Venting and praying

[ShadowsGirl101]

I decided that I needed a good place to vent my feelings.

I'm in NUR 101 and we started with a class of 100 we are now down to 72. I feel this insane pressure on my shoulders because to pass NUR 101 we need an 80 average. Right now I have a 78 and we still have two tests left and a twenty percent final.

A lot has happened this semester which contributed to my stress. I have Schizotypal personality disorder and the stress of this program along with constant pulling from my parents of; "If you fail Nursing school I will kill you because I spent all this money." has tripled my anxiety along with the preexisting anxiety that comes from STPD. I feel like I am constantly on edge with my grade status even though I've gone to several instructors whom tell me repeatedly "You will be okay." Another event that stabbed me was when one of my close friends during our third test of the semester stood up walked to the front of the class, threw down his paper and exclaimed he quit. Three others did the same after he did the action. That scared me as well as learning that three of my friends are so low when it comes to grades that no matter what they do they can't pass. I haven't had a complete breakdown yet.

I lack in book work and make up completely for it in clinical practice and being more hands on has become a complete curse so far. "Thinking like a nurse" is difficult. I need help so I went to one of the course "repeaters" who previously failed is back in the class. She did provide help by giving me some helpful advice but for the extreme anxiety I have she suggests going to the Doctor for some medications. I don't want to go down that route.

I try to set aside two hours a day for study and I attend a study group who couldn't believe that I did as bad as I did on our most recent exam ( A 75) when I could be in my group and completely give correct answers. I need some help and if anyone has any I will greatly accept and implement it. Please, I need it.

[springchick1, ADN, RN]

If you don't understand the "book work" you are not going to be able to do well clinically. Maybe you can slide by in the beginning, but I guarantee you, you will not be able to continue taking care of patients without understanding your material.[/quote']

That's not always the case. Some of the book work is hard to understand but sue you out it into practice at clinicals, it just clicks. All of a sudden it's not that confusing anymore.

[OCNRN63, RN]

That's not always the case. Some of the book work is hard to understand but sue you out it into practice at clinicals, it just clicks. All of a sudden it's not that confusing anymore.

At some point, it will catch up with you. Being a good nurse means being able to tie everything together; classroom and clinical.

Imagine how audacious it would sound for a physician to say, "Meh...I'm not good at my classes, but I'm great on my rotations." I know I wouldn't want a doc, or nurse, who couldn't pull it all together.

​You won't be able to just do clinical when it comes time for NCLEX; you need a healthy balance of both.

[springchick1, ADN, RN]

At some point it will catch up with you. Being a good nurse means being able to tie everything together; classroom and clinical. Imagine how audacious it would sound for a physician to say, "Meh...I'm not good at my classes, but I'm great on my rotations." I know I wouldn't want a doc, or nurse, who couldn't pull it all together. ​You won't be able to just do clinical when it comes time for NCLEX; you need a healthy balance of both.[/quote']

If you read my post, you would see where I said that sometimes the book part doesn't make sense UNTIL you put it into practice at clinicals. I never said you don't have to put it all together and I know you won't be able to "just do clinicals when it comes time for NCLEX". But sometimes, the physical act makes things a lot clearer.

[cblue152]

Unfortunately, you have to become accustomed to each professor's teaching and testing methods. During my first semester of nursing school I had a little meltdown because I was so scared that I wouldn't get through the program. I had heard that only a handful of people who start end up graduating. Sadly, literally only 50% of the people we started with were there to graduate with us. I'm not trying to frighten you by saying this- I'm just saying that if you learn how to pass your tests then you will be one of those who comes through on the other side.

We all know that in nursing school, there's usually more than one correct answer. You have to find the answer that's the *most* correct. I've always been a good test taker, but this even threw me off. So, for each test this is what I did- I would read the question and underline the key words.

For instance, say the question is, "You are assessing a patient who is in for an acute CHF exacerbation. Upon auscultation, what are the expected findings?"

So then I would be able to focus a little better on what is important within the question. Then, I would read each answer and immediately cross out the ones that were obviously wrong. I would weigh out the remaining questions and decide which one was best. If I couldn't figure it out, I didn't waste time on it until the end. I would jump to the next question and do the same thing with it. Using this method, I managed at 3.6 GPA. I got through my tests quicker than others also because the crossing out method helped me the sort through the wrong answers faster without re-reading over and over again.

Give it a try and see if it helps!

[logank622]

I actually accel in the clinical setting. I'm the top of my class clinically and I'm pretty proud of that. When we get there everything just clicks.

Have you explored your preferred learning style? If everything clicks in clinicals, you may be more of a kinesthetic learner. Your professor may be able to help you find learning materials and study methods that are better suited to that learning style.