GRADUATION IS NEAR!!!!!

[BSNmwsu]

SO....I've been on this journey towards becoming an RN for the past two years. When you begin the program, you know for a fact that you no NOTHING about being a nurse. You're all filled with excitement and enthusiasm because you're one of the lucky ones to get in the highly competitive program. You're thinking, "Okay, I'm at the begging of making my dreams come true!". You hit Med/Surg and critical care, you've been in the program for awhile, you think you finally know what's going on. You finally under stand the difference between Lovenox, and Coumidin. You finally get that beta blockers and calcium channel blockers effect the heart. You get a puff of wind in your chest because you can FINALLY name the correct diagnosis and create a superb care plan. But then....Senior Capstone hits. You hit the floor for 150-350 clinical hours, trying to be the "big nurse", you find that you still don't know much, because you've been sitting in class reading this stuff in a book for the past two years but don't have much clinical experience. So it's 60 days until you get that coveted BSN, you're realizing you're gonna have to find a job to pay back those loans. You se those GN positions, you're scared and realizing, "Good LORDY!!!! THIS IS IT!! I'M GONNA BE A NURSE!!!".

I"m scared y'all. Scared I wont leave work until 2 hours after my shift because of the computerized charting. Scared I'll forget the basics of pt care. Afraid that my time management skills suck, afraid I'll be overwhelmed. Are there any other soon to be grads who are shaking in their boots about finally putting on their "big girl panties" and becoming an RN?

[kristandrews]

i won't even graduate until may, but there's times when it hits me that i'm almost a nurse, and i get scared/overwhelmed, too. it just feels like there's so much left to learn, and that i'm not competent enough clinically to be a real nurse yet. congratulations on being so close, and i can't imagine anyone not getting scared by it!

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

I'm beyond happy I'm not the only one who feels like this, lol! I'll graduate in May and I spent last weeks clinical day in the CCU and felt like an idiot half the time. I'm extremely scared to be out on my own because I don't feel even close to being ready. However, to make you feel better....nurses sometimes feel the same way. We got to talking on the unit (CCU) and I asked a couple nurses if they ever feel stupid and they all said everyday! There's always something new to learn, so apparently the feeling ignorant doesn't stop at graduation, lol. Good luck!!

[RNHeatherLA]

OMG I totally know what you mean! I'm graduating this December after doing a 16-month BSN program and I'm scared! I have one more class left- our preceptorship (180 hours) and am scared for that even cause we haven't been in a hospital for like 3 months- we just had psych and community health which were TOTALLY different than hospital nursing. My preceptor is going to wonder what the heck my school was teaching me all this time cause it's been a while since I've done charting, given meds, etc. I'm applying to new grad programs now at hospitals and HOPE I get into one because that will make the transition from student to real RN so much easier :)

Good luck to you with your job search! :)