As a nursing student I'm afraid of _____. (fill in the blank)

WavyGravy · Apr 22, 2014

Not passing the NCLEX and not finding a job.

mag426, ADN, BSN · Jun 27, 2014

Not continuing with my class fall semester due to unpaid balance, not being able to fund the rest of nursing school and being set back because of this. Leading to my graduation date being pushed back.

TrevyRN, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2014

" Due to medical expenses, my husband and I had to file bankruptcy. I'm terrified that my credit score will prevent me from getting a job :-/ "

My *ahem* not so awesome credit never stopped me from getting work :-) . My honeybunches has no credit established and works in an awesome hospital in surgery. All it did was make it more complicated to get a lease to move next to the good jobs :-p

TrevyRN, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2014

Not enjoying being an RN. Still not sure if this is the right option for me, but I will be graduating August of 2014. Hopefully I will learn to love the profession, and stop looking for "something more".

Registered Nursing is a very diverse profession. There is not just hands on patient care, but also management, school nursing, education, legal nursing, insurance, public health, surgery, etc. They're all very different kinds of work.

Good news is, even if you loathed it for some reason, just being a nurse gets you lots of respect points if you decided to go into other work. And the skills you learn as a nurse never leave you.

Bira_FutureNurse · Jul 4, 2014

Is there anything in particular to nursing that you are afraid of? Please share your story below. How do you cope?
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Messing something up/failing

BiraFurtureRN

nlitened · Jul 5, 2014

Failure

And I don't know why. The only thing I can keep telling myself is that I am strong enough, smart enough, and brave enough to be successful at anything.

happyinmyheart · Jul 5, 2014

Not being intelligent enough

SeattleJess · Jul 6, 2014

I'm afraid this hard work will be for nothing because employers will be too scared to hire someone with a broken spine (something I didn't know about until 2.5 years into my BSN).

,,,or a "nontraditional student" with juvenile diabetes.

SeattleJess · Jul 6, 2014

Failing....my first clinical starts in two weeks....my clinical teacher cannot stand me and she is looking for any reason to fail me....the anxiety has been overwhelming

You are describing my CNA instructor perfectly! It helped me to think of the class as a special lab class on working with difficult people. We both know they're out there! I determined that I would NOT let her behavior affect mine. I was courteous and respectful. I never gave up. I ignored the body language and tone of voice and responded to "just the facts." When she criticized me, I always asked sincerely, "How can I improve?" (This last one was probably the most powerful. Treating her like a teacher and sharing the responsibility for my success with her helped to level the field. It seems like some of us caregivers take too much responsibility. It's not all up to us.)

Also, I tried to ascribe the best motives to her behavior so I wouldn't poison myself inside with anger. (I told myself that she was mean and critical to students because she cared so much about patients that she wanted to protect them from the merest hint of incompetence.) I looked for what was good, helpful, anything positive about her and gave her grateful feedback for that.

I learned how to work with a difficult person and she ended up being a reference for me.

You can get through this. Just keep your focus on being the kind of person and nurse that YOU want to be.

SeattleJess · Jul 6, 2014

I agree with several, though not all, of yours and would like to add...
-- Getting stuck with slackers in a group project and depending on them for my grade

Oh NO!!! Does nursing school really have group projects? I had two group projects while doing my prerequisites (A&P I and Statistics) and it was a horrible, horrible experience each time. I'm convinced that group projects are the technique of lazy instructors to save them time on grading and lecture prep and presentation.

Surviving group projects would be a great thread topic if we really for real are going to be subjected to them.

SeattleJess · Jul 6, 2014

Several of my fears came true in my first semester, particularly regarding clinical:
-I did not want my first pt to have dementia (fear of the unknown-horror stories about violent pts) - my pt had a history of violent episodes.
-I was hoping to work with a female pt first, I had a male
-I was afraid that my pt wouldn't be able to communicate. My pt had aphasia.
-I was terrified of missing clinical. I was late on my last day.
I am grateful that these fears came true because they pushed me beyond my comfort zone and allowed me to find more courage than I thought I had. I learned important lessons and they give me strength moving forward.
My biggest fear is definitely failure, but I try to approach school with the attitude that success is my only option. The power of positive thinking has worked for me so far :)

Kittythestudentnurse, I admire your attitude! Thanks for your helpful story.

As the crew said in Galaxy Quest, "Never give up! Never surrender!"

JustWantToMakeIt · Jul 10, 2014

I am afraid of a number of things- failure being one of them. I fear not doing well and not thriving in school academically and clinically.

I fear once I start nursing school, I might no longer want to be a nurse causing me to switch to another profession. On the flip side, I fear I will fall in love with nursing and put my ALL into this program only to find out I cannot find a job upon graduation.