to be there for the next one to correct me again if I started to go out of sequence. Same thing happened with my catheter last semester in the lab. Had to come back and do it again. My grades exceed others by far in my program, but when it comes to hands on, ESPECIALLY in front of my instructor, I am... well, others exceed me! I have to put in 10X the amount of effort as others in these procedures. But there is NOTHING I want more than to take care of people. I WANT to be a nurse. So i do what it takes to get me there!

I give myself the option at the end of every semester to change my major. However, I notice that when grades come back and I have passed, it was THAT that I was stressing about the entire time. When I thought I wanted out, I really just wanted away from the pressure of possibly failing.

Let us know how things go please. Maybe every week you could reply to this post and let us know how you're doing?

Let us and your family/friends/other students at home be your support system to get you through this. If things bother you, use your support system and let them deal with it. Tell us about then don't think about it again! You show up every day for the next four weeks and when you start to feel emotional, upset, stressed, whatever, just say, I need to wait until I have my support system to do this, right now I need to continue this bed bath, studying, whatever. Fake confidence and you will gain confidence.

Good luck to you, you CAN do this!

dalvnjjh · Mar 29, 2008

Practice, practice, practice, and confidence. I love doing nursing procedures, putting tubes in and taking them out! I always would tell my instructor to let me know when there was a procedure to do and i'll do it. Reverse psychology! After a couple of procedures she left me alone and I got better. Try that approach and I bet you a million bucks that she is suprised, impressed and will leave you alone and have more confidence in you, also you will have more confidence. Good Luck!

casi, ASN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

When you are under pressure to do something new in perfect order it's common for your mind to go blank and you forget steps. Any nursing student who claims this hasn't happened to them is lying.

You need to practice these things and observe them whenever you can! Give injections to oranges and put foleys in pop bottles. Whatever makes you go through the steps again and again.

Observe other classmates doing things in lab, or if you work as a nursing assistant ask to watch procedures! I tend to try and get myself in a room when a nurse is giving an injection or I offer to hold a flashlight or be in a room just-in-case when they are doing a foley. The more I see the more comfortable I am with the proceedures. It also helps you realize that in the real world rarely a real proceedure goes by the book.

WDWpixieRN, RN · Mar 30, 2008

After a couple of procedures she left me alone and I got better. Try that approach and I bet you a million bucks that she is suprised, impressed and will leave you alone and have more confidence in you, also you will have more confidence. Good Luck!

LOL....no kidding....I had an internship in an ER last summer where I must have started a hundred IVs (most successful; a few not). The beauty was I had a preceptor over my shoulders who wasn't grading me and who would walk me through it each time I needed her to.

Fast forward to this semester and if I had a patient who needed an IV started, I would run get my instructor and tell her that either I could do it or she could get another student who hadn't had much experience to come do it. Most of the time, she blew me off....it was like she didn't want to deal with it at all, lol!! The downside was for students who truly could have benefited from the experience....neither they, nor I, had the opportunity to do these. :madface: I knew I had had plenty of experience so it didn't bother me a great deal, but I felt for the students who had been chomping at the bit to give it a try.

Anyway, when I read dalvnjjh's post, that's what it reminded me of...worth a try!!!

butterflyC · Apr 7, 2008

I would like to thank everyone responding to my last post about being scared of getting kicked out. I did some thinking and I realize that I am having trouble with remembering steps to procedures that are reflecting in my clinicals. I don't have problems with the exams but when it comes to remembering what was shown to me awhile ago I am having trouble with remembering clinical procedures. Now I'm thinking that maybe I lack the necessary common sense needed to be a nurse. I am very sad b/c I wanted to be a nurse for 5 years. But for me to remember hands-on things, I'm the kind of person that would need to practice things 20 times to get it imprinted in my brain. And with doing care-plans-I never seem to get good remarks on my papers and these things take me several hrs. to do. I am also taking anatomy and phys. II. I really enjoy writing and reading so maybe I should become an English major? I don't know. I feel like a retard to be having so much trouble with basic procedures. Yes, I was checked off for these in the past. I need some opinions here. Appreciate any comments.

wow!!! we're almost exactly the same! i was having trouble with nursing procedures when i was in nursing school mainly because i feel anxious in making a mistake... and also because my clinical instructor is always hovering behind me ! this was also the same thing for my graded return demos! :yeah: i would spend the entire week memorizing the steps needed for the demo, and when i got it all memorized, practiced and all, it always ends up in a catastrophe! always... anyways, i didn't have any trouble with my academics. it's just the clinical part i'm having trouble with. I was also thinking before, that maybe Nursing wasn't really for me... but I made a decision, and i chose Nursing. Did you remember right that there are many learning styles out there... and sometimes, people just don't have the same styles so that they would be able to learn something... Me, i'm mainly visual and kinesthetic... plus practice, practice and practice... :nuke: don't worry about it... just do whatever you can. :bow: Always be confident! take care! :redpinkhe:redpinkhe:redpinkhe

puggymae · Apr 7, 2008

If it takes you practicing 20 times, then practice 40 to make sure that you have it down pat.

Think of how many times you fell off of your bike or roller skate or whatever until you mastered it.

It is unreasonable to think that you would master hands on skills without practice.

mrs.captain.kangaroo · Apr 8, 2008

I would like to thank everyone responding to my last post about being scared of getting kicked out. I did some thinking and I realize that I am having trouble with remembering steps to procedures that are reflecting in my clinicals. I don't have problems with the exams but when it comes to remembering what was shown to me awhile ago I am having trouble with remembering clinical procedures. Now I'm thinking that maybe I lack the necessary common sense needed to be a nurse. I am very sad b/c I wanted to be a nurse for 5 years. But for me to remember hands-on things, I'm the kind of person that would need to practice things 20 times to get it imprinted in my brain. And with doing care-plans-I never seem to get good remarks on my papers and these things take me several hrs. to do. I am also taking anatomy and phys. II. I really enjoy writing and reading so maybe I should become an English major? I don't know. I feel like a retard to be having so much trouble with basic procedures. Yes, I was checked off for these in the past. I need some opinions here. Appreciate any comments.

Hey you are not alone! I also have the same difficulties due both to lower than normal mechanical skills and high anxiety. And it is hard in clinicals because a lot of times the equipment in the hospital is somewhat different from what is in lab, a live person's body is a lot different than a dummy in lab - every body is different and some very different, etc, so even if you practice, it is still hard.

I also have to do physical/mechanical type things multiple times before I get them imprinted in my brain.

What type of procedures are you having problems with, some you can practice more on your own & in lab and some you just have to do in clinicals, depending on how good your lab is.

Anyway, I would speak with your CI about your learning style and see if she can come up w/some ideas to help. Can you observe other students doing the same procedure even if you can't get the hands on multiple times and does that help you later - we do that sometimes with each other.

The point is, you are able to do the procedure eventually right? So you are not incapable of learning it.

My first CI told me that she felt I could learn the technical part of nursing but that it would take me longer but she felt I was good at other parts such as understanding disease processes, good with the patients that maybe others were behind in me those areas - so I could still make a good nurse. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and yes there are those classmates who are good in all areas and how I wish I was one of them!

But I'm not so it is important to acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses and go from there.

Don't give up on being a nurse. Talk to your CI or someone in your program and see how they can help you.