I really, really feel like calling it quits

Nurses General Nursing

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This a continuation of my other post. Today I had to meet with my clinical advisor and the instructor afterclass and I was told that I am not to go back to the clinical site on Monday and instead I have to go to campus and watch films and write reports, then I have to check off on five blood pressure readings and do an head to toe asking all of the pertinent questions (all of this is due before Feb. 8) before I will be allowed to go back to the clinical site and if I don't meet the criteria then I can be excused from the Med/Surg program.

Basically I was told that I am the worst student in the program and that I don't know anything. My clinical instructor said that it wasn't fair to the other students to have me around because I don't know what I'm doing. I am really devastated. The semester just began and we have only done two clinicals. I will admit that I made mistakes but I believe that the punishment is very harsh for the mistakes that I made. I feel stupid, I feel like a failure and I really feel like just giving up.

I have wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember and I have given up so much to get to this point and I feel really discouraged. It's like a hatchet hanging over my head, threatening to destroy my dreams and there isn't much I can do about it. I mean, what if I don't get all of the blood pressures correct or I miss a few of the assessment points? I'm really upset and I just need a little advice and inspiration...please someone help me. :crying2:

Don't give up. By all means don't think of yourself as being a failure. Just pray and show them that you can do it.

Specializes in Me Surge.

Get a b/p cuff and practice on everybody. practice a head to toe assessment on a family member until you know the steps by heart just like you know your alphabet. You can do it. Really shine. If they are still determined to fail you you can withdraw later in the semester and apply to another school. Sometimes its just not a good fit. My first semester of nursing school the instructor hated me, and decided I wouldn't make it. I graduated at the top. I went on to get BSN and MSN. good luck to you. And by the way it was unnecessary for them to tell you, "you're the worst". there are nicer ways to say things.

Show them you are willing to do whatever it takes. Kiss butt. It will say a lot for your sincerity.

one of the things with assessments that helped me was to write them on small index cards - the other was when I was online at the back or grocery I would "asses" people in my head sort of mentally as pratice - I even got my kids to help me - taking turns "playing nurse" (granted some of it had to be left out with them) Cards were my lifeline in school they never left my pocket - Keep your chin up I had a rough instructor whom I could never please once too - I was just deterimed that I wasnt going to let her win, I would prepare 3x's the info she wanted I made it a game.. Never let one instructor decide your future get a 2nd opnion.. For all its ups and downs nursing is an awsome way to make a living

Trust me, most RN students feel like calling it quits at some point. I had the head of the department tell me, after the first semester, that she stuck up for me, basicly saying had it not been for her, that I wouldn't be in the program. My grades are above average, but I am a person who is not afraid to say what is on my mind. I am married, and I work as a CNA at our main clinical site. I cannot afford NOT to work, but our program frowns upon working, and makes no efforts to work with you if you have other obligations. With that said, it seems like your program is being VERY HARSH! You have a right to be mad. One thing I've learned in life, is that everything is negotiable, and you have to absolutely stand up for yourself. No matter what, period. If you want something, you have to go for it. So, I guess what I am saying is this: GO FOR IT! I've seen some pretty lame nurses who somehow got through school, and i've seen some that should be doctors. The ones who got by have given nursing a bad reputation, and I think current instructors are being extra careful not to let these "bad apples" pass throught the cracks. If I were you, I would take this situation as an opportunity to prove yourself, and give it your all. As one of my instructors said, they are trained to push us until we push back (within reason), hence creating a well-rounded nurse. It is similar to basic training in the military (and if I am correct, nursing used to be run sort of like basic training, and the docs and instructors were your drill seargents). HAHA not true anymore, but there are still some old fashioned nurses who are instructors that believe that this is the way it is in the real world. Well...not true, but still... This is true in every profession, if you want to be successful. Push back! If you somehow don't make it, I would consider another profession, or consider the school you are in. I am a male, so I have overcome many many roadblocks to achieve my goals. IT CAN BE DONE! Good luck!

Brad

Specializes in Geriatrics/Family Practice.

I think your instrutor sounds like a very rude person. I don't know what I would of done if one of my instrutors was that way. My were excellent mentors and never made me feel stupid when I made mistakes or asked questions, if they did I don't know if I would of made it through. Belittling someone is not the way to get them to learn something. Nursing school is hard enough without someone kicking you when your down. Good luck to you with whatever decision you make. One last comment, if the instructor is that evil, I would not drop out without raising some he.. Don't go down without a fight!!!!

