Any other students have bad nerves? (Serious question)

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I'm a guy in my first semester of nursing school, and I make good enough grades. It's no biggie for me to spend hours of studying, up until 3am or longer like all other students. So my problem isn't I don't know the material or I'm not prepared, it's just my anxiety problems. I've never had anything like it since I started my BSN program. When I'm getting checked off, in a clinical, or doing some skill test it hits me hard. My hands start to shake wildly (I dropped an ampule during my med administration test yesterday) and I sweat profusely. I'm not intimated by my instructors, but their presence right over me just makes me nervous. And I think that if it's not addressed now in school, disaster may strike when I'm on a floor and things start to go bad, forcing me to think and act quickly. I wanna face my problem. Who else had (or has) this problem and what do some of you pros do once things hit the fan to decrease anxiety and nervousness?

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

I was a very nervous student, and am still nervous in unfamiliar situations. For me it was a matter of knowing that I can survive the worst case scenerio, taking a deep breath, and putting one foot in front of the other and not allowing my fears to overtake me and conquer me. Each clinical, each check off it gets better.

Don't spend a lot of time worrying about how you are going to do in situations that haven't occurred yet. Worry about what's in front of you and what's in front of you isn't anything that you can't handle. Stay focused. Good luck.

You are not alone. I was precepting a student the other day starting IVs and she was shaking in her shoes.

I'm a guy in my first semester of nursing school, and I make good enough grades. It's no biggie for me to spend hours of studying, up until 3am or longer like all other students. So my problem isn't I don't know the material or I'm not prepared, it's just my anxiety problems. I've never had anything like it since I started my BSN program. When I'm getting checked off, in a clinical, or doing some skill test it hits me hard. My hands start to shake wildly (I dropped an ampule during my med administration test yesterday) and I sweat profusely. I'm not intimated by my instructors, but their presence right over me just makes me nervous. And I think that if it's not addressed now in school, disaster may strike when I'm on a floor and things start to go bad, forcing me to think and act quickly. I wanna face my problem. Who else had (or has) this problem and what do some of you pros do once things hit the fan to decrease anxiety and nervousness?

I guess my first question is, did you have problems with anxiety before starting the program? Did you ever experience these symptoms in other situations?

The reason why i ask is because if this is an ongoing issue there is treatment for anxiety and anxiety disorders, whether it is pharmacologic treatment or cognitive behavioral therapy. Alot of anxiety can be derived from negative thinking, counselling has helped me to retrain my brain how to respond in challenging situations so that i don't think my way into escalating panic! I am also taking medication for my anxiety as i suffer from a diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder but i find that a combination of the medication and the therapy is most effective because a lot of anxiety can be helped with learning effective coping skills. Medication can only do so much.

I think it is a common problem, at least in my class, it has been something that i have seen just about every student experience. Just be smart about it and try to be proactive in dealing with it. As my instructor has told me, it's not an excuse but rather a challenge that you must learn to deal with. It is also sometimes a blessing in disguise; anxiety can allow us to empathize well with others and lends a hand in compassionate care for our patients. At least this is what i have found and it is my anxiety that helped me choose to get into a profession where i could be helping other people because i felt that i could offer something because of this.

So try not to beat yourself up about it but i would definitely suggest seeking some help from a doctor or counselor. I am in the same position--know the material, get good grades but my anxiety was interrupting my learning. Don't let it stand in your way because it can be worked on!

Good luck and keep us up to date!

Sasha

In my first semester I got so worked up over my test-out on sterile wound care. We are allowed three tries and I screwed up the first two. I was a wreck, not sleeping etc. The third time, I met privately with the instructor, practiced with her beforehand and then verry verry slowly did the skill and passed. (and then promptly broke out in hives from the stress lol) I think that if you can at all talk with your instructors, tell them how you feel--you are not the first or only one--and ask them to guide you in finding your confidence. And even tho you feel okay with the instructor, maybe you can do your skills evals with someone with whom you feel even more comfortable? We had several instructors doing the evals. We did open suctioning a couple weeks ago and I was really nervous. Not because I couldn't do it, it was pretty easy. but because I'd have to do it with the instructor sitting there. I told my clinical instructor and she said 'Look, we all want you to pass. We are on your side. If you don't get it right, so what? We have time to do it again" And all my nerves went away. THat advice might help you tooo. THey WANT us to pass. They WANT us to succeed.

Trust me, by the time you get on the floor, much of this anxiety will be gone because you will do things all thru school and get practice. I am graduating in a month and already have a totally different outlook on hands-on skills than I did when I was in your shoes.

There are medications--beta blockers, SSRI's etc--but there is always such a huge debate over them that you need to decide about those yourself.

Do you practice at home? That helped me a LOT when I was learning to give injections. I practiced at home on raw chicken (way better than oranges IMHO) and I felt much better about doing it.

Also, are you allowed to talk during your skills evals? Talking out loud, outlining step by step what I am doing as I do it, helps A LOT. You figure that you are working on a patient--real or simulated--and it falls into the realm of patient education to tell the pt what you are doing. Maybe that will help calm you.

