Can't take anymore

Nurses General Nursing

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I am in the last few months of school before I become an RN. Last night I found myself balling for no apparant reason and noticed it's a pattern lately. I do not know if it is burnout or what. I am almost there and yet I feel as though I have already exhausted all my energy and there is nothing much left to give to finish. I am soooooo tired of being tired, of feeling so utterly exhausted that I am now a raving caffeine addict (cardiac arrythmias and all to go with it). I am so tired of never seeing my daughter and my fiancee, and trying to explain to this 3 year old why I am not there for her- breaks my heart!:crying2: I am so tired of being put-down by instructors that seem to thrive off of degrading people and slowly wittling away their only shreds of self-concept. That, along with the BS instructors that you have to kiss a** just to pass. I feel like this has just become too much. I have NO life outside of nursing and my GOD, I just want this to be over already. Thank you for letting me vent as nobody understands the way someone that has been through it could!

HEy fERFER

I too feel your pain, I just got home from clinical and tomorrow I start SPRING BREAK! Man I need it! I have my little calendar, too. I have 15 days left for lecture and 14 days left for clinical!!! I cant wait till its over! So lets count it down together, sista! :kiss

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Don't forget to get out in the sun if you can. I remember being very stressed out and feeling blue all the time and realized that I had been studying so much and staying indoors during the winter that I never saw the sun. It could be a nice stress release to go outside and sit in the sun for a few minutes and get that extra boost of serotonin to lift you up. Nursing school was the most stressful thing I have ever endured. You will be done soon and things will get easier. Hang in there.

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Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.

Gosh, I know how you feel! I remember in my first semester, one of my instructors told me that I "didn't have what it takes to be a nurse." Why? Because I didn't remember what the gauge of a needle meant. There I was, absolutely NO nursing experience at all, young and inexperienced, every clinical a trial by fire, and she just shot me down! I cried all day. But, 9 years later, I'm a excellent nurse with great skills, and I don't even think of all the negativity all the nursing students face when they're in school. Believe me, one day you'll laugh at all this and actually miss the "good old days" in nursing school!

Good luck, you're almost there!

Jennifer (I'm outta school happy dance!)

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Thanks to everyone who has replied- it helps to know that I am not a total nutbar and that you have all been through it:p

I think the other thing, too, is that I do not have any time to deal with any of life's mini-crises due to the program. I have had 2 miscarriages in the past 6 months, one was during orientation to my labour and delivery clinical. But, I had no time to deal with it- I just have to keep on pushing anf put it out of my mind just to get through with all the work that has to be done. One of the things I will try to domore is just honor my feelings. If I am upset than I need to acknowledge it rather than just push it away because I am too 'busy' to think about it. We do such a good job of taking care of everyone else------maybe its time for ME, even if only for a day:)

2 miscarriages in 6 months is a lot for your body and mind to go through. please please take some time for yourself even if it is at the expense of something else. your energy could be affected by the miscarrriages. hopefully you have gone into your doctor for tests. (i was anemic after 1 miscarriage and that will severly tire you out) also allow yourself to mourn your babies or at least acknowledge what feelings you may have regarding first getting pregnant and 2nd losing the baby. maybe take 20 min each night to journal your feelings, TRY TO MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR HEALTH! :kiss

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I always call this situation (and I HAVE THE T-SHIRT!), :) "The Light at the End of the Tunnel Syndrome". When we begin a journey, we don't focus much, if at all on the end.

As we go along, we are just moving ahead steadily, one day a time, kinda in the dark so to speak. We know we have to keep going to reach the end of the tunnel so we just keep on, step..step...step, head down, determined, but when we get far enough to see just that speck of light, as we keep moving toward the end, suddenly the pace seems agonizinly slow, the light seems hopelessly out of reach, and oh so slow to appear any closer. :uhoh3:

But it's not, as I know you know, and as all b/f me have said, hang in there, and since YOU mentioned God, I can say lean on Him, and that light is gonna grow bigger and bigger, and you'll be there. :)

I hadn't thought about it that way but it is so true. I have been just going day by day at the moment because the light is just now starting to appear. I'm in a LPN/ADN program, (summer '04, May '05). My husband couldn't really understand how I was doing it but now I can explain it. Thanks!:)

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All I can say is hang in there, it will all be worth it when you finish. I'm in my 2nd semester of Nursing and thought please god just let me make it to the next semester. You've just got to take it one day at a time and it will fly by. Otherwise you will go insane. You've got to do this for yourself, everyone else will survive it. We're all going through the same sh**, feeling like we're being treated like babies, getting no sleep, having no life and doing so much unnecessary busy work.. But just think what you'll be able to do with that license. You can live anywhere and should always be able to find a job.

You Can Do it.... :nurse:

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Specializes in Emergency.

you are almost there!! almost at graduation!!! soon you will enter a whole nother world!!!

you can do it, i was there in your shoes about 7 months ago.....I felt like a zombie at graduation, but soon again I became me, just jenni.

xoxo Jenni

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dearheart

two miscarriages!! i'm so sorry. that alone would have put me in a permanently supine position. you're almost there. yes, let's count down this damn experience and get through it.

patti

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I can understand exactly. I have exactly 8 weeks until graduation from my ADN program. I acted on misinformation from a nurse and mixed up two patients for a total of 10 minutes. We are is psych. and are not allowed to pass meds, so the patient was never in any jeopardy. My instructor found out and failed me for the entire clinical day:angryfire ! As a result if I receive another unsatisfactory I will fail clinical and the program!

For 2 years I have not had a single unsatisfactory, and now I am teetering on the verdge of failing:eek:. I also have no social life. I am at school, home, or library never anywhere else.

Only 8 more weeks to go!!!!!!!:)

hang in there kiddo. you'll make it. my clinical instructor evaluated me as needing to improve my patient therapeutic skills. when put to task to substantiate, she had no answer. my final evaluation, "i have warm and supportive relationships with my patients". i also was diagnosed at winter break with an essential tremor which made it difficult to fill a syringe. AND she made me use a technique that was guaranteed to make me fail. jerk.ff.

so i am treating the tremor with lopressor and pushing on.

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Yes, I know that the 2 miscarriages have taken a huge toll on my body and mind! I had just found out with the first one, and the next day I was bleeding. The second one lasted longer but was twice as bad when it happened as I had to go and have exams to make sure I did not need a D & C. And both times, I cried for a whole day and picked up my work and returned to school the next day as if nothing had happened. Man, how crazy is that!!

I am counting down the days, but think I will give myself permission to not be perfect anymore. If I get less than A's, I get upset. But perhaps a B will be OK if it means maintaining my sanity and seeing my family for 1/2 a second!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

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I know the feeling. In August 2002, I started the LVN program, graduated 2003. 2 weeks later, started the Fall semester 2003 to work on prerequisites for the "LVN to RN Bridge" program offered at my college. Now, Im attending the Spring 2004 semester, gathering up my final prerequisites for that program, which will start June, 2004, and will end June 2005, hopefully with me graduating at the end of it. Throughout all of this I have been working full time. Im tired-of work, (no vacation since July 2002) tired of school, tired of busting my butt!! I want to sit down, stare at the wall and drool without having to worry that Im forgetting something or that I have an exam tomorrow that I havent even opened the book for yet!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Boy do I understand how you feel, I remember going through nursing school, raising 2 small kiddos under the age of 7, working full time and going through a divorce all at the same time. I never gave up because I knew my life and my kids would be better off and I am so glad I did't. What seems impossible is not and you will make it. Hang in there you are almost done and the rewards will out weigh your exhaustion. What you are feeling is perfectly normal and probably expected.

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