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.

i have to agree with what others are saying.

i'm really sorry you are going through this right now, but in the end it will make you a better nurse.

i think it is a little harsh to expect you to be so on top of things this early in school. if you were at the end of the semester i would agree more with your instructor. but so early into clinicals, you are going to make mistakes. you are going to be nervous.

when i was in my second semester, i got nervous during a sterile dressing change, and had to be prompted by my instructor. she pulled me aside in the hall (but not anywhere private) and tore me to pieces for not being prepared. it didn't help my confidence at all, and it is still a sore spot with me, i still cringe with the memory (can you tell????)

as everyone else said, practice, practice, practice. visualize yourself doing the assessments. as another poster said, imagine you are assessing people out in public. eventually, things will become second nature. but even today, i forget things sometimes in my assessment and have to run back in and ask/assess something further. does that make me a bad, incompetent nurse? a bit inefficient at times, but neither dangerous nor incompetent.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.

a couple of other things.....

also agree that the notecard idea is a great one. this is actually how we learned to do a head-to-toe assessment where i went to school. it will break the assessment down into smaller pieces, and make it seem more manageable.

something kstec wrote brings me to my other point: does anyone else think that hard-nosed instructors like this cause some of the problems we sometimes have with "know it all" new grads that won't ask questions? i can remember thinking in one of my clinicals that if i asked a question, it meant that i wasn't prepared enough and i could get sent home. it was really hard for me to get over that, and learn to ask when i was unsure.

Specializes in OB.

First of all, stop viewing what is going on as "punishment". If the instructors didn't think you were capable of learning the skills they wouldn't be giving you the chance to review them and then have another go at clinicals. This is tough for you and possibly harsh, and the instructor may very well lack the "people skills" to help you in a kinder way.

Instead of focusing on the unfairness, take a deep breath, go to the practice sessions and ask the instructor -"What can I do differently to get this right?". Request even more time in the skills lab. Not only will this improve your performance, but it will demonstrate to the instructors how much you really are committed to nursing. Learning to deal with people who are not pleasant to you will only help you in the long run as I can guarantee that you WILL run into many more in positions of authority in the course of your carreer.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I had a clinical instructor try to have me tossed in my 2nd semester for misunderstanding her ---I thought I was checked off to give PO meds and did so, and she said I was not. I had to spend the entire duration of the program proving myself to this person, right up til I graduated. I feel your pain, but you should not give up.

Specializes in M/S/Ortho/Bari/ED.

Newbie RN, fresh out of NS chiming in, here!

This happened to many of my friends in my program, some quit or got booted, but some decided that no stranger was going to get in the way of their dreams.

Please don't let anyone steal your dream from you! All of this is typical NS BS. It's all about how far they can push you. But you really do have to stop "what if'ing" and start fighting back with your brain power. I would get out some paper, write down your skills to be judged and the pieces you keep forgetting, read up on those skills and go in there with both guns blazing. Don't think of it as intimidation, but as a chance to showcase just how good you really are! Then their whole argument will fall apart. Honestly it sounds to me like they might be setting you up to fall into a trap of proving your lack of skills so they can justify your booting. So go in there, prove them wrong, and don't let them see your fear. If you are well-prepared, you shouldn't forget anything. Take your time and remember that you know what you are doing. I used to imagine my check off lady as "dr. evil", "Darth Vader" or anything that would make me laugh! Of course, I would run out to the bathroom afterwards to have my cry, but I never gave those old ladies the satisfaction of thinking they were cracking me.

This also happened to an entire clinical group of mine one semester, where we were ALL sent off of the clinical floor and back to the campus lab to work on dummies all day because the instructor was psycho. We went to the Dean as soon as we got back to campus and explained what was going on and the dean took the UA's off of our record after deciding that it was too harsh a punishment for something we didn't even do.

Is it possible to get switched into a different clinical? I hate to say it, but this lady doesn't sound like she is being equally fair to everyone in your group and is not going to lay off of you.

Im so sorry;/ I too felt like quitting..Im a student also..but dang it! I swear sometimes I believe that the nursing instructors don't want us to be nurses! I'm not so sure most of them actually enjoy their jobs..Im wondering if they are burnt out of nursing..and that's why they are teaching now...anyway. they discourage us from asking questions and try to scare us by saying blah blah blah than you will lose 5% of your clinical grade etc...Don't let them bring you down! It's all just a bunch of hoops and games you have to play before you can be a nurse. Don't get me wrong I think It's VERY important to do well and be safe..but do it for yourself! Keep your focus up and keep your eye on the prize. You'll do great! It's only ..what..like 1-2 years of your life? Then you'll be done..even though you'll always be learning as a nurse..you know what I mean lol..:) ( I'm partly trying to give myslef a pep talk too :p) anyway good luck to you! We nursing students must stick together dang it!! :)

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