Need advice

[sisrn1]

Hi all. New to the forum. I am so glad I chose nursing. I love it. One thing that is really embarrassing however is that when I am new at learning something my hands shake. For example when learning to put in IV or drawing blood. Now that's nice for the patient to see!! Also while assisting the doctor my hands tremble when doing fine motor tasks. When I ask what I can be doing better they say "stop shaking so much". Can I get fired for this??

Is there some way I can control this?? I don't drink coffee anymore and this doesn't seem to help.

Any suggestions?

[Halinja, BSN, RN]

Hi all. New to the forum. I am so glad I chose nursing. I love it. One thing that is really embarrassing however is that when I am new at learning something my hands shake. For example when learning to put in IV or drawing blood. Now that's nice for the patient to see!! Also while assisting the doctor my hands tremble when doing fine motor tasks. When I ask what I can be doing better they say "stop shaking so much". Can I get fired for this??

Is there some way I can control this?? I don't drink coffee anymore and this doesn't seem to help.

Any suggestions?

I have the same problem. But it is on the 'new' tasks, or when I'm nervous around an authority figure. I kind of assumed that as I got more skilled, more practiced, the shaking would go away. I don't shake when I take a splinter from a child's finger, I don't shake when I'm drawing.

Give yourself some time, see what happens. Someday you're going to turn around and realize its been months since your hands shook, and you won't even have noticed.

[augigi, CNS]

I've always had shaky hands, and I just make a joke of it and say "Gee, it's lucky I'm not a brain surgeon!". Of course you can't be fired for it!!! It's a sad day when someone even has to ask that! It does get worse when it's an unfamiliar procedure with someone hanging over you though! I also make sure that I splint my arm eg. if I'm drawing blood, I make sure that my elbow is resting on something and find this makes most of the shakes go away. The worst is when someone else is holding a needle (eg. doc who is sterile for a procedure) and I am holding the vial for them to draw out of!!

[rose1135]

I am so glad I stumbled on this post.. I too suffer from shaky hands!! It is worse when I am nervous, or learning a new task, but it is always there. Patients sometime ask how long I have been a nurse, and I just make light and try to find humor in the situation. I am just glad to know that I am not the only one.. Once again I LOVE this website, and all my fellow nurses.