2nd Semester RN student, thinking of going to LVN..Advice?

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Hi everyone....I'm hoping I can grasp some advice and opinions here...

I'm in my second semester on an ADN program and this semesters clinical portion is taking a toll on me.

Theory wise, I'm doing ok with a B.

However, the clinical portion is another story.

We take care of 2 patients on a fast paced Med-Surge floor, once a week. Long story short, the first 2 shifts, I was a mess. It was nothing like 1st semester and I was spinning and had a full blown panic attack on the first shift. I understood my weaknesses, made a timeline and my time management imporved the next 2 weeks, ex) getting meds out on time, charting on time, etc. Unfortuntely I am still not up to par with my clinical instructor, and have failed to find the time to complete my careplans so far this semester. I've never had this problem before, of course last semester it was a much slower paced floor.

I'm so worried about getting my meds out on time, charting (its paper charting), AM care and just keeping up with the speed and not spinning, that the next thing I know, she's collecting my the careplans and of course mine aren't completed...yet again.

This is ashame....I get to bed at midnight the night before, and get to the hospital at about 4-430am that morning to "prepare" myself, and for some reason I'm still not up to speed. The entire shift, I dont eat, drink, take a break or even find the time to sue the bathroom...what the heck am I doing to not get all my tasks done on time??

My instructor recommended I look into the LVN program. At first I said no because I AM a hard worker and I want to prove to myself and to her that I CAN and will do this. However, I want to build a clinical foundation for myself, and barely tredding isn't going to cut it in the long run.

My friends/classmates think I shouldnt go into the LVN and I should stick to it, and so far I am. We have 2 more clinical days in the rotation and honestly..how much more can I prove in just 2 short weeks?

So the question is....should I concider my options? Or suck it up and show her I CAN do this?

Thank you for letting me vent. This is very helpful..

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I'm not in nursing school yet but perhaps it's more of the fact that your in a more critical and fast pace unit.. I love the fast pace Er and ICU I'm a paramedic though.. But I have hear many nurses hate the fact they will have to float to another unit.. IMO I just think you have worked to hard and studied to long and put in too much effort to give up now.. Because to be honest I believe you wouldn't be satisfied with reaching Lvn and will sooner or later be right back in school for the RN! I hate your instructor because it seems as though she is discouraging you from reaching your full potential. If you weren't able to reach RN they wouldn't have accepted you. You have plenty of time to show and prove you are efficient with limited time! Don't give up and when you do just think about the finish line .. Take a deep breath and realize you are halfway there.. And people like me and many more will be posting threads like 2011 hopefuls etc . You on the other hand are in and almost done. Also ask your classmates on ways or strategies they use to be more efficient because I doubt you are the only one. Don't over stress yourself that's how you get panic attacks.. Realizing what's at stake and intensifying the situation. I hope this helps and I can't wait to read a post from you saying you graduated

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Specializes in telemetry.

okay, first, take a deep breath. second, nursing school is hard. very hard. i have wanted to give up a million times, and felt inadequate just as much, and overwhelmed more than you can imagine. higher power willing, i will grad in may. okay so regarding clinicals, every instructor is different, and some of the instructors made me feel like and incompetent idiot and others made me feel on top of the world. do not listen to people who tell you to "not to do it, give up, or lower your goals". you said yourself you are a hard worker, and even if you feel like you can't deal, remember, you are a smart, hard working student, and you can do this. also, remember that nursing is really hard, stressful, overwhelming at times, and you will never have enough time to be "perfect" at all the assigned paperwork or at everything all the time. i hate caremaps. however, i have learned, that i can do them. i have also learned that nursing school= no sleep, no social life, no time for anything. however it will be worth it. take it "one day at time", if you can do that and remember, i have panic attacks, crying breakdowns, and all kinds of aches and pains i never had before i started nursing school. don't give up. you can do this, have faith in yourself and surround yourself with supportive people that will keep pushing you forward and up, not down. hope that helps.

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This is ashame....I get to bed at midnight the night before, and get to the hospital at about 4-430am that morning to "prepare" myself

Here's your problem. You're trying to do it on no sleep. Get at least 6.5 hours of sleep the night before and that will likely make a huge difference in your performance in clinical.

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Thank you all for the wonderful encouragement!

I have a wonderful support system...and a great clinical group too!

They keep telling me I'm doing great, but according to my clinical teacher, I'm not. For example, I'm not doing things EXACTLY on time as she wants them...1200VS, I may be a few minutes late, and she's very specific..

To the poster that said I need more sleep..I do agree with that. Unfortunately, I have to say that our hospital is the only "unfair" one, but can I? haha..The other clinical groups get to pick their patients at 2pm, we can't go until 430, now we heard that the staff complaned about us, so now our teacher scedules us in groups..so some of us go between 430-630 (shift change) and then 7-9pm! So when the other clinical groups are getting all snuggled in bed...I'm driving home still having to spend 2hrs writing up on my patients before I wake up at 4! This too shall pass....Just a little frustrating is all...

I think my main issue is...I need to go faster? But I dont want to spin myself out of control...

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This is ashame....I get to bed at midnight the night before, and get to the hospital at about 4-430am that morning to "prepare" myself, and for some reason I'm still not up to speed. The entire shift, I dont eat, drink, take a break or even find the time to sue the bathroom...what the heck am I doing to not get all my tasks done on time??

