Just started nursing school- are instructors playing a mental game with us?

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I just started nursing school and I don't have a problem putting my all into it. What I do have a problem with is the fact that some of my instructors seem to be playing mental games with us, like intentionally trying to make us nervous or psych us out. Is this normal? Are they just trying to see if we can perform under pressure? They're giving me panic attacks, seriously!

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Specializes in Medical Surgical.

Best thing you can do for yourselves is not let them get to you. I can see why they would use that method of teaching, but they should know that anxiety does not foster learning.

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

This is a question you will most likely ask yourself many, many times during your journey to graduation, without ever being able to come to a definite answer. Enjoy nursing school!

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yup pretty normal atleast in my experience. i hated instructors that are like that. used to give me panic attacks too but then i started to ignore them and just not care about the program anymore lol it helped me survive nursing school.

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Ahhh..disliked the ways of a few clinical instructors....at the time. One year into nursing...they are appreciated... you will soon see. Hang in there and best of luck!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Try to think of it as them challenging you to make you a better nurse. They want you to think, handle the pressure, and to develop confidence as a nurse. It all comes with time. Nursing is challenging, stressful, and fast-paced, and we have to be able to think on our feet. They're trying to get you ready for that. This is the big time! Good luck!

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It's not a game. Like RunBabyRun said, it's a challenge. Expect that when you graduate and enter the professional nursing world, a good percentage of the people you will work with and/or take care of will act exactly the same way. So yes, even the instructor's attitude is good training for you. Use it to your advantage until the panic attacks are a thing of the past. Good luck! :)

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My school is so bi-polar! First semester we couldn't have so much as water bottles during exams, and we had to take out the keyboards to prove we weren't hiding notes before exams, we got a big lecture about how talking about the exam afterwards is cheating because someone who hasn't taken it yet might overhear (come on now, who doesn't compare answers? It's not like we have an exam review...) Then in semester two we're taking open-note exams online, at home, with only the honor system ensuring we won't share answers or take screen shots or make it a group exam. Our professors praised us, saying how exam statistics showed our averages to be similar to last semester, proving we didn't cheat. Now, in semester 3 we're back to classroom tests in silence. I can't wait to see what semester 4 will bring!

So yeah, nursing professors are crazy. We will be too after a few years on the job. Don't let it get to you.

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