How do you overcome nervousness when with patients?

[j_tay1981]

I'm in nursing school going for a BSN. It's my second degree (first was in broadcasting). I have a problem, but I hide it well from my teachers and peers: I get really nervous when I deal with patients during clinical! I try to walk into the room, introduce myself, take vitals, etc., but inside I'm just falling apart. I applied for a CNA job to hopefully help me overcome my anxiety, but in the meantime it's rough.

I find it difficult to tell patients I'm going to do (fill in the blank with procedure of your choice) or even to do it. I wonder if I'm hurting them or if I'm doing it right. I've spent ample time in the skills lab to get my stuff down, but clinical days are still stressful for me.

Any other nursing students get 'nerved up' during clinical or with patients?

Will this get better with experience? (It's only my second semester...)

[ooomonkeys]

Experience is a pretty good way... Otherwise you can try getting prescribed some sort of anxiety med.

[aying23]

as a student that was the feeling i used to bring with me whenever we'll be having our duty in the clinical area. going to the patient's room and talking to them and not knowing what their reaction would be was really scary. we all know that every patient has different attitudes, so all i have to do during that time was to pray that my patient would cooperate with me as i do all my nursing care to them. after 8 months of duty, i can say that my nervouseness was lessened. you need to have that confidence that you can do handle your duty smoothly. you must also have the knowledge first of your patient's case so that you would know what to expect of the patient during the duty. a night before the duty you must organize all your thoughts on what to do on your duty. :)

[Oldmalenursestudent]

I am just a student getting ready for clinicals to begin next month and I am scared to death. I am getting better but during our first skill, a simple sterile gloving in front of a instructor, I nearly puked and screwed up so bad. We will make it, just takes time. Good luck

[j_tay1981]

Hi, I thought I'd address this topic again. I had a TERRIBLE time with nervousness and anxiety prior to and during clinical. One of the best things that I ever did was to get a job as a nurses' aide at a local hospital. I realize that not everybody can afford to do this, but the constant exposure to patients helped me tremendously. It really all does come down to exposing yourself to your fears and anxieties and facing them anyways. you get desensitized to them and can focus on your business at hand (patient care).

Don't worry about fumbling the sterile glove thing; I still have to slow down when gloving up to make sure I don't break sterile field. My teacher last semester sent us home with sterile gloves and packaging to practice. Like the anxiety thing, practicing makes things easier.

Good luck!

[stressednurse70]

j tay, It will get better with age and experience. I remember a line from some med drama on TV that was dealing with the same topic of confidence and the comeback line was to "Fake it until it becomes real". I kinda liked that and it helped when I was in nursing school ages ago. There are still times I REALLY don't want to go into a patient's room and face them or the families, but we have to do it. It is the job.

Also another word of advice, if you get in report that the patient is very nasty, keep it in the back of your mind but remember the previous nurse and the patient just might not have gotten along and it might not have nothing to do with your relationship with the patient. Whenever I hear that, I still go into the room with a positive attitude and greet the patient as I would another new patient to me. Don't forget, I am new to the patient too.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Patients don't make nervous. Maybe they should, but they don't. Going back about ten years to my first clinical day as an EMT student I knew I was there to learn and they were my test subject, lol. Interesting way to look at it, right? I'm cordial and can talk to anybody so being around them wasn't a big deal, but due to the above statement I had no problem assessing them or doing whatever I needed to do to learn. My only problem is when I have to look at some old hairy genitals or something, and that's only because I don't want to see that mess.

[NurseGuy30]

Very good advice in here!

I'm a nontraditional (older) student, and I've been a CNA at a hospital for well over a year, so I was surprised when I was mugged by nervousness last week in clinical. They guy was very nice, an easy patient, nothing too hard at all. But for some reason I felt very awkward. I tried not to seem nervous, tried to fake it. And I think I came off exactly like a nursing student who is trying to pretend he's not nervous. Oh well. Somewhat embarrassing healthcare situation #235 for me, and I'm not even a nurse yet.

What really threw me for a loop is when they started having CNAs cert on 12-lead ECGs where I work. Dealing rather directly with female breast tissue was an awkward thing at first. I could tell that the women started feeling awkward when they sensed my nervousness, and I felt horrible about making it an awkward experience for them. But the other day I did an ECG on a middle-aged female and realized that I didn't feel nervous or awkward in the least, and neither did she (I think). So there must be something too this experience thing. :)

[MikeFromMT]

You overcome nervousness the same way that you get to Carnegie Hall, "practice man, practice."

or as someone else posted "fake it 'till you make it"

OK, how about this then, know everything about your patient and practice what you need to do with them before you walk in their room. Quiz yourself, do I intend to check BP on their right arm, what if they have a visitor sitting on that side of the bed, do I squeeze between them or use the left arm, what if the IV is in the left arm, then what? Slow down, remember the steps and don't be shy about asking for an assist from another Nurse.