I just enrolled in my pre-reqs. I am an intelligent person, very intelligent, if I do say so myself. I'm positive I can learn and apply any of the theory and science of nursing. But I'm not going to lie, I'm clumsy and I make lots of silly mistakes. Some might say I am just not very kinesthetic, but I don't know if I agree (I learned sign language pretty well). But for the most part, when doing things with my hands on my own I perform pretty poorly. I must be shown and walked through how to do anything physical (swinging a tennis racket, assembling machinery, carrying a tray full of plates, etc.)- patiently and sometimes more than once. I'm a klutz. I wait tables right now and when I ask questions about how to do something they act like I'm dumb and then sort of mutter something unhelpful and expect that to be enough for me to know what to do.
I'm afraid this issue will carry over into nursing (inserting IVs, properly carrying a patient, etc.). I'm afraid they will get frustrated with me, neglect to properly train me and send me out on my own, or I just won't be able to keep a job because people will think I'm an idiot (which I am not). And this is very important, because lives will depend on me.
I'm not an idiot- I am capable of doing whatever is needed of me. I just need to be clearly shown anything physical or hands-on first.
So I guess my question is, how supportive are instructors in nursing school? Are my fears likely to come true? Do I belong? It seems like nurses are always practical people. Then again, my dad was a nurse (now a PA) and I inherited a lot of klutziness from him, and one of my good friends became a nurse and she is very head-in-the-clouds.
You just described me to a T. I can also get misunderstood very easily and I'm not well accepted as a person at my work but I am accepted as a nurse. I'm super clutzy & always covered in bruises, socially awkward with people I don't know well, very forgetful about common sense things but I can pretty much recite something about a disease or procedure from my mind verbatim. Those things aside, I'm a hell of a nurse, a great advocate for my patients, and someone the doctors say they're so glad is the nurse for their patients when things are going wrong. If I can do it, trust me, you can too!
I'm am super accident prone as well! I've been known to bruise my fingers with clean needles (by poking them!). I'm am constantly dropping things. My very 1st job I was sent to the ER for slicing my finger on a tomato slicer (needed stitches) and wasn't allowed into the kitchen the 2 years I worked there. I'm not super book smart either tho! I AM a people person however. I'm just super accident prone. I do think tho that you get used to it and get skilled in skills.
You just described me. When it comes to appliances and machinery and other tactile things like IV's and pumps etc, I have no troubleshooting skills at all. I am horrible at figuring something out just by looking at it. However, I am bookish and can critically think. You will learn and you will be fine as a nurse. Not all nurses can figure EVERYTHING out. It takes experience and you learn every day. I just always ask for help and tell people that I am not at all mechanically inclined! Just the other day I had a beeping wound vac and could not for the life of me find the 'leak' it said it had. DUH- it took my SO who works with me to tell me to check the connection- yup- it wasn't connection right.
That post describes me perfectly! I tell people that I am a "hands-on" learner, that I need to learn something by actually doing it, which is really kind of what nursing is all about. But once I learn something I never forget it.
I think the thing about being "bookish" is that I tend to overthink things while I'm doing them -- is this right, what would hapen if I dropped that, why is this supposed to go like that -- and I become so lost in thought that I cant focus on the task at hand.
I am unable to dance, unable to play a musical instrument (years of lessons as a child) uable to use complex equipment, I no longer take exercise classes because of the embarrassment -- have tried yoga, kick boxing, aerobics, tennis, pilates, weight lifing, stairmasters, etc., etc., etc. so mortifying.
Don't even get me started on driving a car.
You will get to use the lab in nursing schoo to practice your skills. I used to go in at 6:30 in the morning and do my skills over and over again until they were second nature. A lot of students did that, so we are not alone.
Although, please, please, please stop saying that you have "low" common sense. You are a hands-on learner, or you learn "visually," or you are a "klutz" is ok if it's said with a smile.
What do you mean by "low common sense"? The clumsiness isn't that big of a deal, but if you're unable to reason and figure things out, well, that will be a problem.
What do you mean by "low common sense"? The clumsiness isn't that big of a deal, but if you're unable to reason and figure things out, well, that will be a problem.
I say "low common sense" because that is the label (actually, it's usually "no common sense") that friends and family give me. They say this in response to me making silly mistakes like absentmindedly putting my credit card in the cash slot and having to take it out with tweezers, or sometimes forgetting simple but necessary things. I think it's unfair to label me this. Common sense is subjective. I'm just a head in the clouds person. But I think I'll be okay with nursing because it's real people and I'll always be thinking of that and how they feel.
Be confident!! Everyone has little flaws, but don't let that discourage you! Do YOU really beleive your a klutz with low common sense? Or is this just something OTHERS have said about you?? Sometimes we start beleiving things about ourselves when we hear it enough....even when they are not true! It's so normal to be scared of the unknown...that's just life. Honey, you'll be fine, just hang in there and believe in yourself!!! :)
They say this in response to me making silly mistakes like absentmindedly putting my credit card in the cash slot and having to take it out with tweezers, or sometimes forgetting simple but necessary things.
Wow the stories I could tell about the bizarre mishaps in my life! There have been entire television series that last forever based on these kinds of stories - I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Friends, The Office, 30 Rock...basically everything I can think of.
Maybe we should start a thread on allnurses.
At any rate, it sounds like your friends and family don't have much of a sense of humor.
Learn your skills (you will, I'm quite sure) embrace your inner Klutz, and please learn to laugh at yourself and at life. A nurse with a sense of humor can be a real tonic for a patient who is sick and miserable in a cold, sterile healthcare facility.
Many nurses insist there is only one way to do a task and everyone else is wrong.
This leads to the more practically inclined stating that the more cerebrally inclined lack 'common sense' when the latter don't do the task the 'right way'.
This can result in some angst for the cerebrally inclined when they work in a more task oriented environment when they then feel their skills and attributes go unrecognised (and are not even required)
NeoPediRN
945 Posts
You just described me to a T. I can also get misunderstood very easily and I'm not well accepted as a person at my work but I am accepted as a nurse. I'm super clutzy & always covered in bruises, socially awkward with people I don't know well, very forgetful about common sense things but I can pretty much recite something about a disease or procedure from my mind verbatim. Those things aside, I'm a hell of a nurse, a great advocate for my patients, and someone the doctors say they're so glad is the nurse for their patients when things are going wrong. If I can do it, trust me, you can too!