So I got accepted to the Accelerated program at Rutgers....and I am very grateful and excited...but I still have a lot of fears. I have read some really bad stories on here about nurses feeling out of place, and about the hospitals not training them properly, and about getting there licensce on octover 3rd and getting fired 3 weeks later...and so on...and now I am starting to get very nervous. Here are some of my fears and maybe you can give me some insight or feedback:
1.) trying to give a female a catheter and not finding the urethra.
2.) trying to give an IV and I keep missing the vein, and I wind up pricking my patient 5 times.
3.) feeling out of place (with me being a guy and all)
4.) giving a female an EKG
5.) hurting my patient unintentionally (having my patient scream in pain and having other nurses and patients hear him/her)
I dont know If im just letting my OCD get to me worse than usual or If these are all legit fears. I just have a feeling that I will do good with the written part of nursing school but think I might struggle with the hands on part. Then I think of nurses who work in the nursing home that I work in, and if they can do it I sure has heck can. But then i read some stories on here that leave my mouth open. For example being a guy in the OB rotation and how useless and out of place the male nurses felt. Now thats all im thinking about is feelign out of place.
So I got accepted to the Accelerated program at Rutgers....and I am very grateful and excited...but I still have a lot of fears. I have read some really bad stories on here about nurses feeling out of place, and about the hospitals not training them properly, and about getting there licensce on octover 3rd and getting fired 3 weeks later...and so on...and now I am starting to get very nervous. Here are some of my fears and maybe you can give me some insight or feedback:
1.) trying to give a female a catheter and not finding the urethra.
This is actually so common that there's a technique you will be taught that will help you with that. You won't be practicing in a vacuum, either. Every unit has a Foley Queen. You miss, you go find her and have her do it for you. That's teamwork.
2.) trying to give an IV and I keep missing the vein, and I wind up pricking my patient 5 times.
Couldn't happen at my hospital. You're only allowed two (2) tries. After that, you call the IV Queen. (Are you starting to get how this nursing thing works? )
3.) feeling out of place (with me being a guy and all)
Once you're out there, you're not a guy in with a bunch of girls. We're ALL nurses. You're not out of place, you're at work!
4.) giving a female an EKG
Even easier than doing a Foley cath. It's just easier for you to trust me that you'll be shown appropriate ways to access the necessary parts than for me to explain exactly how.
5.) hurting my patient unintentionally (having my patient scream in pain and having other nurses and patients hear him/her)
This is pretty rare and really only tells you that the patient needs to be medicated. You'll learn how to keep the pain level at a non-screaming level in school and you'll see what I mean in clinicals.
Don't let your fears get the better of you. Ask those questions, get them out in the open, and deal with them. There will be nurses there who will be happy to help you overcome your anxieties.
I hope you feel less frightened now and I wish you all the best.
Thank you very much for that. It does help me feel a little better. Im the type of guy who thinks he should know everythign about nursing before I even take my first nursing class. I dont know why. But yes that is very helpful and it does put my mind at ease a little.
Thank you very much for that. It does help me feel a little better. Im the type of guy who thinks he should know everythign about nursing before I even take my first nursing class. I dont know why. But yes that is very helpful and it does put my mind at ease a little.
I feel the exact same way! I start in a little over a month and I am so worried that I need to know everything before school even starts! But hey, we're going to be STUDENTS, so they have to teach us first! :) I think we'll be great nurses, don't you? Have a wonderful night!!
i would like to think so. Its just im so up and down...one day i feel very very positive and confident...the next day i feel like im afraid im going to not know how to do something when it counts. But I think its a good sign because I care and i really want to excell as a male nurse. I want other nurses to ask me for help because they know they can, and vice versa.
Its just im so up and down...one day i feel very very positive and confident...the next day i feel like im afraid im going to not know how to do something when it counts.
I absolutely feel the same. I think that everyone else will know exactly what to do and I'll be the only one who doesn't. I'm up and down as well. It's helpful to know that my feelings are pretty "normal."
Its just im so up and down...one day i feel very very positive and confident...the next day i feel like im afraid im going to not know how to do something when it counts.
I absolutely feel the same. I think that everyone else will know exactly what to do and I'll be the only one who doesn't. I'm up and down as well. It's helpful to know that my feelings are pretty "normal."
I know but I want that feeling to go away. I want to feel confident and positive Im making the right choice...but like I said, some of these stories are horrible. And i know things arent always peaches and cream at every job. Trust me im not lookign to become a nurse and expect it to be a cake walk. Im prepared to work, I want to work...the thing is...i just want to make sure I know what im doing. I am not a lazy person...im just afraid im going to have to do something and im not going to know how to do it.
I was just remembering when I first became an EMT. I was accepted on our university squad, which was very selective, and I was so sure that as soon as we had a call come in they would all realize that I was inept and had to reason to be there. In actuality the first call went fine, no one expected much of me at first but allowed me to do what I remembered. And after having my own probationary members that I was responsible for, I realized that everyone has to have time to adjust. Even people who know exactly what to do sometimes freeze, but it's ok because it's a team effort.
Have a wonderful night!!
UM Review RN, ASN, RN
1 Article; 5,163 Posts
This is actually so common that there's a technique you will be taught that will help you with that. You won't be practicing in a vacuum, either. Every unit has a Foley Queen. You miss, you go find her and have her do it for you. That's teamwork.
Couldn't happen at my hospital. You're only allowed two (2) tries. After that, you call the IV Queen. (Are you starting to get how this nursing thing works?
)
Once you're out there, you're not a guy in with a bunch of girls. We're ALL nurses. You're not out of place, you're at work!
Even easier than doing a Foley cath. It's just easier for you to trust me that you'll be shown appropriate ways to access the necessary parts than for me to explain exactly how.
This is pretty rare and really only tells you that the patient needs to be medicated. You'll learn how to keep the pain level at a non-screaming level in school and you'll see what I mean in clinicals.
Don't let your fears get the better of you. Ask those questions, get them out in the open, and deal with them. There will be nurses there who will be happy to help you overcome your anxieties.
I hope you feel less frightened now and I wish you all the best.