Feeling lost, a little advice please!

[dslothour]

I am in my second semester of clinical and feel lost. I doubt myself more often than not and feel that I am doing the correct thing. I made it thought my med surg rotation without much trouble, but just feel I haven't learned anything or like I know what I am doing. I can do an assessment and have a basic understanding of some blood work but I am so worried to miss something. This has really discouraged me and I have started to wonder if I made the right choice about nursing school. I love learning about caring for people but I am so worried to do something wrong or to not have the correct answer. I don't have a problem with my lab skills or exams, but when I get to clinical I could just cringe! I loved working with all different kinds of patients and meeting so many interesting people. Does this feeling go away and should I keep pushing myself or should I consider something else?

[Everline]

I'm also in my second semester of nursing school and often feel unsure, too. In clinicals, I get pretty nervous but this semester seems a bit better than last. Sometimes I think about preceptorship and I wonder how I'm going to handle that, let alone being on my own as a nurse! The thing that works for me is not to think too far forward and to remember that there is always someone there to help me. My clinical instructor reminded me the other day that I am not supposed to know everything. I think it's more my own standards that get me all worked up. In ways, I expect too much of myself. The most important part, I think, is to not let these kinds of feelings take over and fill us with doubt about everything. Yesterday at the hospital, I made an effort to stop the thoughts and fears I have about being wrong or not knowing the answers. It's so bad for me that I started to get worried over taking vitals with a different machine that I had never used before. I took a deep breath and just did it. That's a small example but the point is I could paralyze myself with doubt if I allowed it to take over.

Anyway, I don't think it's unusual to feel unsure of yourself. In fact, I've had nurses tell me they actually didn't start feeling confident as nurses until they were working for a year of more! So remind yourself that you are a student, stay humble and look for learning opportunities wherever you can. When you are afraid of doing something or feeling doubtful, that is probably the time you should push yourself to try it with the support of your instructor. The more we do, the more we will build confidence. :-) Best wishes!