Hi everyone. I really need some advice from anyone that can help. I am a second year nursing student with clinical on a very very busy and stressful med surge floor. I try my best and work very hard to provide the best possible care but I am not perfect and sometimes I mess up. My problem is that whenever the smallest thing goes wrong, I cant get over it. I literally obsess abut it and can't sleep for days, sometimes weeks after. I usually go home crying and fell very upset with myself. This is beginning to be a big problem for me and is affecting my life very negatively. Other nursing students tell me that I am too sensitive and should not take things so seriously. I have also been told that it is a good thing that I get upset because it shows that I care about the patients.
My question is how can I stop letting things that go wrong at clinical upset me so much? In other words, how can I not take work home with me?
Sounds like episodes of anxiety with the school being an exacerbating condition....if you have anxiety in general about other areas of your life there is NOTHING wrong with consulting a professional about this. In this day and age no one should have to subject themselves to such mental and physical conditions just so they can say "I don't take medication." Nonsense, if you need meds you should be able to take them, if indeed it is determined they can help you. Anxiety can impair your ability to function and cope with everyday stresses. Eventually you can learn how to cope with anxiety in other ways. Only you know how bad the anxiety has been. There is a help... Just my own personal opinion.
you remind me of myself hun. The key is too learn that sometimes there will be cases that do affect you and that is ok. At the same time, the key to being a mentally healthy nurse is to learn to sperate yourself from your work. As far as screwing up os concerned, take this from a hardcore perfectionist, you will never be perfect, you will always make mistakes, just make sure you are educated enough with your skills that you can make the appropriate decsions for your pt.'s. If med/surg seems difficult for you maybe it is just not the floor for you. Try a lighter paced floor when you start working and see if it will help. When I started working ER I went home almost every night in tears, and would get sick to my stomach when I had to go to work. It takes time, it's harder for some than others, give yourself the benefit of the doubt and learn from your mistakes
I have been a nurse for over 24 years. 19 as an LPN and the remainder as an RN. One thing that I think every nurse experiences at one time or another in her/his career is "nursing burnout". I believe the major cause of this stems from personal inability to set professional and personal boundries. Two books I found helpful to help me become more comfortable with setting boundries and looking at situations more realistically are Telling Yourself TheTruth by William Backus,Marie Chapian and Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. Good Luck.
I had a similar problem but my anxiety was performance based. Since I needed needed relief ASAP (b/c I was screwing up on exams), I asked my MD for a beta blocker. Then, I made an appointment with a counselor. It helped. Meds and talk are not mutually exclusive, guys. There is no shame in taking meds no matter what anyone says.
Also, I do not think SSRI's mask pain, they have the potential to break cycles and barriers. That is all they should be used for but we should not fear them either. Sometimes the paralysis of anxiety (or depression) makes it IMPOSSIBLE to overcome emotional barriers without assisstance. Chronic and severe anxiety is NOT a normal reaction to daily problems. Now, it is your job to figure out if it is chronic and severe AND how you want to deal with.
Sadly, too many people do not understand psych drugs, especially anti-depressants.
I think everyone agrees tho that nursing school is stressful.
Taking an antidepressant in no way means that one doesn't "have to deal," as was so colloquially expressed.
And suggesting that one discuss such medication with a professional is in no way suggesting that one "pop a pill."
What I would like to see from respondents posting such rather, uhm, critical and snarky messages are suggestions for the original person with the query rather than slams on suggestions with which they don't agree.
taking an antidepressant in no way means that one doesn't "have to deal," as was so colloquially expressed.
and suggesting that one discuss such medication with a professional is in no way suggesting that one "pop a pill."
what i would like to see from respondents posting such rather, uhm, critical and snarky messages are suggestions for the original person with the query rather than slams on suggestions with which they don't agree.
sometimes life gets hard. if you want to be successful, you have to work hard. i think i made some good suggestions rather than "pop a pill."
I have found many of the posts to be helpful. Perhaps there is confusion between disagreeing with someone and thinking they aren't being helpful.
I was prescribed Prozac about 10 years ago for headaches. I had no psych history. I ended up involunarily committed to an inpatient psych hospital for suicidal ideation. I had to go thru scads of psych testing afterwards because to get released from the hospital, I had been court ordered to get weekly therapy. The quite in-depth psych testing proved that I had no depression and no psych pathology and that it was the Prozac that caused my terrifying psych hospital stay. This was many years ago when there was zero knowledge about SSRIs and suicide.
Then, a few years ago I was prescribed Paxil for PMS. I ended up hospitalized with serotonin syndrome. Shortly before I was hospitalized with it, I called my doctor complaining that I felt emotionally numb. She said I needed to double my dose. So I did, and ended up hospitalized. Here's some info about serotonin syndrome: http://www.uspharmacist.com/oldformat.asp?url=newlook/files/feat/acf2fa6.htm
I work at a psych hospital. One of our RNs was talking the other day about how when she quit her Paxil which was prescribed for PMS and switched to birth control pills she realized just how masked her emotions were and that she had been numbed to her bad marriage. She's happily divorced now. One of our psychs once confided that he took Prozac during a stressful time and his partner had to clue him in that he was acting disinhibited.
All of this said, I KNOW that these medications are life-saving for many. But for some others they are used as mood brighteners. I felt numbed on Paxil. I'd like to think that the use of these medications is precise, but it's just not. I think they help and save many lives and kill a few. Frankly, I wish only psychiatrists and psych NPs could prescribe psych meds because all these family practice docs are giving them out casually and they just don't recognise their dangers so often. It's really not a black and white issue. So yes, some people are numbed by these meds and "don't have to deal." But I don't think you'll hear many psychiatrists talking about that publically because the last think psych patients need to hear is perceived justification to stop taking their meds. And being honest about the potential problems and downsides of these drugs could dissuade those who are mentally ill from seeking help.
So if one is on a psych med one isn't working hard? Please clarify.
I didn't make that statement, but I have some thoughts regarding the issue. For those with clinical depression, or other psych illnesses, clearly taking meds has nothing to do with 'work hard' or not.
But for *some*(there are many shades of gray here) psych meds are used to not face stress, not work through painful times, etc. That could be perceived as not working hard.
That has no bearing on people like yourself though.
so if one is on a psych med one isn't working hard? please clarify.
no. that's not what i was saying.
suesquatch: i will not indulge in a debate about psych meds as i have been there-done that- worn the shirt- didn't like it! personally, i don't react well with them. i'm not saying that you are not working hard as i didn't say that you are a pill-popper. i think you are taking things a little too personally. i will not debate this with you further. it's not necessary. i gave some suggestions that has worked for me. if it doesn't work for you: it's not my place to judge. but as i said. life is difficult. sometimes we have to work at maintaining our composure so that we don't scare the patients or our coworkers. if psych meds work for you, then good. when i was a student i went to my faculty advisor to make sense of busy medical floors. i work hard to prevent "breakdowns" and "meltdowns". i shouldn't have to justify or argue that working on that is wrong
everyone is entitled to post their opinions. i think that poster has a good point.
postmortRNhere
33 Posts
Sounds like episodes of anxiety with the school being an exacerbating condition....if you have anxiety in general about other areas of your life there is NOTHING wrong with consulting a professional about this. In this day and age no one should have to subject themselves to such mental and physical conditions just so they can say "I don't take medication." Nonsense, if you need meds you should be able to take them, if indeed it is determined they can help you. Anxiety can impair your ability to function and cope with everyday stresses. Eventually you can learn how to cope with anxiety in other ways. Only you know how bad the anxiety has been. There is a help... Just my own personal opinion.