Finaly, another trick I've learned thru life is if you are completely wrecked over something that you have to do, pretend you are someone else that you know does it well. What would they do? Act like them.

I hope some of this helps! I promise it gets better! :)

I am an LPN student and when it comes to test taking i have bad test anxiety. I know the material before the test and then as soon as i get the test my mind goes blank, my heart races and my palms get sweaty. they say there is exercises to help with this problem but i guess it just depends on the person. so you arent alone.

Specializes in med surg, tele, ortho, preop, recovery.
I'm a guy in my first semester of nursing school, and I make good enough grades. It's no biggie for me to spend hours of studying, up until 3am or longer like all other students. So my problem isn't I don't know the material or I'm not prepared, it's just my anxiety problems. I've never had anything like it since I started my BSN program. When I'm getting checked off, in a clinical, or doing some skill test it hits me hard. My hands start to shake wildly (I dropped an ampule during my med administration test yesterday) and I sweat profusely. I'm not intimated by my instructors, but their presence right over me just makes me nervous. And I think that if it's not addressed now in school, disaster may strike when I'm on a floor and things start to go bad, forcing me to think and act quickly. I wanna face my problem. Who else had (or has) this problem and what do some of you pros do once things hit the fan to decrease anxiety and nervousness?

Same exact problem here. My nervousness has caused me grief during clinicals. My clinical instructor is easy going, but I was still a nervous wreck. I never feel calm or at ease during clinicals. Its gotten so bad that I even get diarrhea (that's probably too much info for some of yall) the day before and of clinical. I'm always anxious and worried whether I'm doing something right and I always have that fear that I'll screw up and fail clinicals. I shake too when I have to draw up meds in front of my instructor. My instructor would ask me SIMPLE questions that I couldn't answer cause my mind would just freeze up.:o

My blood pressure has also skyrocketed. I've already gone to a doc and she prescribed a low dose diuretic but she never addressed my anxiety even though I discussed it with her. I'll probably end up going back to get treated for it.

Is anyone on anti anxiety medication? Has it helped any?

In my experience it's often hit or miss. I think this is because some symptoms are simply psychosomatic while others are valid nerve disorders, etc. Often when mis-diagnosed, I've found friends that have found it even harder, but then again, medication will do that.

Not sure exactly what they took, but it would definitely be worthwhile, IMO, to see someone. Just make sure to at LEAST get a 2nd opinion first though. NOTHING is worse than spending 2-3 weeks getting acclimated to one medication, only to find out the side-effects are worse than the nerves.

Hope you are able to calm them out, sounds like you have a great attitude, it's just that the body doesn't seem to be cooperating with the mind =P

If you try anything, post it here, I have some friends who have also asked the same question :(

I haven't had any problems in the past with anxiety, and it is my perference to stay away from prescribed medications for that and other reasons. I thought it was just me, but I feel a little bit better knowing that it's a common problem. Just because it's a common problem, there is no common solution i think, but many different solutions. I hope through fellow students and other professionals I can find a solution that's right for me.

That's good to hear, some folks, again in my opinion, are far too eager to jump on the pill bandwagon. When you have school and work that can be critical if you're inattentive, you have far too much to risk!

Do you think it’s the social aspect? I’ve always been social and energetic but I have a crazy fear of public speaking and am generally shy to strangers. A few mock public speaking meetings with other students and I got over it rather quick.

Either way, hope things get better for ya, that sounds like an unpleasant situation, especially if you’re doing so well in other aspects!

Is anyone on anti anxiety medication? Has it helped any?

Yes and yes.

I'm a second semester ADN student. Our very first skills lab was going over needles, syringes, needlestick safety and whatnot. Just as we were uncapping our VERY FIRST NEEDLE, my hands started shaking and I ended up stabbing 1/4 inch of the needle into my finger.

I've missed all 4 IV attempts so far because my hands started shaking as soon as I got the needle to the skin. (I'm not so worried about that though, my instructor ended up blowing all 4 veins that I was going for...she said the likely cause was my patients were all on steroid therapies...)

I had an exam today at 8:30am. I finally fell asleep at 7am, only to wake up at 7:30am and take the kiddos to school and get myself some coffee. No I haven't been to sleep yet, and yes it was because I couldn't stop writing mental charts in my head about Adrenergics/AntiAdrenergics, Cholinergics/AntiCholinergics, Alpha/Betas, Hyperthyroid/Hypothyroid, Insulin Onsets/Peaks/Durations,and Addison's/Cushings...

I have really bad nerves. The bad part of it is that everyone in my clinical group comes to ME for a quick word of encouragment to calm them down before starting a procedure. If only they knew.....

Chrissy

I'm a first semester ADN student and had my summative clinical exam the other day at the hospital. I thought I felt fine, no nerves at all. But while checking EOM's during the head to toe assessment, I couldn't hold my penlight still to save my life. I was stunned to see my hand shaking like leaf and I couldn't stop it. But I didn't FEEL nervous!

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