Can you be a good RN with a bad memory??

z's playa · Jun 5, 2005

I HAD THE WRONG DATE. I was 3 days off.

Your own KID? :chuckle just kidding

I dont know what to say but I can tell you I dont really know specifically how the heart works either...... right now if you asked me.

Were you preoccupied for a bit lately? Have you always been like this?

Been hanging around any chemicals? :)

Ok seriously..I was told that we all feel like we're not absorbing a lot but when the time comes we will be ok. I hope so because I get a little forgetful to.

Good luck.

Z

mariedoreen · Jun 5, 2005

I have one year to go in school for my RN. I am really worried about having an incredibly bad memory. I am doing OK in school, but after a test, I tell you, the info is GONE. I can know certain meds inside and out for a test, then poof!! I can't remember a thing. I can't remember how the heart works even, it's crazy. I am not worried about skills that much or basic pt care, but when someone asks me about something specific, even if I have covered it in school, yikes, I am at a loss for words. I wonder about assessing ( ?? can't remember how to spell it ). Sometimes I doubt being able to be a really good nurse with a poor memory. When my youngest was 3 I planned a vacation around her birthday, I HAD THE WRONG DATE. I was 3 days off.:chuckle

I could be writing this thread myself. I used to have an excellent memory and have seen myself reduced to a state of near dementia since starting school. I would be running to my doctor if I wasn't doing well on my exams. Can I really have early onset Alzheimers if I'm getting good grades on difficult tests?! Although, when I sit down for test review and look at the questions and my correct answers I'm like "Wow, I must have been darn intelligent two weeks ago when I took this test! I have no idea how I knew the answers then because not only do I not know them now, I don't even understand the questions anymore!!"

NewEnglandRN, RN · Jun 5, 2005

This happens to me too. Especially in Microbiology... what's in my head today is gone tomorrow :rotfl:

Has anyone tried supplement for memory?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 5, 2005

There is so much to have to learn and keep track of. It will become more ingrained as you work with specific drugs and patients with specific diseases.

As for remembering things. . .we used to call our shift assignment sheet our "brains". It had all our patients names on it with important information we needed to know. We folded it up and put it in our pockets. Fun starts when someone can't find their "brains". I used to write patient's vital signs, doctors verbal orders and all kinds of other stuff on those pieces of paper. For awhile I saved them until I had a pile 2 inches high in my locker at work and finally decided to throw them out. (They are confidential information so you have to be careful how you dispose of them.) You could probably set up the same kind of sheet for your clinical patients at school. Never go anywhere without your "brains"! :chuckle

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Jun 5, 2005

Sometimes the memory is a weird thing. To sit and try to remember how i learned something when i was in school is beyond me at this point. But recall works when you need it usually. I like to think its like riding a bike. You may put all you learned last test in the deep spaces of your mind now, but when you get out there and need to know it it kind of falls back into your recall without trying. Kind of like riding a bike, you may fall off,, but you get back up and just know how.

And as for "brains". I have to go on a massive hunt sometimes at work looking for my "brains". LOL They usually are just where i left them last, but ill be darned if know where that is until i find them. :rotfl:

Mystery5 · Jun 5, 2005

Hey, I keep all my old brains in my locker too!!!:rotfl:

Don't worry, remember, ordinary people become nurses. I have a bad memory, but fortunately, I keep all my brains on a piece of paper. I'm esp bad at names, and always refer to pts by their room number. Sometimes I'll walk in a room and forget someone's diagnosis until I refer to my sheet. :rolleyes:

I'm a good nurse and not error prone, so fear not.:)

justkim77 · Feb 10, 2012

I am in the exact same boat! I'm in my next to last semester and I just had to google tibia vs fibula!! Seriously, I thought I was smart until this semester. I'm glad I'm not alone with this memory problem. I feel really dumb at clinicals sometimes but I know once I get out there and am doing this on a regular basis, it will all come back with each patient! The best thing about nursing is that you can have an area that you specialize in and then you focus on all that you need for that area (vs being on a med-surg floor). I'm so looking forward to getting out there and helping people, I know that even those of us with bad memories can make excellent nurses!

Aniva · Feb 10, 2012

Using a sheet to help remember or organize on the floor is a good idea. It never hurts to hit up the basics, too. If you forgot about the significance of murmurs, don't hesitate to go back and look at the pathology of valvular disease. Try to really understand what's going on and why. Sometimes, this will help you really understand why drugs are given or why you're doing certain cardiac assessments. Some things will sink in as time goes by or as you practice. Never be afraid to ask and always keep learning and looking up information.

Good Morning, Gil · Feb 10, 2012

It's hard to give advice purely based on what you wrote. What have your clinical instructors said? I would put a lot of stock into what they say (not just 1, but the opinions of them as a whole). Do they say you're doing well? I mean....nobody is perfect, and we all forget to do minor things from time to time, but you can't be routinely forgetting things. I mean...most of my job is based purely on memory. I work in the ICU, and when I get an unstable patient, I have to know what's most important to tell the doc (multiple things quickly) and get orders from them quickly and do all of them from memory, all while stabilizing the patient and making sure the orders are appropriate for the patient, etc. I just have to do it...if I waited till I made myself a cheat sheet, my patient would suffer, so....yes, cheat sheets are great for routine things, but no nursing area, even slower paced areas, will you always be able to rely on your cheat sheet. I don't use a cheat sheet just b/c I find it wastes more time for me. I use a report sheet to take report, and scribble things down occasionally during my shift if I don't have time to chart it or whatever right away, but that's about it lol

The point is: we all have our gifts and strengths lol, so you find a nursing area that best suits your strengths. If you're finding that you're forgetting important things for your patients now while you're in school, then I would explore doing other things in nursing when you're done that does not involve direct patient care. However, when you are new at something, there is a learning curve. I have a much better understanding of the heart now that I take care of patients that have issues, and I've studied cardiac drips, etc. It takes repetition to learn, too....I used to beat myself up over every little thing, thinking shoulda woulda coulda, hope I didn't miss anything with my patient lol. I mean..I'm still a new nurse, and still do that from time to time, but confidence came with some time as I became more skilled/proficient in my new role. Give yourself time, and if you find that your instructors are giving you negative feedback, and you're not able to improve, take it from there.... :) Don't forget to give yourself credit for what you do well. We're our own worst critics...looks like that might be true for you.