Any one else ever feel this way?

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Please say I am not alone? I am in my 2nd semester and I have not had any previous medical experience(most of the people in my class have had some type of previous training) I get decent grades(high Bs) but sometimes I feel so stupid :( Today I had my first 5 week evaluation of the semester for clinical and she wrote in that I ask to many questions. I didn't have this instructor last semester so I guess she just doesn't know me. I explained to her that I sorta suffer from a lack of confidence so I tend to want to double check that I understand some things:scrying: I left today just feeling like maybe I don't have what it takes. Has anyone ever feel this way? Better yet has anyone felt like this and actually made it? Any advice would ge great!!

Please say I am not alone? I am in my 2nd semester and I have not had any previous medical experience(most of the people in my class have had some type of previous training) I get decent grades(high Bs) but sometimes I feel so stupid :( Today I had my first 5 week evaluation of the semester for clinical and she wrote in that I ask to many questions. I didn't have this instructor last semester so I guess she just doesn't know me. I explained to her that I sorta suffer from a lack of confidence so I tend to want to double check that I understand some things:scrying: I left today just feeling like maybe I don't have what it takes. Has anyone ever feel this way? Better yet has anyone felt like this and actually made it? Any advice would ge great!!

Always remember that clinical instructors are just people and one person's perception of you doesn't define you. I am a new nurse and I see a lot of students. I would much rather a student ask a question then just assume that they need to do something and harm a patient. Bite your tounge, believe in yourself, and move on. You won't have this instructor next semester.

I am in my second semester also and feel TOTALLY CLUELESS! My careplan was due today and I did not finish it not sure if I can even get it done by friday. I have been up since 4:00 wednesday morning. I am seriously thinking about quitting and getting a job in healthcare and trying again next year. This whole nursing diagnosis crap is driving me nuts. I just dont get it! I have read the threads on careplans and have several books and it is just not clicking. Im so tired now I think I would have trouble understanding anything! Anyway thanks for listening to me rammble.

What don't you understand? Is there some way I can help you? I got really frustrated with careplans while in school too and it compelled me to figure them out. The sad part is that we don't use careplans where I work, we have "priorities for care" which is a systematic list that you pick your priorities from.

Specializes in PICU.

Something else to keep in mind is people have different learning styles and personalities. I don't like doing something until I feel really comfortable with it and feel like I KNOW what I'm doing. I hate making mistakes. Whereas a lot of people don't mind jumping in and learning along the way. I tend to hold back, ask a lot of questions and once I feel comfortable then I'll give something a try. I may seem slower and be uncomfortable at first, but when I do try something I don't make as many mistakes as the ones that jumped in.

My point is you shouldn't feel like you're not cut out for something because you're trying to learn in a way that works for you. It sounds to me like you're not doing anything wrong, your instructor just doesn't want to teach!

Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/ER.

I just graduated in May '06. I did not have any previous experience in healthcare either....so I know how you feel. I was in a class w/LPN's, EMT's, & people that had been CNA's for years...talk about feeling dumb! I might suggest read your material before & after class, & anything you don't get...research until you do get it. Listen carefully in class...you may be so overwhelmed that you are not hearing what your instructor is saying. Then after you have done all this if you still don't understand...ASK QUESTIONS! There is nothing wrong with that....you are there to learn. When you are in clinicals jump in & try everything you can....it does not matter if you have never done it before (everything was a 1st for me!) you will & can learn so much, but you have to be willing to go outside your comfort zone! Good Luck!

Please say I am not alone? I am in my 2nd semester and I have not had any previous medical experience(most of the people in my class have had some type of previous training) I get decent grades(high Bs) but sometimes I feel so stupid :( Today I had my first 5 week evaluation of the semester for clinical and she wrote in that I ask to many questions. I didn't have this instructor last semester so I guess she just doesn't know me. I explained to her that I sorta suffer from a lack of confidence so I tend to want to double check that I understand some things:scrying: I left today just feeling like maybe I don't have what it takes. Has anyone ever feel this way? Better yet has anyone felt like this and actually made it? Any advice would ge great!!

I have had this exact thing happen to me but not as a nursing student. I was working in a non healthcare field and I got the same type of feedback on a review... "asks too many questions." I was upset about it and explained that I want to be certain I am doing something correctly and here was the feedback. She said that I should be sure I am not asking the SAME questions more than once or twice b/c that shows I am not learning from my mistakes and she also said I should have to ask fewer questions as I gain experience because I should be learning and gaining confidence as I earn experience. I disagreed with her at the time, but now I reflect back on her constructive criticism and apply it in the present.

I would say that you should try to believe in yourself and have confidence in your abilities, but also know that it is imperative to ask questions that impact patient safety. In other words, "know what you know... and know what you DON'T know!" As our nursing instructors always say!

Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.
Something else to keep in mind is people have different learning styles and personalities. I don't like doing something until I feel really comfortable with it and feel like I KNOW what I'm doing. I hate making mistakes. Whereas a lot of people don't mind jumping in and learning along the way. I tend to hold back, ask a lot of questions and once I feel comfortable then I'll give something a try. I may seem slower and be uncomfortable at first, but when I do try something I don't make as many mistakes as the ones that jumped in.

