Giving Shots

Jules A, MSN · Mar 8, 2007

Hi and welcome,

You will find tons of threads that might answer your questions about nursing school. It was frustrating and yet liberating at the same time. I'm so glad I did it and plan to continue with my nursing education. Perhaps you could find someone in each field that would let you spend a day doing a job share so you could get a better feel for nursing vs. PT.

As for shots, they are no biggie. You get to practice in lab long before they cut you lose on a pt. and even then you have your nursing instructor there with you. Most of us were looking forward to giving our first shot. Good luck to you and keep us posted. Jules

charebec65 · Mar 8, 2007

My first I was a nervous wreck. After that, no biggie.

Ilovemyprofession · Mar 8, 2007

I was nervous to start, but after the first couple you find it is no problem :)

swtypie · Mar 8, 2007

Thanks for the responses everyone. I just don't want my fear to cloud my judgement. People keep telling me that i'll be ok and will be over it. Some people told me that they practiced on oranges first then each other.

fmrnicumom · Mar 8, 2007

I'm not in my clinicals yet, but I have had to give shots before. I had to give them to myself and it was definitely a bit nervewracking! Last year I took a phlebotomy class and I'm glad I did. We had to practice on each other, which gave some experience with different veins and different people's reactions. It made me a little nervous but I think it was a great investment. You may want to check the community colleges near you to see if they offer something like that. Sometimes classes like that are listed with the nursing assistant classes and sometimes they're listed in the nonvredit or community education areas. If it's something you might be interested in, you could call or email enrollment services.

Good luck to you!

Tiffany

WDWpixieRN, RN · Mar 9, 2007

We aren't allowed to practice on each (for which I'm personally grateful, lol) and I've always hated needles and had the same fear as you....after lots of practice on oranges and the realization that I wasn't sticking someone to inflict pain -- it was to help keep them healthy -- doing a real injection was a piece of cake. There are other parts of this job that I'm not so fond of, but shots are not a biggie at all!!

kstec, LPN · Mar 9, 2007

Due to several patient compliments, I've been told they didn't feel or hardly felt the shot I gave them. My instructor taught my go in quick, aspirate, inject and pull out exactly the way you went in. If you poke to slow, it hurts worse. Also in time try to size up the person to take into consideration what size needle you need. I've seen nurses give shots to peds patients by using a needle that should've been used on a 400 lbs person. On most people muscle isn't 1 1/2 inches in from the skin. Good luck and you will do just fine. Still to this day I watch peoples facial expression to see how painful I made it for them. Most only flinch a little. Also I asked my nurse at my doctors office how she gave shots to me with little or no pain and she said to always watch the size of your needle.

Jilaweez, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 10, 2007

Doing anything you've never done before is a little scary. I had to learn pretty quick when my son was diagnosed with diabetes. He used to get five shots a day but now he is on an insulin pump. The first time I was nervous (especially on my own baby), but like everyone else said, after that it's a piece of cake. When he was in the hospital they gave me a little skin model to practice giving saline shots. It helped a little but it didn't squirm quite as much as a toddler. I am not so nervous about learning other types of injections now.

SoulShine75 · Mar 11, 2007

THe first time I was soooo nervous. After that it's no big deal...you'll get use to it and won't think anything about it anymore. Sometimes I leave clinical and think...I gave a lot of shots today....cool. :lol2:

chesara · Apr 8, 2007

Giving shots was just about the only reason keeping me from pursuing my dream of going into nursing. I'm glad to know there are others who have been nervous about it. I came to the realization that it's just another obstacle to get over and that if other people can do it, why can't I? I thought it was needles in general that I was afraid of but I think it's more the fear of hurting someone or not doing it right. I'm up for the challenge though and not going to let it hold me back anymore. I'm hoping to start LPN school this year and will be sad if there's a long waiting list.

krenee · Apr 8, 2007

Giving shots doesn't make me nervous, but starting IVs does! Based on my personal experience, it seems a lot trickier, and I don't want to use someone for a pincushion - which has happened to me and my kids (poke, poke, poke trying to get the vein). It's just awful!

Kelly