New Nursing School Blues

Anonymous1257 · Feb 14, 2015

Don't give up, nursing school is designed to cause trmendous anxiety. Studies show nursing students have higher levels of stress than PA and MD students. Do you have test anxiety in general? Or is it just the skills portion? I would recommend practicing the skill in the room or a room similar to the one you will be tested in to get comfortable with the environment. Also, coming from a psych background, go talk to your schools mental health services, see if they can get you an anxiolytic or betablocker or something to help with the test anxiety.

Regardless of what you do to overcome this obstacle, the biggest mistake you can make right now is to give up. Keep at it and find what works for you!

MurseJJ · Feb 14, 2015

It's okay! Trust me many nursing students have felt the way you do, you're not alone. I've worked as a PCA for years, and when I do skills for the first time, my hands shake a little from nerves. After I do it, I'm okay the next time.

One thing that I will mention is that even if you have been doing certain skills all the time at work, it may be best to just forget how you do things at work. I've found that sometimes, we don't do things the "right" way at work, or at least the way the textbook wants you to do it (I think everyone can comment on how "nursing school world" is different from "real nursing world"). When I did fundamentals last semester, I realized this for myself. So, the best thing to do is to go over the procedure for your skills multiple times, watch videos if your school has them (we use Evolve/HESI which has lots of skills videos. You can also use Youtube), and most importantly, practice practice practice. Practice outside of lab time, practice with someone else, and practice at home. When it's time for the skills check, take a deep breath, and don't rush.

Luckyyou, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2015

Studies show nursing students have higher levels of stress than PA and MD students.

Do you have a source for this??

nurse2324 · Feb 14, 2015

Thank you the extra encouragement. I just feel so stupid and embarrassed. I think I am the only student who didn't pass. I obviously get nervous about tests but I was not such a mess until I walked in that door. I was stumbling over my words and hands shaky. I am never like that with patients!

Anonymous1257 · Feb 15, 2015

read it years ago, not able to find the actual study, did google this referencing the same one though:

For Nursing Students

vanilla bean · Feb 15, 2015

I have really bad test anxiety. It's more manageable with written exams, but when I have to demonstrate a skill, it's really bad. For example, during my skills test for trach care and suctioning, I was sweating profusely, hands shaking, mind blank. Oh, did I mention at the time of that test I had been an RT for over 15 years? :wacky:

Luckily for me, that was included in our first round of skills testing, and my take away lesson from that was I had to figure out a way to not psych myself right out of nursing school by botching skills because of my anxiety. I found that repetitive practice (to the point of mind numbing boredom) helped me with future testing because when my mind went blank, I still was able to go through the motions.

Try to rein in the negative self-talk (particularly feeling "stupid"). It will not help, and will in fact harm you. Try to go into testing with a positive attitude and think about how you're going to crush that skill because you're so well prepared. :up:

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Feb 15, 2015

Thank you the extra encouragement. I just feel so stupid and embarrassed. I think I am the only student who didn't pass. I obviously get nervous about tests but I was not such a mess until I walked in that door. I was stumbling over my words and hands shaky. I am never like that with patients!

There are a few lessons to be learned here, some of which may or may not apply to you personally, but that may well find their marks in others reading this.

CNAs are often the students instructors dread having, because they so often (again, maybe not you, but bear with me) are so sure they know how to do what they call "skills" for lab check-off that they don't prepare well, and then they get the yips because they realize they will now be held to a higher standard of practice because now they are supposed to know better. And they try to bull their way through it with some sort of nonsense about "real world" versus "school." They are wrong.

They also often think they know more than their classmates because they can do a raft of CNA chores faster than their classmates who are just learning CNA-level patient handling tasks. They don't.

They think that those CNA-level tasks are the bulk of what it takes to be a nurse at work. They're wrong.

So. The good news is that you learned that you ned to practice in learning lab more before checkoffs, and I doubt you'll have the same experience again. You'll also have the opportunity to spend more time learning rationales (as opposed to routines, which you already have practice in) so you'll be an effective nurse, not a souped-up CNA.

Do not despair. Growth is hard sometimes.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Feb 15, 2015

You are learning. Keep doing the best you can. Giving up when things don't go exactly they way you want it does not build character and you do not want to develop a pattern of quitting things.

You learn from this. Don't quit. Finish what you started. The road is hard, but you get one life to do something awesome. May as well hit it hard.

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Feb 15, 2015

This has happened in every cohort before or since mine that we were all terrified of the skills check off. It is bizarre because at this point, I kind of chuckle to myself about how terrifying it was and how I am more than happy now to do a skills check off. This will be the 1st and hopefully last time that the skills check off will get you. Everyone has to go through it. It's kind of a "paying dues" type of thing. Also, as GrnTea said, shrug off the CNA mentality. Just because you are surrounded by the skills that are fundamental for RN students does not mean you should be expert at doing them in a lab in front of an instructor. You are probably able to do glucose checks at the snap of a finger but, in front of an instructor, that's just stage fright. It's not the same at work. Just keep you head up, practice more in the lab, GET TO KNOW YOUR INSTRUCTORS, and find a way to feel more comfortable. This feeling was similar to giving a presentation in front of the class. It does not attest to your abilities as a CNA or an aspiring RN. You got this. It will click for you soon enough. Good luck!

XNavyCorpsman · Feb 15, 2015

Go to your skills instructor and practice. This will show them that you are not a quitter.

JoseQuinones · Feb 15, 2015

The first time it was my turn to take blood from a real live patient with MRSA (thus necessitating PPE), the charge nurse took me two floors up to the intensive ward, found a brain-dead patient who fit the bill, and had me take the blood from him. With no pressure to get it right the very first time, the procedure went as smooth as silk. I walked away confident that if I could find the vein on this hugely edematous patient while following procedure, I could do it on anyone.