Do you ever feel like you will never be smart enough?

Nursing Students General Students

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Somedays, like today I feel that so much material is thrown at me that I will never be smart enough to be a competent and safe nurse. We just started class last thursday, today was lecture two and we have 17 chapters assigned for our first test next thursday. I have both test on the same day pharm and med-surg....we go through the material so fast, and I know it's summer so we have to but still....I feel like giving up after this week and I've never said that before. I've spent five years devoted to nursing school...2 years at a university as a bio major waiting on the school to become accredited (didn't happen until after I transferred)...1.5 yr of pre-reqs and now a yr and half into nursing courses it self...and 18000 debt in student loans. And one of our instructors who is amazing is leaving the semester on medical leave...we don't have enough instructors left for another instructor to take over her clincials and lecture so we will have "guest speakers," yes that's plural and her clincial students will be combined with another already full clinical group. I can understand an instructor having to leave but don't see why the school doesnt hire some more instructors for emergencies such as this. This will leave another instructor overworked with extra students at clinicals. I won't give up but sometimes I just feel that I will never be as smart as some of my instructors. I know wisdom comes with age and experience also but it just seems like it too much information. Sorry, long day just had to vent here...two long days in a row:monkeydance:

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Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.

sounds like my previous nrsg school. they didn't have enough instructors, so our teachers doubled as clinical instructors. one of our teachers started late in the school year, about a few weeks late, and when she did start she could barely teach, she was a new teacher. had horrible teachers etc... things can get complicated and often it seems the problems are detracting from your goal, which is becoming a nurse! i am a new nurse, i am somewhat of a perfectionist and when i started my new job ( 40 patients):uhoh3: i expected myself to perform flawlessly. people always say experience comes with time, but being a perfectionist, i want to know everything now! i had a horrible preceptor that didn't understand that i was a new nurse! so you can imagine how i felt. well what i'm trying to say is that experience and knowledge does come with practice and time, how else? don't beat yourself up, those experienced, all knowing instructors were new at some point and time, even if they won't admit it! good luck, ;)

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Specializes in Maternity.

i can feel ur pain i had my peds final and i bombed it i can't believe it if it wasn't that i had a good average i would be out of the program. i feel so stupid

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Why do summer sessions have to be so short anyways? My program requires us to go in summer, so it's not like I just wanted to pick up an extra class over a few weeks. They also offer A/B/C sessions, so there are classes running into August, but undergrad nursing courses are only offered in "Summer A" which is 10 weeks, followed by just over a month off before semester 2 starts. What am I supposed to do for a month? I cut my hours down to 2 days/week, and my job isn't really the kind where I can pick some back up for a few weeks. It makes it so much harder to learn all the material in time, and I don't really know what we gain by not really having classes in August. Our first exams were only over 8 and 13 chapters each, so I guess we got off easy LOL.

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

In our CC, the classroom instructors are also clinical instructors....it's actually kind of nice to have that overlap as they know what we're learning and where we are specifically in our knowledge.

As for the original question -- oh, friggin' yeah -- and daily!! I tend toward perfectionism.....I have always been a quick learner and don't tolerate ignorance well....so, here I am in this schooling that doesn't come easy to much of anyone, is thrown at you fast and furious, and it's all I can do to hang on and not just walk away most days.

Instead, I come to allnurses.com, talk to my friend of almost 40 years who's been an RN since we were young, or to an instructor. EVERYONE says the same thing -- you don't learn how to be a nurse in school, you learn a lot of 'stuff' to help you get through the NCLEX. The actual learning will come on the job once you have graduated and gone to your first job assignment.

My girlfriend and a RN I am currently interning with have both basically said, "Do whatever you have to to get through school and pass the NCLEX. Your actual learning will happen on the job". So that's my motto for the next 2 semesters!!

:banghead: :selfbonk:

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I feel your pain man if it werent for my sister being a nurse I dotn think I would have made it past J1 which I just did with a few A's and 2 B's Yeeehaw!!! keep the faith man we will all prevail we just gotta keep fighting the man!!! not literally just a little rocky knowledge!

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Specializes in RN, Cardiac Step Down/Tele Unit.

To the OP: it is really to early to be so down on yourself! I am graduating in August from an accelerated program that started last May, so I have only been in class about a year and will be graduating soon. I still feel like I only know about a tenth of what I need to, but when I think of everything I have learned it is amazing.

The things that you really need to know to be a safe novice nurse will be repeated ad nauseum, so by the end of it you will know that backwards and forwards! Towards the end of the curriculum, things start to click and you see how body systems work together and how different pathologies effect each system. Basically it just starts making sense. It will probably happen suddenly, like a light bulb moment. Once that happens, you will start feeling alot more confident, even though you realize how much there is still to learn.

As far as the problems at your school, my advice is to try and go with the flow as much as possible and try to learn something from each instructor, even if it is only how not to do things or how not to treat people. Remember that once you start working you will have to get along with (and be managed by) lots of different people, so start practicing now! And when your classmates start getting negative and moaning about how bad things are, be the one who always stays positive regardless. Negative attitudes are contagious, but positive ones can be as well. Best of luck to you, keep us posted!

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Isn't there some regualtion from the BON regarding the size of clinical groups? I know that at my school, & I assume this is mandated by the state BON, our clinical group cannot be larger than 8 students to a teacher. Our class started at 32 & even though we lost some to failing grades during 1st term, there were still 32 at the beginning of 2nd term due to students from the class ahead of us having to repeat the classes they failed. Our school had never had that many students in a class so had to hire another clinical instructor so there'd be enough for 4 clinical groups.

Check with your state's BON. It really isn't fair to have so many in a clinical group. Not only does the teacher not have the ability to be overseeing all of you at once but it's also dangerous for the patient.

Dixie

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I know exactly how you feel. I have one semester left till graduation and today of all days I feel that I could just drop everything an dmove on with my life :-(

Hang in there !!!

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