Jen13

Hi! I get really anxious about doing almost anything in clinical, but especially meds and IVs. I also have ADD, and I'm constantly nervous that I'm missing an important detail. I think practicing the skills as much as possible in the lab and at home first in a relaxed, fun but also focused way can help. I also think watching realnurses do it in a clinical setting at least a couple times also helps me to feel less like I'm taking a practical test I'm going to fail and more like I'm learning a new job skill. Having a clinical instructor who is harsh and yells at you can definitely make it worse. I get why they act like that, it is a big responsibility, but that just means that most of us students are already intrinsically motivated to learn and anxious about making mistakes. The better option is to be present, supportive and to provide clear expectations. Of course, you can't always choose your instructor but hopefully you'll get a better one at some point. Until then it might be a good idea to pair off with a classmate and play off of each others strengths and weaknesses. Last advice, fear and anxiety go away with exposure. So even though you might want to avoid administering meds because you feel like you're bad at it or you're going to be criticized. The more you can push through that tendency and seek out experiences administering meds (with help if you don't feel comfortable) the less scary and more natural it will become. (This trick also works for non nursing things like fear of heights or spiders or social anxiety). In the meantime, make sure you're making an effort to be nice to yourself. Make hot tea and tell yourself how awesome you are, all the things you've already accomplished that you didn't know you could, and how you're just getting more and more awesome over time. Good luck!! Another basket case soon to be boss student

My commute time for class is only about 20 minutes (with a toll) so not so bad, but clinicals can send us up to 40 minutes or as little as 5 minutes away. I think it's not so bad since most of your classes are pretty long, it's only a few times a week and it's not even that often for the whole semester depending on clinicals. BUT, you might want to check the range of locations they use for clinicals to make sure they're not sending you an extra hour in the wrong direction. If you can, ask a current student. They tend to give more straightforward answers about how often you might be sent where.

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I'm in an associate's RN program in VA. This program is constantly changing their class and especially clinical schedules usually with less than one week's notice and often from a weekday like Tuesday to a weekend like Saturday. I want to know, is this normal. Do they do the same thing at other schools? they keep saying nurses are "flexible" so we should be too. I knew nurses had to be relatively flexible, but I didn't think it goes this far? i would really appreciate your input! Thanks!