feeling dumb

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Specializes in General.

Ok everyone I am in my second semester of clinicals, some days I feel like wow I can do this then some days I feel like huh, for instance to day I had a 20 month old in clinic who I swear was tanner stage II, my preceptor told me that females can have gynomastia, I have only seen it in the text as it being a male disorder, i searched the internet only males were referenced, so I am thinking this kid has a pituitary/endrocine thing going on, we did do a endrocine consult but has any one else seen this in a 20 month old female. Then right after that I saw a kiddo, did not see that he had a allergy to amoxil on the front of the chart ( it was written in pencil not bold red letters) and I wanted to rx you guessed it amoxil , my preceptor was kind about it said you just need to watch for those things, I have done it myself, but I felt pretty stupid, even though she told me today that she has no doubt I will pass boards, and that I am doing great, but I just need some fine tuning now and when I graduate I will be a work in progress, is that a bad thing , I realize that np programs prepare you for entry level, I guess I am just frustrated and tired at this point.

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you are only in 2nd semester!!! give yourself a break. you are learning. you make mistakes and realize what you did, that's part of the process!

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I'm sure your an intelligent person.. no need to put yourself down. Like emtneel said your only in your second semester.. As nurses (nurses to be) we are forever learning. Being able to determine were your weak ares are and working on them is a great start.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Golly - go easy on yourself! There is a reason we have clinicals: to help us to get ready to see real pts on our own. It will get easier and makemore sense as time goes on.

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Specializes in General.

thanks everyone for the support, I need to just relax and enjoy the clinical experience and not be so hard on my self, my preceptor is awesome and she does not make me feel stupid, I think sometimes I just expect too much of myself,

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I'm a student too and I certainly have days where I feel like I'm doing well and then the next day I feel like I don't have a clue. It is very hard to go from expert (as an RN) to novice again. I can manage cardiac, diabetic and hypertensive patients in my sleep, but give me a weird rash and I feel totally out of place!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

We all pull from our RN experience as to what we do as an APN. So...you guys are on the right track - enjoy clinicals - this is the time to ask a ton of questions and seek new experiences.

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I'm in my last semester FNP program and to all new students this is what I wish I would have done, it would have made me so much more prepared and given a better understanding of the material.

Even if this is your first semester--get several review books and a set of review cds!

The #1 thing that has helped to learn the material is hearing it presented from different view points, doing review questions and reading those rationals. Do case studies. The review books and cds simplify the material and give you the down and dirty of what you need to know vs. hours of in depth lecture material.

Try to get the whole picture and simplify things in "baby" terms. Like BUN measures waste, so if your dehydrated the waste is concentrated and BUN will be high, so what else can cause the waste to be high? Maybe poor kidney function, is the pt dehydrated due to that diuretic, etc.... know the basic simple stuff and you can reason your way through and get the right answer.

Another thing that has helped "simplify" especially for clinicals in a book called SOAP notes, about $20 on amazon and has it for peds, ob, family...very handy and a good learning tool.

Your not alone in feeling stupid as a student. Friends who graduated and are working feel this way as well, just part of growing and learning..

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BChapp3182,

Thanks for the great suggestion. Do you have any books that you recommend that were particularly helpful?

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Amilee Hollier has some great cds and books. I just ordered the Barkley review cds, have heard good things about them. Mosby has an FNP book that's about 600 pages and is a great quick synopsis of each disease, I will be using that in practice I'm sure. Everyone loves the Fitzgerald book but to me it's very basic and too simple. When I first started looking into review books I checked them out from my local library first, then purchased if it felt like a good fit for me.

Dunphy, Winland and Brown have a book that is very unpopular with most because it's very difficult but gets you thinking like you should. A medium difficulty book is zerwich and claiborn, I think that one is my favorite.

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Boy do I know how you feel! I am in my second semester of clinicals. the first semester I felt was not that great of an experience. My preceptor was always in a hurry and I mainly just observed.

This semester is starting off better but I'm scared to death of having to see a pt by myself. When I have to do the case study assignments for the class room I always do well, but it's after hours of researching to find the answers. I don't know how I'll figure out what's wrong with someone in ten minutes on my own!

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Specializes in ACNP-BC.
you are only in 2nd semester!!! give yourself a break. you are learning. you make mistakes and realize what you did, that's part of the process!

Exactly. Give yourself time to learn. I'm a new NP (6 months) and I still have a ton to learn too. :)

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