Always failing skills!

Sour Lemon · Oct 4, 2016

Please tell me there are other nursing students who fail their skills the first go around!? First semester, I failed only one skill, but this semester I've failed every one. I don't know what it is. This past time was over IV push and IVPB. I did really well on IVPB, but I was sooooooo nervous drawing up the med and read 1 mg to 1 mL, and idk how, but obviously it caused me to fail. Ugh!!! With each failure, I can't help but question if I can even do this. This whole semester I've questioned it, and even my own parents question it which makes it so much worse. :-( I just really need to know I'm not alone in this, that there are great nurses out there who failed numerous times and still succeeded. :-(

I think it's fairly unusual to fail skills, especially so many of them. Do you have the opportunity to practice in some sort of skills lab? Maybe getting familiar with the setting along with the skill would help. You should also learn to anticipate what the instructors might ask you for. The ML verses MG thing is a very typical testing point.

mdiada · Oct 4, 2016

Yes, we practice quite often. But another thing that got me was the doctor's order I used to check off with simply had two medications that were IV. Neither one said IVPB, so right off the bat, and as silly as it may be, it confused me so much that I couldn't think. I was unbelievably nervous, as well. My anxiety has gone through the roof this semester. We have only skilled off twice so far, but both times I have failed. My nerves were NOT this bad last semester! Nothing I do helps, either. í ½í¸• I don't know what to do.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Oct 4, 2016

In real life orders won't say IVPB. You're expected to know how to give it based on the medication, rate, and volume.

brownbook · Oct 4, 2016

I feel for you. I had to voluntarily drop out my 3rd semester. We did not have to pass skills tests like yours but I am 99% certain I would have failed them. I was the stupidest, greenest, most scared and anxious nursing student you could ever imagine.

After dropping out of nursing school and taking some time off I was able to re-apply to the same program the next semester. Repeating the 3rd semester wasn't a magical cure, but it did help.

Keep going to skills labs, or even take home some empty vials or syringes without needles. Practice over and over, pretend you are drawing up such and such mg vs ml. You Tube has great educational videos on many nursing interventions. I used to bring home unused, unneeded, empty IV bags and IV tubing. Filled them with tap water and a syringe. Priming an IV overwhelmed me!!!!!! To this day, 30 + years later, I still think of that every time I prime an IV bag! Now it is like OMG how stupid was I!

I was still scared and green my first few years of nursing but it does eventually make sense and get better. Please realize it is REALLY REALLY hard to kill a patient with one wrong pill, or one wrong IV medication, etc. Try to relax.