About to start classes soon, nervous

[EphemeralMelody]

I'm getting ready to start CNA classes soon. =) I found a community college nearby that offers a month-long CNA training program for $1000. I plan to go up tomorrow and apply for admissions; afterward, I'll be scheduled to take a placement test and if I receive sufficient scores on that, I should be good to go. I'm really excited; I'm looking forward to taking the class and hopefully working as a CNA soon, this has been a dream of mine for a while now.

Now, here's the problem. I'm scared to death of being nervous and making a mistake or two during classes and being failed as a result. I also have the worry of doing the same when I start a job after graduation, that I'll be slow or mess up and they'll decide to let me go as a result. Now, I realize this may seem a bit paranoid but it's because of a really bad job experience I had a while back.

I was brought in for training at this vet tech job and was really excited; I was looking forward to being a vet tech and felt this was a great job opportunity for me. However, on the 2nd day of training, I was a little slow and made some stupid, careless mistakes as a result of being nervous and new to the job. The lady decided I wasn't learning fast enough to suit her and let me go, telling me she didn't want to train me anymore. This experience left me feeling utterly humiliated and like a total idiot. Looking back on it now, her reaction seemed a little excessive to me. I mean, I could understand if I had been there months and was still slow and making careless mistakes, but for letting me go for messing up on my SECOND DAY?!? I mean, I thought that was what the training period was, for learning and making mistakes so that you know to never do them again in the future. Then again, I'm not a training manager, so I don't know; maybe she was in the right. Either way, the outcome is still the same; I was out of a job, and left feeling like an incompetent idiot who can't do anything right. Ever since then, I'm scared to death of messing up at any future jobs and being let go because the manager feels like I'm an idiot and doesn't want to train me.

For me, it's not as simple as just "don't make any mistakes." Now, ideally this would be the case; however, I have a problem where when I'm new to something, especially a job, I get so nervous my brain essentially shuts down. I start getting BAD anxiety symptoms: I start shaking, sweating, getting nauseated, feeling like I'm about to pass out, etc. and as a result of this, I can't concentrate or think straight and wind up making careless, thoughtless mistakes I normally wouldn't in my right state of mind. This was exactly what happened at the vet tech job, and part of why I think I messed up. I really don't know what to do about this problem -- I'd like to get meds to help me with nerves/anxiety but have difficulty with going to the doctor due to a lack of money and insurance. I'm worried it's going to cause me problems with functioning in the real world and any jobs I get in the foreseeable future.

Any advice, words of consolation, etc. you could give me would greatly help. I realize this question may seem a little annoying or paranoid and you probably get stuff like this from newbies all the time. But I'm really looking for some advice and am just a little worried due to past negative experiences. I'm really wanting this to work out; I'm so excited to start school soon and hopefully get a job as a CNA, I would be heartbroken if things didn't turn out right.

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

Oh man, I'm just like that... anxiety, brain shutting down, mistakes. My classes actually weren't that bad, because everyone was pretty much in the same boat. We were all learning the same things at the same time. I think you'd have to go out of your way to screw up the class. Starting my new job was another story. In previous jobs, I'd gotten flustered, my mind shut down, and I felt like an ass, but this was, hands down, the worst new job experience ever! I felt so inept and self-conscious. My mind was always going blank and I felt like everyone hated me. I was slow and I made mistakes all the time. I had panic attacks even on my day off.

One day I wrote down all my feelings about the job- how incompetent I felt, how I felt when people got aggravated with me or acted cliquey, how I was afraid of getting fired (the shame!), and how I was convinced that I was never going to get any better and would be a bad CNA forever. Then I put the notebook away and told myself I wasn't going to look at it for another month. If I still felt the same way by then, I would quit, and I would forgive myself for "failing." Until then, I would show up to work, collect my paycheck, and calm the eff down!

Doing that didn't suddenly make everything hunky dory, but it DID help. It provided a light at the end of the tunnel. By the time the month was up I still wasn't 100% comfortable there, but when I read the letter I was amazed at how much better I felt.

[katehensley, BSN, RN]

"Now, here's the problem. I'm scared to death of being nervous and making a mistake or two during classes and being failed as a result. I also have the worry of doing the same when I start a job after graduation, that I'll be slow or mess up and they'll decide to let me go as a result. Now, I realize this may seem a bit paranoid but it's because of a really bad job experience I had a while back."

Im the same as you but you'll learn, and hopefully not the hard way, EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES Lets shout it out I MAKE MISTAKES!

I hope you dont read that meanly but you will learn this. In your class while you are learning you will make mistakes, and this is fine. Usually the professors tell you your mistake and you try again. With a cna class, your skills are a lot of memorization to the steps of care. Just practice, but a mistake in class will not mean that you will fail.

Now , as for making a mistake at clinicals or a job, thats a little more serious, because you are working with real people, not dummies. This also means you will learn from it and you will never ever make that mistake again.

