Nursing Student

[Stacey2010]

HI All! I'm currently a nursing student and I'm really excited about graduating and becoming a nurse. However I'm so nervous. When I see the nurses from work and clinical stressing out and running around administer medications I can barely pronounce or spell..I think to myself am I really gonna be able to handle on the responsibilities nurse have. I get so overwhelmed with acutely-ill patients that I lose all my confidence. I feel like I'm always forgetting something and can never look at the WHOLE picture. WHen my instructor tells me stories about mistakes new grads make, I think to myself honestly I would probably make that mistake too! Am I just over thinking this?! How long after becoming a nurse did you feel confident in your skills?

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Thread moved for more response.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

It sounds like you're early in school. The answer is that you'll work up to that level. You're not generally going to be expected to do that right away. I'm only a few months away from graduating. I'm still learning better ways to manage my time. I've learned a lot about many of the medications I'll end up giving to my patients... but that didn't happen overnight. One thing that we're very much encouraged to do is keep our "brain" up to date constantly. I pretty much live by my "brain." There certainly are skills that I haven't learned yet. Those that I'm confident in, took me a while to be come very comfortable with. I also have no illusions that as a new grad, I'll have to have more training for the specific unit that I'll work in. I figure that it'll probably take me the better part of a year after I'm turned loose off orientation to start becoming comfortable as a nurse and another 2 years to start getting truly good at nursing...

Don't worry too much. It's normal to be a bit overwhelmed at first with doing anything new like this.

[LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN]

Benner's Theory says it will be a long time before a new grade becomes competent. We are in some version of "Beginner" for years.

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

I say this to every student that expresses this... You are Never Alone!! If a code happens, the others will come to help you. If you have a lot to do all at once and are struggling, ask for help! In nursing school, they tell you about asking for someone to go with you if you are uncertain. In real life, if you are struggling, the other nurses and techs and CNAs will absolutely come to help you. They want the patients to be safe and cared for, too. Let me say it again just for the soothing effect..... You. Are. Never. Alone. ****HUGS****

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Try to remember what it was like when you learned to drive. The year before getting your learner's permit was the loooonnnnngggggessstttt year of your LIFE. Then you sat in the classes and couldn't wait to get behind the wheel.

And it was harder than it looked when you were watching your mom drive you around. All those things to remember! All those things to observe! You couldn't have the radio on because it decreased your concentration just enough to make you even more nervous. You ground the gears, and the tires squealed when you jammed on the brakes parking in the lot. When your mom, riding shotgun, yelled, "Stop!" when you didn't see the guy in front of you didn't have functioning brake lights, she scared the bejaysus out of you and made you mad at the same time.

When the big State Police guy took you out for your driver's test, you were shaking in your boots. But you know what? You passed. You couldn't believe it, couldn't believe you had that thing in your wallet, because still when your mom handed you the keys it was scary. The first time -- and the second, and the fifth-- you drove the interstate into the city by yourself you thought you were gonna die. But you didn't. It got better.

And now.... flash forward mumblemumble years. You buckle up and back down the driveway, drive with three kids yakking in the back seat, listening to Terri Gross on NPR, aware of every damn fool on the road, and you haven't had a problem with parallel parking since the Reagan administration. While drinking your morning iced coffee. And planning your grocery list. And you remember to get gas.

See?

You can do this. You're just ... new.

[LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN]

Try to remember what it was like when you learned to drive. The year before getting your learner's permit was the loooonnnnngggggessstttt year of your LIFE. Then you sat in the classes and couldn't wait to get behind the wheel.

And it was harder than it looked when you were watching your mom drive you around. All those things to remember! All those things to observe! You couldn't have the radio on because it decreased your concentration just enough to make you even more nervous. You ground the gears, and the tires squealed when you jammed on the brakes parking in the lot. When your mom, riding shotgun, yelled, "Stop!" when you didn't see the guy in front of you didn't have functioning brake lights, she scared the bejaysus out of you and made you mad at the same time.

When the big State Police guy took you out for your driver's test, you were shaking in your boots. But you know what? You passed. You couldn't believe it, couldn't believe you had that thing in your wallet, because still when your mom handed you the keys it was scary. The first time -- and the second, and the fifth-- you drove the interstate into the city by yourself you thought you were gonna die. But you didn't. It got better.

And now.... flash forward mumblemumble years. You buckle up and back down the driveway, drive with three kids yakking in the back seat, listening to Terri Gross on NPR, aware of every damn fool on the road, and you haven't had a problem with parallel parking since the Reagan administration. While drinking your morning iced coffee. And planning your grocery list. And you remember to get gas.

See?

You can do this. You're just ... new.

Love...... Love...... LOVE this analogy..........