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Discussion

Desperate for Advice!!

Alright, so to start, I'm in LPN school at this lil rinky dink community college in Southern Illinois. Um, I am having major issues w/ clinicals. I have to drive an hour to Clinicals in Missouri and have to get up at 3:30 am (0330 to be correct I guess.) I'm only on my 3rd floor day in Orthopedics and have missed clinicals today b/c my insulin pump stopped working in the middle of the night and I woke up sicker than a dog. I hate clinicals. I have no idea where anything is and have mostly CNA's in my clinical group, so they know what they're doing. I have no experience in nursing and was observing in dialysis on the first clinical day so I wasn't there when the rest of the group found this stuff out. I was assigned to a patient that had many demands last Tuesday and didn't even have anough time to do an assessment on her. The nurses aren't nice at all and I've already been criticized by a few of them, CNA's as well. I am broke as we are encouraged not to work during school, and even so live in a SMALL town w/ no job opportunity and have no time to drive half an hour for work. I FEEL like my clinical instructor doesn't like me as much as the other girls, and trust me, we have a couple suck ups. I'm paranoid she hates me and that I will NEVER get the hang of this... and no support from my family except... you will do this b/c we are paying for school and if you fail, we won't help you. I'm totally stressed out and dreading clinicals tomorrow. Everybody seems to have gotten the hang of clinicals already except for myself. Can anyone help me out here?

Featured Replies

As far as clinicals, talk with your instructor and ask them what you can do to improve. They are they to help and teach.

My question is do you want to be a nurse? in your post there was a lot of negativity, maybe you are just burnt out. I am sorry your family isn't supportive is there any classmates that you can be friends or just get some support from.

Is there not a hospital closer to you than an hour away? Again I suggest talking to your instructor.

  • Author

There are hospitals closer, but being a newbie, I picked this hospital b/c it's the more adnaced one out of our options and also, my nursing buddy was going there... well, now she has dropped to part time and I'm not allowed that option. I don't really know if I want to be a nurse... it seemed like a good career choice until I realized how much stress is involved with it... and like I've said... I've only been in clinicals for a few days. Honestly, I'm scared of my instructor b/c my stepsister (who failed out of the program last year but has started again this semester) said that when people went to ask her questions about Pharm she told them that since they didn't grasp the info, she would make sure hey wouldn't pass... and they all failed by one percent. I can't be witchy like a few of the other experienced nursing students... that's just not me... but it seems to be the students she likes. Then again... it could all be in my head.

I was having a similar issue like you were with your overdemanding patient. I didn't get my assessment done until late in the morning, and my instructor was very unimpressed. She sat me down and explained to me that nothing should ever be done until you have done your assessment. When you walk in there in the morning, and s/he starts to ask for this or that, tell them that you must finish your assessment before you can do anything else, you might actually get some cooperation from them since they'll get something at the end. It shouldn't take that long, and it is in your patient's best interest. Would you want to help a patient get up to the bathroom if their BP is low, and they're feeling lightheaded. Nope, probably not. But that's not something you might know, unless you did that assessment. Not getting your assessment done will only make the instructor even more unimpressed.

About going to a lil rinky dink school, don't sweat it, it might actually be to your benefit. You're still going to have to write the same exams as the next person, and I doubt you'll have troubles finding a job once you graduate. Just remind yourself of all the good things about going to your school. 1. They gave you the option of clinical sites. My school never did. 2. Smaller class sizes?? 3. etc My school is small too, but theres lots of good things I have found about it.

And the nurses at clinical not being nice, oh lord, look around these forums some, you're going to find TONS of threads all talking about the same thing. It's been like that for nearly every clinical experience I've had. It shouldn't be that way but it is, just gotta kiss butt, and work your ass off to be on good terms with them. Best of luck.

  • Expert

you cannot see your nursing instructor as your enemy. there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a friendly and pleasant, cordial relationship with an instructor. many universities encourage this kind of relationship between students and professors because we are all seekers of knowledge. although they are supervising you, your instructors are still colleagues and deserve respect. you cannot show fear of him/her. if it turns out that he/she is not a nice, ethical person, they just might pick up on that flaw in your self-esteem and pounce on you for it. nurses have to be strong leaders. if an instructor doesn't get the sense that you have that strong leadership quality within you, then, yes, you may be doomed if your instructor is not a nice person. here's the list of qualities that employers look for in professional workers (that includes nurses and nursing students). i post it all the time for new grads. i also advise nursing students that your nursing instructors are evaluating you all the time for some of these qualities. your first employer will go to your nursing instructors for a recommendation of your ability as a potential nurse. so, it is to your benefit to put your best foot forward at all times in the presence of your instructors, especially in the clinical area.

  • initiative
  • motivation
  • positive attitude
  • dynamic energy
  • responsibility
  • ability to give good customer service
  • capacity to learn
  • productivity
  • flexibility
  • leadership
  • team work
  • ability to tolerate pressure
  • analytical ability
  • desire to develop professionally

no one is going to take you by the hand and say, "oh, ens1987, you missed the orientation to the unit the other day. let me show you where everything is." instead, you have to step forward and ask, "would you please show me where this, this, and this is? thank you." and, it doesn't matter if your instructor or your boss hates you. you only have to get along with them and each do your job. being a nursing student is an interactive process. you can't just sit back and let the education come to you. you have to often seek out opportunities of learning and ask for feedback and criticism of your performance--no matter how painful it may be to hear it. that is a indication of responsibility, a desire to develop professionally, the ability to tolerate pressure, the capacity to learn, and flexibility--all things on that list i posted above. you have to have those qualities within you and use them to your advantage. nursing is change and flexibility personified. there are very few nursing jobs where things go routinely. that's why nurses have to be creative and flexible about getting the needs of their patients and themselves met.

i've been in the world a long time. if there's anything i have learned, it's that nothing defeats a person faster than a negative attitude. it holds people back and prohibits them from making any kind of progress. and, learning is a process of change and progress. if you can't, or won't, change your thinking and the ways you are approaching your nursing education, then your worst fears will come true. you will unconsciously draw them to you like a magnet.

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