Failing clinical

[ctran]

Hi everybody,

I've been feeling down lately and thought I can share some of my thoughts and feelings with you all. I've always did well in everything I put my mind to but since starting my second semester of nursing school, I feel dumb and stupid. Although I am passing the lecture part, I am failing clinical. I still have a chance to pass but the way things are going, I doubt I will make it. I always thought I am a smart person so why is it I cannot seemed to connect the dots in clinical? When my professor ask me questions, I am stuck on the answers. I so wanted to be a nurse but I feel so incompetent that I am thinking maybe I am too stupid to be a nurse.......

[ctran]

Update:

Thank you to everyone that gave me such supportive words when I needed it the most. I like to update everyone that I passed my clinical. I was given two weeks to improve and thought that was it, I failed. There is no way I can improve in 4 clinical days. My instructor said it can happen but I truly believe it was over for me. I went home and thought about what I will do next, I cried, and berate myself for failing not only myself but my family. However, I feel I still have one fighting chance and I would do myself a disfavor by giving up already. So I worked and imagine each scenario and if this or that happen what would my instructor asked me and what would she expect from me. Hindsight, I realized that even though I said I tried and did my best already I really did not. I could go further, and my instructor knew that. I only realized that now.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Congratulations! -- both for passing the clinical and also for seeing how you needed to improve your practice. I wish you the great success as you move forward.

[kringkring5144]

yeah im in a similar situation. my teacher sat me down two weeks before clinical ended. Said I show her Im imcompetent and I told her Im extremely nervous. My last day of clinical was terrible. I was really bad at taking the medications out of the cart properly since I was not thinking but just taking them out and not counting them! Or forgot B12 I was scheduled to give I forgot that I didn't administer them yet. I also forgot the proper way to inject insulin. Im just praying my best that I have some grace on this! Im so glad you passed. Im sure you didn't do what I did.

[jzdelona, BSN]

I know where you are coming from. My first semester of nursing school for both my Fundamentals and Health Assessment clinical/lab I failed the final evaluation on both because you are supposed to get up in front of the teacher and act out a surprise scenario and explain what you are doing, and I got so nervous I froze. For both. So I had to remediate and do them both over again! It really made me feel like an idiot, and I have always been a pretty high achiever academically. It can be such a crisis when your identity as a "good student" is threatened! You are probably having performance anxiety and this is showing through as being muddled or confused in clinical. I can pass a written exam just fine, but when someone standing in front of me tells me to do and explain three things at once I "freeze". I made it through and you can too. I would talk to someone though like a counselor to see if you are panicking and may not realize it. I know mine were panic related, and once I addressed my panic disorder I was able to do alot better.

[Shailat]

I'm literally in the same boat, my professor said the same thing to me, and I'm pretty sure I failed this clinical because I'm not connecting the dots, how did you improve in this?