Nursing Student Hating Life

[Hargrove86]

I have worked really hard to go back to school and earn another degree...my BSN. Even with my prior degree coursework, I had about a year of prerequisites and finally got into a really great nursing school. My first semester was tough but I did well. This summer I applied to student nursing positions and got a job at a great hospital in no time. I started on the unit and HATED it! The people on the staff were rude, my manager unresponsive, and I felt completely unprepared to be set free with 8 plus patients of my own. We only had 4 clinical days in a senior lont-term care center during our first semester. Maybe I just need more clinical experience, but that experience has me rocked. I wound up hracefully bowing out before orientation was over because I was so unhappy and stressed. I am now back in that hospital for clinicals this semester. I am scared to death. I feel like bedside nursing may not be for me. Maybe nursing isn't for me. Has anyone else felt this way? Like they don't know enough or are going to make a terrible nurse? I always wanted to be an OR nurse, but my professors are telling me it's boring and you lose all your skills. I feel so lost. Other classmates are working all the time in the hospital and going to school and loving it....I am not loving it. Infact, I hate it. Mostly because I have no confidence in myself. Ah road block!

[studentnurse9806]

Yes I feel this way everyday unfortunately. The thought is always on my mind and stressing me out... "What if I am too dumb to be a nurse? How will i every enjoy getting up at 6 am to go to the hospital ?" Honestly, most of the time i have no clue what im doing, and that makes me worried. I definitely know i do not ever want to work in med surg... which is the clinical that has made me hate nursing. Im a senior and do not have a nursing job because i actually wanted to enjoy my summer and not be a CNA or student nurse tech. I just want to get my RN license and hopefully work in OB or psych... not sure yet. I know this is wishful thinking but I am just going to hope for the best and try to get thru this last year. Im planning to do my preceptorship in postpartum , maybe? Any inspiring words anyone ???????? i feel terrible that i feel this way but i cant help it. I am doing good in all my classes so far but I just feel totally unprepared to be a nurse, and i graduate this year. anyone feel this way upon graduation? Does orientation as a new grad prepare you for the job ? I sure hope so..... ughhhhh. needed to vent:confused:

[tamadrummer]

You have to remember as a nurse tech you are not a nurse. You are not responsible for as much stuff as a tech as when you are in your student nurse role. Just do your bedside care/ vitals and get a routine down. It will help you organize yourself as an RN later down the road.

What is it about being a tech that you don't like? Is it the actual patient care?

[Certifiable, BSN, RN]

I understand what you're talking about, I may be getting great grades (in clinicals also) but sometimes it just feels like i'm waiting for someone to jump out from behind a pillar, point a finger and scream for everyone to hear "FAKER"!!!

I'm just hoping that during the preceptorship i'll really gain the proper confidence so I don't feel like such a fake.

I also didn't want to work in the hospital as a student over the summer, they treat you like a dishrag if you're not an RN. I preferred to work as a swimming instructor, making good money and having fun doing it. I also didn't work during the semester in the hospital (i taught swimming instead) because I felt that 8 hours of school/clinicals + 8 hour shift was too much time and would cause me to be burnt out and lose focus.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!

[flyhawkfly]

I've been having the same problem in my clinicals. I always feel like everybody else is more prepared then me, knows more, can manage their time more, etc. Until I really talked to them and learned that everybody feels pretty much the same way-unprepared to take on patients on their own. Several of the nurses at my clinicals told me that nursing school is terrible, and makes everyone feel incompetent. They said once you're out on your own, it gets a lot easier. Also, that while a preceptorship really helps you feel more comfortable before graduation, it takes about a year of working as an RN before you truly feel comfortable with whatever you're doing.

I don't know if that makes your more nervous, or helps to alleviate some of your fears, but just know that you're definitely not the only person that's feeling like this, and eventually it will get better.

[jojo on the radio]

I also heard from nurses that it takes at least a year of working to get comfortable. My instructor says we'll feel lost for two years and that it is completely normal. I feel you though. I'm in my last semester and feel like a complete moron some days. Other days I think I'll be okay. Everyone tells me "just get through nursing school because you'll learn exactly what you need when you get hired in whatever department you're in."

[Hargrove86]

Thanks everyone! Ok, I am so glad that I am not the only one feeling this way. I just expected to love nursing because I feel like it's a profession you need to love in order to be any good at it. And I'm not feeling the love. I feel like I am under the microscope and as someone Elisheval said call me out as a "faker". I got the job this summer but was there less than a month. The stress was just making me hate life. I've always worked with horses and other animals and loved it, so I am thinking of just getting a job I enjoy while I go through school because at least it won't add any more stress. I have my CNA license and feel badly not using it, but right now the thought of spending anymore time doing nursing related activities than required by school just makes me want to die. I am so hoping that it really is something that changes with time!

[A&Ox6, MSN, RN]

I told myself that I was just going to be a student. However, when I was offered a cna job, and had to decline because my certification had expired, I really regretted not working these past two years. However if you know that you probably won't do bedside / hospital Nursing, it might not be that essential to keep your certificate active. I happen to want to do ER or critical care for which the experience on my resume and the hospital afdiliation would have been helpful