I feel so inadequate =(

Tammy90 · Sep 18, 2013

I don't know if anyone has felt this way? or is it just me and I am doomed?

smduran · Sep 18, 2013

To be honest i felt like this alot during school. I cried on the regular during nursing school at the kitchen table while my sweet momma would cook me dinner ( i'll never be able to thank her enough). Sometimes it felt like i had learned so much that here wasn't enough room in my head left for the coming semester.

my study group was my life saver, there was a point that I felt like i was the dumbest slowest student in the program so i opened up to my group. Turns out we all felt the exact same way!!

Nursing yes isnt for everyone but you have made it this far and that has something to say. Don't be so hard on yourself, give yourself a treat night and relax. even better get the study group together to do something fun

graduation seems like the distant future but it will be here before you know it.

Keep your chin up!!

Caribbean Character · Sep 19, 2013

I am assuming from your use of terms and phrases that you are European, which would explain my confusion at you receiving your midterm mark when the school year has just begun here in the States. Only you can decide if nursing is right for you. I went through the same thing when earning my first degree (Diesel Hydraulics). My last semester I was almost panicked that I didn't learn everything I needed to learn to be a REAL Hydraulics Tech, no matter what my grades, and later, my hard won degree said. In my case, Diesel Hydraulics was not my calling (I picked the major out of panic after I was not accepted into the nursing program the first time I applied) because 2 years after graduating I am back in school and in the nursing program which was my true calling. The old saying is true, the proof is in the pudding. How do you feel when in clinicals? Do you feel at ease when charting and relaxed when interacting with the patients? Can you find the proper angle for a Subcut, IM or IV injection almost without thinking about it? As I said before, only you can decide if you are meant to be a nurse, but give yourself a fair shake.

Larry2016 · Sep 19, 2013

A B is not a bad grade...if YOU know you worked hard for it.

If you have a passion for it, then don't measure yourself up to others. I may have misunderstood you, but you said it seems like it comes so naturally to others. Or, maybe you don't know their past experiences. I have a lab partner that never took vital signs before, so I walked her through it - and she was very thankful for that. However, I took classes to be a Medical Assistant prior to entering a BSN program, so things we are learning in Foundations 1 come natural to me.

Everyone who goes through this has something to offer. For me, I want to work on the clinical side of Nursing. I would not mind being a Research Nurse or working ER/ICU....even contemplated Life Flight Nursing.

Am I inadequate? Probably - but this gives me motivation to learn from those who have experience in the medical field in some capacity so I can achieve excellence in my field.

What are your strengths in nursing? What skill set do others see in you? How does it affect relationships with your patients? Instead of focusing on how you measure up to others, evaluate what you do well and what you bring to the field.

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Sep 19, 2013

You are not inadequate - a B is a pretty excellent! If I felt inadequate every time I got a B...I might as well drop out of school now.

Good grades are important, but the MOST important thing is your confidence in your mastery of the material. Do what you need to do to accomplish that. Ask your professor about the test questions you got wrong. Go back and brush up on those subjects instead of burying them behind you - you do need to know them. And keep going!

I definitely understand the feelings you are talking about. It's totally natural, I think - we are learning some hard stuff! But acknowledge them, shake them off, and get back to work. That's the only way to start feeling better about my abilities as a future nurse, in my experience. Good luck!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2013

Plenty of people feel that way, maybe most do ... sometimes, or for short periods. Then they pick themselves up and go on, one step at a time.

If you are having a hard time moving on from this situational depression / feeling bad and inadequate and it's getting in the way of normal functioning/sleep/academic performance, this is not something you can just will yourself to snap out of, and we can't say much that will make you snap out of it either, even though we mean well. Please, please go to your college health clinic and get a referral to a counselor with experience in this sort of thing. There is no need to suffer like this. You are not doomed, any more than one of your future patients who will ask you for advice about what to do about a painful condition. "See a pro" is the answer for him, and now, for you.

Don't put it off, and don't cheat yourself of the peace of mind you deserve. Call first thing tomorrow morning.

TNT365 · Sep 20, 2013

I am currently in my 4th week of school, 1st year nursing student!!! Yeah me!!! But I dont feel like that now :no: . We have had 2 quizzes so far and each quiz the teacher has dropped three of the questions so we would not fail. Thats great and all but I still feel bad. Now that I know she has dropped several questions, I really feel slow. I am trying different ways of studying but I can only feel complete if I read all 10 chapters :banghead:

I am going to keep it moving but I do understand at times it gets discouraging. Dont give up. You are almost there!!!

nyandy · Sep 20, 2013

My experience is that you are not the only one to feel like this. When anyone gets a B in our class it calls for dancing in the streets. Nursing science courses are not like any of the prerequisite courses you have taken so far. Many of my fellow students went in with As and now all we want to do is pass because it is that difficult. My advice is feel proud of that B, find a friend in the program and share your feeling and help each other through. I believe most nursing students need the support if a couple fellow students. None of my family and friends understand the demands of these courses, only my fellow classmates. Trust me... You are not doomed! Don't panic cause there will come a time when you might even fail an exam and that is no reason to panic either. You take it as a tool to know what your strong topics are and which are not, then you can go back and figure out where you went wrong and relearn the topic. Any lack of confidence can make nursing school a bear.

krisiepoo · Sep 20, 2013

it honestly sounds like you might be suffering from some depression right now, which is completely normal because nrusing school is a crazy thing to undertake. Can you talk to your doctor or see someone to help you through this? Do you have a support network you can talk to? try doing some exercise, it certainly helped me get through my feelings of inadequacy and depressed thoughts.

Thnking of you, you can do this

seconddegreebsn · Sep 20, 2013

You're not alone. I've never felt so humbled, so incompetent and so frustrated as I do in nursing school - I went from feeling very confident and reassured in my former career to feeling like I don't know my own name some days. Today I was in a procedure observing and the MD asked me to grab something (I had been on the unit for 20 minutes and wasn't familiar with the item he was referring to), then snickered and laughed at me in front of his residence. I get knocked back down to earth and reminded I'm at the bottle of the totem pole a lot, but it's not forever and I look it as a challenge. Just remember, some people are stronger in certain areas than others and the tables could very easily be turned next semester. Don't give up on yourself.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2013

Today I was in a procedure observing and the MD asked me to grab something (I had been on the unit for 20 minutes and wasn't familiar with the item he was referring to), then snickered and laughed at me in front of his residence.

Once early on in school I had a surgeon ask me to unwrap a sterile bowl for him, and I did (he was gowned and gloved for a bedside procedure). He asked me to pass it to him ... so I picked it up and held it out it to him, barehanded. I hadn't had the lab on sterile technique yet and didn't know how to partially unwrap a sterile object and hand it over sterile

I knew that guy for another thirty years and we laughed about it about annually. Just a stupid student trick, and we all lived to tell the tale.