I had my first clinical today & I cried in the pt room in front of everyone.

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Specializes in CVICU.

I am a brand new student. 5 weeks in my program and our clinicals are on a PCU/step down unit.

I didn't cry because I was overwhelmed, or because I felt stupid. I cried because this lady was brain dead but her eyes were open and she was moving(kind of) but she was unresponsive. My clinical instructer brought us into her room because she wanted to show us vents and trachs and tube feeding etc. This pt had a heart attck and her family did nothing. No cpr was preformed until EMT got there.

The few times I have been to the hospital, it has been for like knee surgery or something mild. This was terrifying for me And then when I asked my CI if the pt could see us b/c her eyes were open and if she could hear us, my CI got her penlight and tapped her eyes with it to show that the pt was unresponsive. The she wanted to show us how sensitive the tele monitor is, so my CI took her hand and thumped against the pts heart with her fist to show us the monitor flucuations.

Sorry for the mispellings and the disjointed-ness of my post. I have so much going through my head. :crying2: This was my first ever pt experience. I really want to be a nurse. I know I can be a good nurse. One of the reasons I was crying is b/c I wanted to help the pt but I don't know how.

Did any of you experienced nurses cry during clinicals or do you still cry sometimes? Am i too tenderhearted? And what advice do you have that will help me 'cope' better?

thanks for reading

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

It's understandably hard to see things like this for the first time... you won't necessarily "get used" to it with time, but you'll learn maybe how to cope with it better.

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Your only human and humans are meant to feel emotions. Most of us at least... Don't be discouraged by the first few frail Pts. that you see. There are many more making great strides towards recovery. You will get thicker skin to toughen you at the approriate times, but keep your heart in the same place. :hgu:

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Specializes in LTC.

My first pt died; the first day of clinicals, about 30 min. after I met him. It wasn't expected at all. I cried all day in the conference room. Don't feel bad in any way.

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Specializes in Going to Peds!.
My first pt died; the first day of clinicals, about 30 min. after I met him. It wasn't expected at all. I cried all day in the conference room. Don't feel bad in any way.

I would have been traumatized and possibly quit nursing school. I prayed every day when I was in my Critical Care semester that my patient would live through my shift.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Don't feel bad in any way.

But do work to move past it. Keep in mind that many people's families can't do CPR and that doesn't mean they aren't loving and grieving. FWIW it is my opinion that CPR without a defibrillator machine is rarely effective for MI.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

It's OK to express your feelings, and feel helpless, especially so early in your nursing education. Work to move past your feelings of inadequacy, It's only your first clinical rotation. The more you learn, the less helpless you'll feel, and your confidence will grow.

p.s. I've cried in front of patients before. I think it helps laypeople know that we're human :D

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

You will get used to it; don't be too hard on yourself. It's always shocking initially--then the newness wears off and you go about your business like this is a "normal" thing.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

On the first day of my ICU rotation the family of one of the patients decided to end life support. He was the patient of the RN I was assigned to so I had to help disconnect everything. She had been a nurse for at least 20 years and she had tears in her eyes. I managed not to cry but I really didn't sleep very well for a couple of nights.

If you ever get to the point where you don't feel anything in these situations it will be time for you to get out of this field.

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I would have been traumatized and possibly quit nursing school. I prayed every day when I was in my Critical Care semester that my patient would live through my shift.

God bless you both. I have been doing this for almost 20 years and unfortunately I have seen more than my fair share of unpleasantness. People dying way to young and for very bad reasons. If I sit and think about it I can still see the faces of many of them. I used to pray that my patients wouldn't die during my shift too till I had my fill of needless suffering and pain. Now I pray that God will give me the wisdom to take care of these people and the grace and strength to deal with their passing when it happens. It never gets easy but it becomes easier.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Peds, OB, L/D, Ortho.

don't feel bad for having a heart! that is the one thing you can not learn in school....keep it! i do find it offensive that your teacher didn't have more respect for the patient than she demonstrated to all of you. that little show alone would have made me cry.................................

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I'm a Hospice nurse and have learned how to handle the death of someone and how to support the family and friends but it wasn't without some tears, hugs and laughs at the end. We need to keep the human side of us and not feel bad about it. Continue nursing and in the end you will be proud you made it. Compassion and caring makes a great nurse. Good luck:D

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