Ugh....you could be ME!! This is exactly how I feel....

To the OP: I think a lot of it could be a combination of your clinical instructor and perhaps the questions you're asking?

As someone else pointed out, it's not a great idea to ask the same things over and over...that will only spotlight that you're not getting it....and it frustrates the instructors that you're not paying attention....

On the other hand, I had an instructor for my first semester who in retrospect had no patience and little tolerance for any type of questions...I had a pt with lung CA and pneumonia and heaven knows what else and when I listened to their lung sounds, I heard ALL kinds of things going on...I asked her to please come help me discern all the noises....she got all kinds of pi$$y with me and asked if I had bothered to even listen myself!! I felt so deflated....fast forward to this semester and we were listening to lung sounds on our lab "dummy" and I asked our second semester instructor if we were honestly supposed to be able to differentiate every sound we heard....her reply? "Oh, no....but we want you to know when you're not hearing something normal". I about jumped for joy. It's a combination of that hating when I don't know something and also being so new that I've listened to maybe a dozen lungs in the short time of my clinical assignments (most of them healthy)...how the heck could I know all the sounds?!?!

I say hang in there....unless you know you're not understanding the basic concepts that you've already been taught and you're asking repetitious questions, you're probably fine....and good luck!!

I feel the same way. I'm a second semester RN student with no prior medical experience. As far as the bookwork and exams go I'm okay but in the clinical site, I have little confidence. I feel like everyone in my group knows what they're doing and I'm the one left out. I ask questions when it comes to hanging piggy backs, setting the pump for piggybacks and everthing else. When I have to get the supplies for a dressing change I have no idea what I'm looking for since half the time the name is different on the item then it is on the chart. Everything is so confusing. I actually had another student tell me that I needed more confidence. I'm just afraid that I'm going to screw something up.

I don't really ask a lot of questions to the instructor, I use the nurse I'm assigned too and they usually happy to help. They themselves have told me that they didnt learn anything until they graduated. I just keep telling myself that I will get the hang of it eventually. I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Specializes in OB.

have I ever had a crappy instructor that likes to put down instead of lift up?? oh yeah. And had her in the second semester as well, which was by far the hardest. Hang in there.

Ask what is very necessary for safety.. etc.. keep the rest to yourself and look it up in a book or on line later if it is not pressing need to know now sorta stuff. Its too bad it has to be like this, you ARE paying her to teach you. Unfortunately some times that doesnt matter

I think it's great that you ask questions!

As a bit of advice -- try to watch that you are not interrupting the teacher, or asking questions at inappropriate times.

Keep your chin up --I always think it's better to ask and make sure :D

This is tooo true!! Just keep remembering that.... silly questions are easier to fix than silly mistakes....

If it is something you can look up on your own, then try that first, but when in doubt you need to get the information that you need so ask a question rather than make a mistake.

Yeah, but here's my theory. I tried the 'fake it' thing last semester and I don't think it worked out very well. (I too feared that I would be found out!) So if I instead ask a ton of questions, maybe the instructors will take it down a notch and start speaking to us on a level we can understand. (I'm testing this out this semester). They seem to forget sometimes that we don't necessarily know details like the back of our hand yet. The instructors are so advanced in nursing (meaning they've been in the 'biz for a awhile) they speak to us under this false pretense as if we actually understand everything they're talking about all the time....I think they KNOW that we don't. When in reality most of us are a few steps behind. Then they start asking questions and we all start hiding behind each other. Why are we all pretending to know things that we don't? What good does that do anyone? I think that admitting we don't know things and exchanging a dialogue about those things will make us understand better. Who cares if we look dumb for a little while? We're students for crying out loud!

Yea I know what you mean. The instructors talk to you like you should know all this stuff! Um were just learning! Thats probably the main reason I feel dumb alot. There's always popping off questions. I guess thats their job.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Clinical Research, Admin.
I am in my second semester also and feel TOTALLY CLUELESS! My careplan was due today and I did not finish it not sure if I can even get it done by friday. I have been up since 4:00 wednesday morning. I am seriously thinking about quitting and getting a job in healthcare and trying again next year. This whole nursing diagnosis crap is driving me nuts. I just dont get it! I have read the threads on careplans and have several books and it is just not clicking. Im so tired now I think I would have trouble understanding anything! Anyway thanks for listening to me rammble.

When I made the decision to become a nurse 15 years ago, a friend who is an MD gave me this advice: "Do not give up. There will be times you feel like giving up, but don't give in to them. Do what it takes and you will finish". I unfortunately had occasion to remember his words of wisdom many times. I too hated care plans, and hated nursing school, but I finished and I've been an RN for 10 years and am now in MSN program AND clinical instructor of first year students. I hate all the time they spend on care plans - if I were their professor, I'd have them spend much less time on care plans and more time on more important things. Just my two cents. Anyway, you're not alone.

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