Feelings about Nursing School?!

[samiam4]

Hello Everyone,

I was just wondering how everyone feels after leaving clinical? Everytime I leave clinical I feel like a total idiot. I also feel like my patient's are going to die after being under my care b/c I don't feel like I do things correct. When I think I'm doing something correct I come home and reflect on my day and retrace my steps and realize I didn't do such and such correct, and I think OMG, that may lead to this, this, and this and ultimately can cause my patient to die, etc. I get severe anxiety just thinking about the patient's I took care of. If I don't have total control over the situation everything falls apart. Such as if I administer a BP medication (IVP) and I don't check the BP before I leave clinical/ or resolve the problem myself I get anxiety, like I need to know what's going on with that pt. at all times. I will get to thinking like "what if I caused my pt. BP to drop so low and pt dies." I'm beginning to think Nursing just isn't for me, but I only have 1.5 semesters to go....I don't like being responsible for other people's live's because if I accidently hurt someone I don't think I could live with myself. I know there are other areas of nursing to get into, and that's what's keeping me going, but I can not do this hospital floor stuff. It makes me sick in the head. I've never experienced so much anxiety and wt. loss in my life and all I do is google things about what I did in clinical (mistakes) and how could it potentially hurt my pt. and I consistently obsess about it in my head. I get to the point to where I look at the obituaries to see if my pt. has died or not...I know crazy right?! HELP :cry:Anyone else feel like this??

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

you'll gain your confidence> its easy to feel this way at first but once you find your groove youll be ok.

patients rarely die under students care (at least to my knowledge) because the primary nurse is there right behind us doing assessments and all their "nurse" stuff. so if anything they are getting extra care/supervision.

[Maladroit, BSN, RN]

I felt like that every time in Med-Surg, but since then I have been fine. It's easy to think like that with the intense patients that have a lot going on. Just remember that you are still learning and there is your instructor and the nurse who are double checking what you're doing and how well you're doing it. Don't be too hard on yourself, learn to let some things go - just try to clear your mind and focus on learning new things that can be done to prevent further decline or what you'd do next time. When you graduate and get onto a floor somewhere - you'll get a nice long orientation which should help. You'll get the most out of this the orientation time if you try to get as many "tough" patients as you can, so when you're on your own you'll be better prepared.

[Wrench Party]

I used to feel this way in my first Med-Surg clinical last semester, but I calmed down a

bit when I realized:

1) Most likely, things you are doing as a beginning nursing student are not going to directly

kill the patient. You are probably not pushing IV boluses, administering high alert meds,

or changing dressings on a high infection risk patient without direct supervision.

2) There is a whole team of health care providers backing you up, with more experience.

This includes your clinical instructor, the CNA, and the RN of the patient you are taking care of,

as well as the doctors, pharmacists, PT/OT, etc. and others in the health care team.

3) Breathe and relax. You practiced these skills in a lab, and are now performing them in

a controlled environment.

4) There will be some stumbles and stops along the way. That is why you are there, to

learn and to grow as a student.

[Spring235]

Yes same here.

[RN/Mom]

You're post made me smile because my classmates and I feel that way pretty much every day! So, yeah, everything you're thinking/feeling sounds perfectly normal to me!

[blubaby]

YEP. After every clinical we (classmates and I) feel like we don't know what was going on! We usually stay in the parking lot for awhile, talking about how horrible we feel, how horrible we did and keep aking each other how are we possibly going to get through this... and that makes us feel sooo much better . Talk it out. Don't keep the crazies inside. WE ALL FEEL THE SAME WAY.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

I know crazy right?! HELP :cry:Anyone else feel like this??

This goes away.

It's a little like learning to drive a car. You remember those first few times where you were terrified about what might happen before you started the car, then practically kissed the ground when you got out?

But then you drove a car a few hundred times and now you just get in and go.

It's kinda the same thing. Of course, if you get in a near-accident in your car, those feelings come up again.

You deal with those feelings then move on.