Is anyone else SCARED, after reading some posts from 1st years?

Ok, I'm a senior nursing student and let me tell you it's not that bad. You will see nurses who you do not wish to emulate. Take this into consideration and do not become like them. This is a learning experience. I have NEVER been yelled at (yet), and most RN's are appriciative of our presence on their floor. I really love my clinical time. It is a time that assist me in feeling positive about the experience and information I have gained. Please don't feel defeated before it comes to you. Instead of looking at how you are judged by the staff at a clinical facility... trust how those you are caring for feel about you.

I have to admit that my "gung ho" attitude towards nursing was dampened slightly after I read some of the posts in the "first year in nursing" forum. If I were to base my expectations of my initiation into nursing soley on those posts, I would make myself sick.
However, as many have stated here, I do think that we all tend to post more about difficulties. This is a place where a new nurse can vent. I would assume that there are many more first year nurses who are not having such a rough time, but they are not posting as much about their experiences.
I also think that some of us view the same situation or event in different ways. What may really hurt one of us and cause us pain and stress may roll off the shoulders of another.
I know I will make mistakes, and as much as that will devastate me and lead me to question my capabilities, I know that I will learn from them. I know that I will not be as fast as the seasoned nurses when I start out, but I know that in time I will develop my skills and speed and organisation of tasks.
One of my biggest concerns regarding nursing is the idea of horizontal violence-when co-workers attack each other (you know, that "nurses eat their young" legend). When I do make a mistake or don't work fast enough, the way I am treated by my co-workers could make the difference between handling my first year well or feeling like I am a stressed out failure.
I think that most of us who are worried about starting out as a nurse feel like this. It is not whether we will be perfect nurses right out of school, but whether our co-workers will accept our imperfections and help us grow into great nurses, or will they use our faults to attack and tear us down? Staff morale is so important. If we work in a positive environment, the stresses of beginning a nursing career will be more bearable than if we work in a workplace that is unsupportive or even hostile.
In my own experience as a pastor's wife (for nearly 23 year), I have dealt with many different kinds of people, some of them at the worst moments of their lives, some of them when they were at their worst, behavior-wise. For some reason, being in ministry makes you a magnet for troubled and angry people.
As a result of dealing with so many types of people, I have learned some things about hurtful people:
1. Bullies tend to pick up on the insecurities in others-they "smell fear". If I have an insecurity in some area, a mean and vindicitive person is more likely to hit me in that soft spot. If I am secure in who I am, if I am a "whole" person rather than wounded, I am less likely to feel the pain of such an attack. Instead, I am able to exhibit care and concern for my "attacker", which very often will diffuse a situation. It's important for everyone to pursue healing of their emotional wounds. It makes us better able to deal with those who have not done so.
2. Hurting people hurt people. Someone who is not "whole" but is instead is one of the walking wounded is more likely to go around hurting others. So often, when someone has been unkind to me, it is because of the pain in their own lives. Which leads me to the most important point:
3. It's usually not about me. There is so much going on under the surface. We can never know what another person is dealing with, has gone through, or what pain they carry every day. Most of the time, when someone hurts us, it really isn't about us or what we did wrong. It's about them and their own pain. To be able to recognise this truth enables me to let that "stuff" they throw at me just slide right off. When I am wrong, I can admit it. When I am not wrong, but am being treated like I am, I can know that it's not about me. The other person is hurting, and a calm response or a little kindness and compassion may help alleviate some of their burden.

As a result of dealing with so many types of people, I have learned some things about hurtful people:
1. Bullies tend to pick up on the insecurities in others-they "smell fear". If I have an insecurity in some area, a mean and vindicitive person is more likely to hit me in that soft spot. If I am secure in who I am, if I am a "whole" person rather than wounded, I am less likely to feel the pain of such an attack. Instead, I am able to exhibit care and concern for my "attacker", which very often will diffuse a situation. It's important for everyone to pursue healing of their emotional wounds. It makes us better able to deal with those who have not done so.
2. Hurting people hurt people. Someone who is not "whole" but is instead is one of the walking wounded is more likely to go around hurting others. So often, when someone has been unkind to me, it is because of the pain in their own lives. Which leads me to the most important point:
3. It's usually not about me. There is so much going on under the surface. We can never know what another person is dealing with, has gone through, or what pain they carry every day. Most of the time, when someone hurts us, it really isn't about us or what we did wrong. It's about them and their own pain. To be able to recognise this truth enables me to let that "stuff" they throw at me just slide right off. When I am wrong, I can admit it. When I am not wrong, but am being treated like I am, I can know that it's not about me. The other person is hurting, and a calm response or a little kindness and compassion may help alleviate some of their burden.