Feeling Anxious & Overwhelmed for this Semester...

[Callahan1021]

Just want to start off by saying how amazing this website is. I'm new here, but I've been reading posts shared by you all for about a month now. What a great website this is to be able to share and discuss everything we experience as nurses and soon to be nurses :)

Now, onto the content of this post:

Last year was the first year in my program that we started doing clinicals. I started out in LTC/Rehab facility, and then for the second semester I was placed in a LTC/nursing home, which was a new placement as of last spring. This year, I will be doing two rotations in the fall (Med surg, OB) and two in the spring (med surg 2, and peds). I feel like I may be underestimating my grasp the skills I have learned so far, but I'm anxious because I don't feel prepared to be working in such different areas of nursing compared to my last rotations. I feel like my clinical instructors had a hard time finding patients that were challenging enough for us to be able to use the skills we learned in lab. It was honestly very hit or miss, some students got patients that needed g-tube feedings, bed baths, minor wound care, etc. While others, and most of the time myself, got placed with patients who did not require some of the more challenging skills I have learned. I have always been a student to volunteer for the harder jobs, even asking other students if they needed an extra hand, but for some reason I always found myself, a majority of the time, preforming quick basic tasks for patients, and not much else.

Because of this I am worried that I may not be as prepared for the upcoming rotations. I'm afraid of freezing up when being designated a task or asked a question, and then being scolded for not knowing the material. This has happened before, and it was not a positive experience, which is what is causing this anxiety for me.

I feel that I try hard to understand the material, as well as the skills I learn in the program, but the instant recall does not come naturally for me. There are some students in class and in clinical who make it seem so effortless. I know that I want to be a nurse, it has been a passion of mine since I was a child, but I doubt myself, and compare myself to others a lot.

Any advice/constructive criticism, or similar experiences are welcome! Thank you for taking the time to read all of this.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Tell your clinical instructor what you just wrote. I'm sure you're not the only student to feel that way. Why, in my LPN and RN programs, I only saw one birth, 5 minutes into my first shift- from a doorway, and never saw even so much as a laboring woman again!

Do you have a lab where you can practice? Watching YouTube videos is also helpful. Narrating skills videos with the sound off also helps.

Go to your faculty- I suspect you're worried about nothing!

Best wishes.

[xxstarrynitesxx]

I can't give you any applicable advice as I am a pre-nursing student myself, but I did just want to say to try to avoid comparing yourself to others as much as possible. Every person is different. Some people may have previous experience that they have not told anyone else about, others may pick up on lab quickly but struggle in lecture, etc. You may also try some relaxation techniques as well to help keep you from freezing up. The info is in there. Keep working hard because you're going to make an awesome nurse!

[direw0lf, BSN]

Like meanmaryjean my OB clinical didn't have too much happening. I saw 3 C-sections, so I was lucky that way. Didn't see a vag birth and didn't have much to do. Luckily in the next clinical our instructor had us fill out a check list of skills we did or haven't gotten to do yet, and she actually cared enough to help those who had very little skills for our level get more hands on experience and difficult patients. Then even better I did an internship this summer - no amount of nursing school skills can compare to that. I highly recommend it. Many hospitals will do internships or externships for nursing students in their senior year. But for now, let your instructor know ahead of time what you have and haven't done, and the areas you would like to feel more confident in but not all instructors will care. If you don't get the response you want, try not to feel discouraged there are a lot of opportunities, such as like I said an internship or there are residency programs after graduation. Be as helpful and friendly as you can to the nurses and aids, they will be the ones who spot you and will grab you when something interesting is about to happen on the floor.

About freezing up and not knowing the material - talk yourself through it, maybe that will help. So for a very easy ex if you freeze up about the 6 (or 8 whatever your school uses) rights of medication, talk yourself through it logically. What are the rights..well say what you're doing "I'm in front of the drug dispenser so what is important? Right medication, right dose. Then what am I doing? Checking the meds with ..the time. Right time. Then where am I going? To the patients room. Right patient" etc. Talk to yourself so you come to the logical rationales and explanations.

[Callahan1021]

Thank you all for the advice and sharing your similar experiences. I'm going to try out all of the ways you have given me to improve my study habits and confidence in my knowledge about the material.

[nalie2, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

I was in a similar situation...I learned g-tube, trach care, suctioning, and chest tube skills during 2nd and 3rd semesters but never took care of a patient with any of those. This summer I was fortunate enough to be accepted into a summer clinical enhancement experience and got patients with each of those skills. From the beginning I told my instructor I hadn't had any practice with these skills and she guided me through my first time doing each of these skills. She sought out patients that had those things I hadn't practiced yet.

Does your school have a skills lab where you can practice on a dummy? I know it isn't the same, but that really helped me familiarize myself with the supplies and what to do so when I tried on a real patient it wasn't difficult. If your school doesn't have such a thing then look up videos, read about the skill and look at the supplies at the clinical site.