Nursing Student Doubts

trudeyRN · May 13, 2015

I feel like I'm in the same place. I know you are looking for people who have longer perspective who can tell you this is normal and you will get there. I will start my third semester this fall, so I don't have a work history to base this on. I too think if one patient is this hard, how will I ever handle 4, 6 (or whatever the ratio happens to be)? And charting, it is unnerving. Smart to know it has implications beyond just typing and checking off boxes. I look forward to the day when I can do that with less hesitancy.

I get the impression this is very normal. Feeling dumb becomes the norm, even the grading system (much different from the prereq grades, right?) seems stacked against us feeling smart. The purpose of that (as near as I can tell) is as much as you do know and as hard as you work, there is always more you could know. We will get to a place where we aren't doubting our every move, but if you read through the threads, people are considered a "new nurse" for a long time. And every time you change jobs, you are "new" (read: have the chance to feel dumb again).

It doesn't mean you aren't where you are supposed to be (as in academically or as a choice of career). What it means to me is there is always a lot more you can know. I think the trick is to get comfortable with not knowing everything and realizing you are learning more than you think.

Experience will help, but there is always the chance to learn more.

I would be more worried about you if you said you never felt dumb and had all the answers :)

RachRN11 · May 13, 2015

Yes, what you're feeling is normal. YOU are normal!

Nursing school is rough..really, really rough. I'm pretty sure I wanted to switch my major every semester because nursing school stressed me out too much. But hey, I made it and YOU WILL TOO!

Honestly, the best answer I can give is that you will feel more comfortable the more experience you get. I would be willing to bet that if you look back on this post come the end of the semester or your clinical rotation you will feel 10x better about things.

It's good to have a little stress, it shows that you care and you want to do a good job. However, be kind to yourself. You are still learning. You're still a student. You don't know everything (heck, no nurse knows everything!) and if there's a time to make a mistake, it's while you're in school (although you will continue to make mistakes after school...that's life). The instructor points things out that are "wrong" in your charting to help you learn, that's their job. Even if you were the best student and hardly made a mistake, I bet your instructor would still tell you that something needs fixed. If you are really worried, ask your instructor how you're doing and if they feel like you're staying on track.

Don't give up. Just keep on keepin' on and be kind to yourself. Give yourself the chance and opportunity to learn and grow not only into a nursing career but as a human being. It's okay to be stressed, it's normal to be anxious. You are fine and you will continue to be fine and one day you will be on the other side of this and be giving other stressed out/anxious students advice and encouragement!

branthebrat0789 · May 13, 2015

Thanks so much for the encouragement and relation of feelings! It helps to know I am not feeling alone in the battle