RNEDKAT

I am 55 and currently enrolled in a Master of Science in Nursing Education program. I will be 56 when I graduate, not too old. We still have plenty of years to work ahead of us. I say do it. In a couple years you will be 55 or 56 with a degree, or without.

Its good you are seeking a new doctor. Do you exercise? Is there a massage school near you that you could go for a cheap massage? Sometimes the acupuncture schools and reiki schools are looking for people for students to practice on. Maybe you can find out what the source of the anxiety is and get some cognitive behavioral therapy to help you.

It is perfectly natural to feel completely overwhelmed in your first nursing job. The transition from the safety of the classroom to being a real RN takes a good year. I started as a nurse on a telemetry floor. There were not alot of med-surg patients. After several years, I transitioned to long-term acute care where I worked with vents, wound vacs, very sick people, managing all kinds of lines. I felt like I was a new grad all over again. I stuck it out and I looked up procedures, i watched videos on YouTube, reread my books etc. I am currently working in Staff Development and I run the orientation programs for the new nurses. I am also a MSN student in Nursing Education. I have been in my current position for ten months. It was another huge learning curve. I hope you will be gentle on yourself and stop the negative self-talk. Start a journal and write one thing a day that you accomplished. As far as talking to patients, look around the room. Comment on books, cards, pictures. Have a conversation about the weather, flowers in the room, grandchildren etc. The more you converse with people, it will become part of your routine. I wish you good luck in your position and stick with it.

I am a student in a Master of Science in Nursing Education program. Each semester we add our course syllabus and an example of our work to our portfolio. We maintain our portfolio through Blackboard. There are websites which provide useful templates for this as well. Our professors have told us this is a great employment tool along with our CV.

I like your idea. Concept maps are a very useful learning strategy. One of the LPN schools in Massachusetts is now using concept maps as their main strategy. I may use this focus for my capstone project. Thanks for your ideas.