Having some anxiety...

[harmony123]

Hi!

I am going to be entering my second semester of the nursing program. I absolutely LOVE it! However, I have had this summer off (my school doesn't offer nursing classes during the summer) and I am starting to get some serious anxiety. The main thing I am worried about is making a mistake in clinical. Last semseter I accidently threw away someones insulin pen in the sharps container instead of just throwing the needle away. It was only my second day in clinical that the incident occured but I got really, really upset about it! Anyway, I received a 3.6 gpa last semester, so I study hard and I know what i'm doing, it is just that I feel akward and nervous when I am put in that setting. I am feeling quite discouraged. Are these feelings trying to tell me something or am I just still a novice nursing student!? HELP!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

We all make mistakes. It's what you learn from the mistakes that count. What did you learn from this mistake? What are you going to do to prevent something like that from happening again? That is how we improve.

This is not going to be your last mistake. There will be others. What you do is correct your methods so you don't do the same thing again. You can be upset with yourself for a little while and then move on. I went through this and so did many others. Its part of life. If we were perfect we'd be in heaven with the Gods.

Years ago I locked my keys in the car not once but 2 times! Do you know how much it costs to have a locksmith open the car door? For years I wore an extra set of keys around my neck and it saved me a couple of times. Then I got lazy, got a new car and about 4 years ago I set my keys down inside the trunk of the car while I was putting groceries in it. It only took a second to shut the trunk and realize that I had locked the keys in the trunk. Luckily I had AAA and they do provide a door opening service. What do I do now (because I don't wear the keys around my neck anymore)? Before I shut the car door or the trunk I have made it a habit to look at my hand to make sure the keys are in my hand and say to myself "keys".

We are not perfect, harmony123, but we nurses are problem solvers. Try using some self-talk to keep you focused on the right and wrong things you should be doing. You'll get there. Wear your battle scars proudly as long as you learned the lesson because you earned them and it shows you are human.