Clinical causing relapse of depression and anxiety

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to allnurses so I apologize in advance for any mishaps! I am a second-semester PN student from Ontario who is having difficulty coping with the stress as a nursing student.

I was challenged by some of the content in my previous semester, but ended up doing great. I enjoyed my clinical placement because I was surrounded by very sweet, understanding staff. I am in my second clinical placement now, and I've completed about 10 morning shifts in total working in long term care.

As a student, I am currently helping with toileting, bed making, feeding, showering and more. I work under a personal support worker who tells me what to do, and I have to do it on my own. I am having a hard time coping with clinical because I don't know what to expect with each resident. There are some who have threatened to hit me because they don't want to stop sleeping and when I go on to the next one I am scared to be assertive with them. At the end of my last shift, a staff member advised me to be more firm and I am having trouble implementing that. My instructor can't always be with me because there are many other students located across the facility.

I am told that I have what it takes but I am terrified that I can't keep up. I have a history of anxiety and depression that was treated with medication ever since I hit puberty. I am currently 19 and went off my medication about 9 months ago, and I am thinking about going back on it because my performance at clinical is wearing at my strength. I forgot what it felt like to be this fragile.

Is my ability to complete the work that I am doing in long term care reflective of my competency as a nurse?

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Specializes in ICU / Urgent Care.

Fake it till you make it. It'll get a lot tougher once you're on your own and you are practicing under your own license. It will take a decent while for you to feel comfortable, generally around that golden year everyone keeps talking about. Just get used to feeling out of your element because that feeling will be there for awhile, and it's totally normal.

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If we knew how to make things work with every patient we wouldn't have had to go to nursing school, LOL. We ALL felt like that when we first started doing a totally unfamiliar thing: patient care.

If somebody tells you that you have what it takes, believe them.

If you should go back on your meds for anxiety, consult with your physician/psychiatrist and get 'er done. There's nothing like feeling better to make you feel better.

{{hugs}}

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