fear of inadequacy

Everyone feels that way in the beginning. Goodness, after I had already graduated I walked into my first day of work in Pediatric ICU, saw the ventilators, the arterial lines, the multitude of drips, the monitoring equipment... and I thought "Will I ever be able to learn all of this?" But I paid attention, studied, practiced, and here I am nearly a year later and most of it is just second nature now.

So yes, you can learn it. Yes, it will get easier. You will get to a point where you look at that IV tubing and can't believe you ever thought it was complicated. Don't worry, no one is going to expect you to master every skill before you start school. Just relax and give yourself time to learn.

Most of this stuff will only come through time and experience. The books don't teach you everything. Anyway, I think you should always have a little "fear". It's the cocky ones, who think they know everything, and thereby forget all that's at stake, who run the most risk of making a critical error. Don't be afraid, be mindful. I think you'll be okay.

Hi! Don't worry, I think its normal to feel that way, at least I hope so. I'm a third soon to be fourth semester student and somedays I still feel this way. Sometimes I think I got a great handle on things then I'll have an off day at clinical were I just think to myself, oh how will I ever feel confident and be able to handle all this myself? I sometimes think that with nursing to even start to feel confident you have to have a lot of practice, a good base knowledge, and a lot of common sense because there always seems to be situations that never fit into what you're taught in school and you are impromising (sp, sorry) a lot. So I guess my point is its normal and will get better. Wow, just thinking back to my first day at clinical to now I think I've improved a ton and I'm sure by the time I graduate in 2 semesters it will be even more. Enjoy and good luck!

Have you ever seen an engine taken apart and wonder how it's going to be put back together? The person doing it knows where every part goes! It's normal to feel lost, you dunno where any of the parts go yet. You'll be amazed at how much you learn in such a short amount of time!