My experience: Clinicals day 1: In a LTC and I was shadowing a CNA who let me go on my own but watched over me. I did peri-care on an older woman and forgot to put her bed down. This caused my CNA to give a long speech to my group about the importance of putting beds in lowest postion. He was not mean AT ALL but was it Embaressing=Yes. Have I ever ever left a bed down again? No :)

Cna class is a learning experience and so will your first CNA job. They dont expect you to be perfect. They usually train you for a good week. And you will still make mistakes and get anxious but it will get better with time. They expect you to be slow. There is no way a new CNA can take care of 16 people a night/day on their first few days. It might take you 30 mins to change someone who usually takes 10. But you will get in the swing of things and learn your patients and how you plan your day/night.

If you get nervous at work just take a minute and breathe, and if you dont know what to do or you forget ASK SOMEONE :) I rather ask someone and look a lil dumb for 5 minutes than potentially hurt my patient. Everyone had their first CNA job sometime. And most remember how stressful it was.

What I am trying to say is relax. Learn from your mistakes. And accept you're human. :) I wish you nothing but success my future fellow CNA :) welcome to the wonderful work of healthcare

[EphemeralMelody]

Thank you for the responses everyone, I appreciate it. It's good to see that everyone else was insecure and nervous at first, too.

I went up and applied for admission to the program today. :) Here's hoping everything works out okay. I still need to register for and take the placement test, get the rest of my immunizations, etc. The main thing I am worried about is financial aid. I have received conflicting information on whether or not this CNA program is eligible for FA or not. The admissions lady called me back and told me it was not, but I called the Financial Aid Department and at first they told me they couldn't find anything on Nursing Assistant, then came back and said that YES it was covered by financial aid. So I'm hoping I can get this straightened out as I complete the financial aid process. I'm really hoping I can take out a loan or something to pay for it because I just can't afford it otherwise; $1000 may not be that much for a college program but it is given our current circumstances.

I'm really praying this all works out because more than anything I want to obtain my certification and work as a CNA. I've been doing research and I keep hearing all the bad things about being a CNA - low pay for very stressful, back-breaking work, lots of heavy-duty cleaning, etc. Even knowing all that, I still think I want to do this. Yes, I know it will be hard, but I think it is very rewarding. I love the idea of being able to care for people who are sick, elderly, and/or dying; being there for them and being able to make them feel better, more comfortable.

I think part of why I want to become a CNA has to do with my dad. Earlier this year, my dad was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and I left my job of 2 1/2 years to go to Florida and be with him. I watched him grow sicker and weaker day by day and it was absolutely heartbreaking seeing my once healthy, strong father suffer like this. Yet, it made a world of difference being able to be there for him and help him out. Being able to help with just the littlest things - feeding him, making sure he was kept clean, giving him company, etc. - was tremendously rewarding. It made me feel a little bit better about the horrible situation knowing there was something I could do for him, to make him more comfortable and his last days a little more pleasant.

Sadly, my dad passed away and I miss him everyday. However, I'm trying to see the positive in this tragic, horrifying experience. It made me realize how much I love caring for people who are sick and in need of help. It's the most rewarding feeling in the world to be able to help those who can't take care of themselves. To be that one ray of light in their dark, dreary days. That is why I want to be a CNA, and I'm hoping nothing will get in between me and my goal.

I'm still not decided if I want to do CNA as a career or not, however. I figure I'll do it for a few years, save up money, etc. and figure out where I want to go from there. The reasons why I'm iffy about doing it for life are 1. the low pay - I want to be able to make enough to survive on my own and 2. I've heard it often wears on your back if you do it for years on end, even causing permanent back and other physical problems.

I'm considering going on to become an RN after working as a CNA for a few years, but to be honest I am a little intimidated at the prospect of being an RN due to the huge amount of liability and responsibility it entails. The idea that the tiniest mistake such as a med error, etc. could mean the difference between life or death for a patient terrifies me, and I just don't know if I could deal with that level of responsibility. Granted, being a CNA involves some liability as well but not to the huge extent that being an RN does - it's more basic patient care and common sense type stuff. There's also the fact that I can be very absentminded at times and this is not a good trait for an RN. However, I have to remind myself that with being a CNA, I'll have years of training and experience in that which will hopefully prepare me for an RN job better and lessen the chances of mistakes being made.

Another job option I am strongly considering is veterinary technician. I worked at a kennel for 2 1/2 years and loved it, animals are my passion and I love working with them hence why I'm attracted to the idea of being a vet tech. You can actually learn some vet tech skills on-the-job but to truly be a skilled and credentialed vet tech you need to go to school for 2 years to do it, which is what I'm considering later on down the road. However, I'm just not sure if I want to do this or CNA. I figure I'll see how much I like working with people and go from there.

Sorry for the long-winded post, I am just young and trying to thoroughly weigh all my different career options. I hope I don't come off as too much of an idiot, I'm just very new to this and trying to learn as much as I can along the way.

[student forever]

My second day at skills, I was to "empty the foley bag". The teacher walked out of the room for a few minutes as I performed the skill in front of the class. When he came back in, I was in the weeds!! I was literally walking around the little circle and the upshot of it? I didn't even look at the amount of urine! I just tossed it out in the bedside commode and focused on cleaning the measuring cup. I had the best laugh because the measurement is the whole point of that skill!!

Learning to laugh at myself and lighten up has been a long, hard journey. No one else in class caught my mistake, either, so learn to laugh at yourself a little bit more.