Thinking of quitting with only 4 months to go because of clinical anxiety

angelwings44 · Mar 11, 2005

Hi, I know exactly what your going through.. I had those same fears 3 yrs ago during clinicals. The only thing that got me through was the Lord. I am a Christian an I prayed an read his word. I had others praying as well. I will pray for you too. Hang in there, you have excellent grades! If I can do it, TRUST me,,, anyone can....lol ----- I was a wreck!! Again, the Lord is the answer. :) :Melody:

Has anyone been through this? I have "only" four months to go before graduation and I'm thinking (again) of quitting. My clinical anxieties have gotten so bad that my doc has doubled my meds and I feel like a zombie. Academic grades are excellent, clinical average about 92. But... I owe 6 clinical makeup days where I can only get a maximum of 85 on each day, and min. average of 85 is required to pass, so there's not much room for error here. The 6 clinical absences were a result of "meltdowns" where I was so freaked out over clinical that I couldn't go and was even then on the verge of quitting. Everyone says don't quit with only 4 months left, but to me it's 4 months of absolute hell, at least in my mind. Any input?

Gompers, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2005

The day after my FIL's heart attack, I attended clinical and just lost it. Gave all my equipment away to my classmates (a great Littman steth my son had given me for Xmas, other misc stuff, and all my drug cards) and hugged them goodbye, with no intention of ever going back. Marched into the school to tell my DON that I'm quitting, but she wouldn't let me. She said I'm in no condition to make such a decision now, between my FIL and the fact that my own father is in the midst of going through many dx tests - they found a spot on his lung, problems with a heart valve, etc.
So now my choices are (a) should I go back to LPN school at all? (b) go part time and graduate in June 2006 © jump into the next full-time class when they get up to the point where I just left off, which would be in September or October, then graduate in January 2006.

First of all, I'd get the steth back!!!!!!!!!!

After things get better with your father and FIL, take a step back and see what you feel most comfortable doing. Maybe doing the CNA thing for awhile might be a good idea - while it's a busy job, it's much less stressful than nursing school, I'm telling you. I was incredibly anxious in nursing clinicals, just shaking sometimes it was so bad. But I did fine with my job as a CNA with 20 patients to vital, feed, bathe, etc. It does WONDERS for time management and getting comfortable with your basic nursing skills. Maybe after doing that for awhile, you could start the part-time program and work at the same time. Trust me, the more time you spend in the hospital, especially if you're working as a CNA and don't have an instructor breathing down your neck, the better you'll feel.

Bit of advice, and I don't know how others might feel about this - but if you do go for a CNA job, try to get one in a hospital, not a nursing home or LTC facility, if possible. For one thing, the CNA patient ratios seem to be a bit better in the hospital, and for another, you'll be getting more comfortable in the acute-care hospital setting before you start back in school.

Good luck!