A few ideas ...

First, you only have 2 weeks left. So now is not the time to make any big decisions - stick it out and try to keep your head above water.

With that in mind - have a frank conversation with your CI before your next clinical. Tell her that you know you are not meeting her standards, reiterate your desire to succeed in this clinical, and ask for specific pointers about what to do differently. Verbalize what you think your problems are and what specific goals/improvements you want to meet in the next 2 weeks. Even if you don't meet 100% of her expectations in 2 weeks, you will look better for having shown awareness of your problems. And don't make any excuses when things don't get done ! (Even if you have some legitimate ones ...) Now is the time to look super mature and responsible and own all your 'faults.'

Lastly. Sleep more. Don't go in too far ahead of time (30 min is ok .. 2 hours is not). I'd be willing to bet that, at this point, you are going in sleep-deprived and then sitting around worrying up until the moment clinic officially starts ? Not good for your mental health OR your grades.

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You can do it!!!

I was in the same situation my first semester of nursing school. I was on a Med Surg floor and I just could not keep up with the speed. I felt inferior to my peers that were passing out their meds on time, charting with ease, engaging in conversations and assisting their patients with ease and developing strong relationships with their preceptors; where I on the other hand had the reputation of being somewhat of a burden because I was so slow.

My piece of advice would be to first of all relax. In retrospect I look back and say to myself that the time period that I was in was rough but had I mentally prepared myself beforehand by doing things such as getting up early before clinical began and organized my brain, so to speak, to prepare for a day full of thinking and task management (I guess you would call this meditation of some sort).

I would go with the option of sticking with the program. With time medication passing, charting and vitals all become second nature. With more time you will soon learn how to allocate your time and cut back on doing activities that can be put off for later in place of priority tasks.

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I am an LPN student in med surg right now and it doesn't seem any different from what you are describing. In my opinion nursing school is nursing school but the LPN program is all the info crammed into a shorter amount of time. I wouldn't expect it to be any easier. I have had days like yours so I really feel for you. I usually think about giving up at LEAST once a week!!! I just take a deep breath, and try to remember that my horrible clinical instructor who treats me like an idiot is a person like everybody else. I also remember why I even wanted to be a nurse in the first place which really really helps = ) I also have an awesome support system, family and friends who are all pulling for me and I don't want to let them down by quitting. I always try to eat breakfast, drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep. I know its hard while in school but it's essential. I would try to maybe look at your schedule to see where you could possibly fit in a little more sleep. School is hard but it's not supposed to be so hard that they expect you to function on no sleep!!! I know I would fail if I only got 4hrs a night. As far as your instructor all you can do is your best. My instructor right now is insane and I am terrified of her and of making any kind of mistake even small ones. Try to focus on your patient care and charting and not so much about the teacher. I know the more worried about my teacher I am the more mistakes I make.

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Around here LPN students do WAY MORE clinical than RN students. They do the same things too. All I see them not doing is admissions assessments and blood infusions. If you aren't good at clinicals I don't think that'd be a good way to go. We go once per week for nine weeks, lol. The LPNs which are on the wards in the same site we're in go three days per week (8 hrs each), and they're there ALL semester.

The perk of it is that we share the same patient, lol. They sure are quick about getting food trays and diapers too. Kudos to them.

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Well I just spoke to my clinical instructor today...and I quote "If you walked on water for the next few weeks, you still won't average out to satisfactory"...Nice

So...I thought about this....I can't be tredding water, hoping to just "get by"...I do need to build a strong foundation if I want to be a strong nurse.

My instructor did recognize that I'm a hard worker, she said she does always see me practice and knows I do well theory wise...but clincals gets the best out of me and I spin!

I emailed the LVN program director to look at my options. I don't think I should just keep going, stressing myself out to witts end and not really understanding and learning as I should.

This isn't failing, or dropping out...this is just going a different route.

I have to swallow my pride, so to speak..and I really hate that...haha

Thanks for all the tips! I'm going to finish this section through of course, and let you know any updates if anyones interested.

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Change of plans....... I'm fighting this!! Stay tuned......

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Specializes in IMCU.

OK First of all what is this instructor doing to help you improve? From what little you have said he/she is not giving specific feedback. This remark that even if you "walk on water" you won't be satisfactory is not good enough.

Second, are you really going in 2 hours early for clinical? You must stop this. First of all most facilities do not want you there without an instructor.

Third, you sound smart so approach this logically (clearly your instructor is not). Plan your shift. If you are planning it and it still goes nuts rethink how you plan.

I had terrible trouble with time management and used all sorts of ways to fix it. What was frustrating was that in my own industry I was considered highly efficient and productive. I boiled it down to one sheet of paper marked hourly -- 1500, 1600, 1700, etc. I filled in my hourly rounds, vital signs, blood glucose checks, data collection etc. Do your plan at the beginning of your shift before you set eyes on the patient and show it to your instructor. See what she says. She may be able to help you tweak it. Doing a plan this way takes about 3 minutes.

You have the entire clinical time to meet the requirements. Use it. You can do this. I know this sounds terrible but there are some people out there in nursing who are dreadful in all sorts of ways.

I'll see if I can post my plan template.

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