Nervous about starting school

Nursing Students General Students

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Okay students...I need your help. I'm so excited to get back into school. More than that - I'm realistically excited to be a nurse. (I realize how hard it's going to be as well....I'm "up" on about most of the hard stuff associated with nursing, etc.)

A couple of things I'm super nervous about.....Blood. Vomit. Poop. Mucus.

Were any of you nervous about this? How did you handle the things you didn't think you could or couldn't handle?

Any tips on how to handle these things? :eek:

I know I don't have years of experience but I can tell you that sometimes it is just as nasty as you think it is. I have learned to think of it like this. This person is so ill, how would I want to be cared for if it were me or someone I loved? It certainly puts it inot perpective for me. I do have to admit that the sound and look fo someone vomitting makes me want to hurl right along with them..lol. I do however get through it. To tell the truth on some occasions body fluids can be almost amusing. I won't explain that last comment ,everyone will find out on their own. The best thing that has helped me is. The your a angel comment, or thank you for helping me. I do hear that and it makes me feel that what I do is worth it. Thsoe that haven't had any hospital experince may want to voluteer a couple of hours. Sorry this wound up being a book. Being a PCT and caring for patients has given me a world of information.

:eek: Oh my gosh, the smells today! My mom is in a hospital with quite the RN shortage and a woman had to wait to get her bedpan emptied. Oh it was a terrible smell and they wouldn't open the window, geeps that would've helped. The RN's were few, so the LVN's and CNA's were doing the ick work. I asked the RN's what they do. They were mainly for medication and injections. This was a teaching hospital. Is this the norm?:confused:
Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

That is the challenging part of nursing. Keeping yourself together for you patient. Always remember, they feel worse about their situation than you do, they have to stay in the smelly room, you can leave.

Keep that stoic expression on your face so the patient doesnt feel any worse about it than they already do. People will read your face first, so keep the facial expressions under control. You know the phrase never let them see ya sweat, well same holds true with facial expressions in a patients room when you have to do something unpleasant.

You will get used to it, and after a while you will be surprised what you can do and go directly to lunch.

One word of advice, if you have a trach patient, if someone tells you to step back, DONT move to the foot of the bed!

Unfortunately, after 8 years of being a LPN, I have seen many RN's who will come hunt you down to clean someone up instead of doing it themselves. I'm not saying ALL do, but ....

Just a quick question for everyone...how do you get those cute little pictures to appear under your names????? (I'm not very computer literate!) I don't mean the smilies, I mean the little pictures some of you have -- flags, or cats, or whatever...thanks!

I figured it out as you can see!

;) I took care of a patient during my clinicals this past semester in the med surg unit. She was 62 with terminal cancer; gravely ill. When I first introduced myself to her, she was very shy and withdrawn -- embarrased of her bald head and of the fact that she was incontinent. I was extremely nervous -being a first year nursing student -- but I was determined to learn all I could from the experience of providing care to this woman for the few hours I had with her. When I asked her if she felt up to having a bedbath, it was as if I had told her she had won the lotto. She was shy at first about relaxing for me, but when I began calmly speaking with her and gently bathing her, she relaxed and began speaking openly with me. She talked to me about her fears about dying, her sadness at not being home with her son, and her confusion about what all the tubes and medicines were for. She was quite incontinent, and I honetly surprised myself by cleaning her up and completing her bath without a hesitation at all. It was so rewarding to me to be able to give this woman some comfort at the end of her life. No, it's not pleasant seeing what you sometimes see -- but these people are frustrated and sensitive about losing their independence. One of the things you always have to remember is to watch your facial expressions. Imagine someone going to give you a bedbath and making a face like they smelled the most horrible thing in the world? It's so difficult sometimes not to, but imagine how embarrasing that would be for the patient!

To this day, whenever I am in the hospital and I see Violet, she calls me over and tells me that I'm her angel. She tells me how grateful she is that I spent time with her and listened to her, and cared for her. She will always be in my memory because she taught be what being a nurse is truly about.

The bottom line is, if you really, truly want to be a nurse -- you'll find a way to deal with the unpleasantness.

Mommyrn~ What a blessing you are! Just wanted to let you know that you are going to make a wonderful nurse! Keep being the way you were with that lovely lady, and you will always be an asset to anyplace you decide to work.

Hugs, Julie:)

Thank you Julielpn. I appreciate it!:)

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