motay68

When they instructors tell you to read the chapters first... DO IT. I think as first years we really don't appreciate how much the instructors hold our hands and help us through. As second years they expect you to act like you are a nurse. If you can make it through, it is extremely rewarding.... But it is an immense amount of work on your part. Also, start practicing NCLEX questions. That will help a lot. Good luck to you!

I can't do medicine for myself. I give myself anxiety over getting addicted to medicine because I'm having anxiety. If you can figure that one out please preach to me Once or twice a month (depending on how much anxiety I'm having) I let myself have a full fledged cry fest over everything I worry about crazy or legit... No restrictions. If a butterfly dies in Japan or an old farmhouse is knocked down in some town I have never heard of I cry and cry and let everything out. Over just being stressed about money or kids, or school, or whatever. It's my pity party and it really helps me. Letting it out instead of just "sucking it up" make makes me feel like I'm validating my feelings without turning neurotic. Also I tell myself it burns extra calories

One of the best lessons I learned in school was from a super intimidating instructor. We were in class and I was picked to give her report on a patient we were getting ready to take care of in sim lab. My role was the new nurse giving report to the older nurse who had no patience for me. I HATED it and she road me really hard during the entire role play. I ended up getting annoyed and sniping at her, which only made her harder on me. The other students actually even spoke up and tried to help me out but my instructor kept on railing on me. I was angry/mortified you name it. I thought she was singling me out because she didn't like me. When we got done with report she said to all of us this will happen to you when you graduate. You will not have an instructor with you anymore that will handle the tough situations. Not every nurse you work with will be happy to have you there. You'll be brand new, insecure, and a hassle for some nurses to deal with. They will treat you badly and they will be disrespectful. What she wanted us to learn (and explained to us as well) was how to deal with it so we didn't end up crying or losing our temper. This semester I had her for clinical and ran into a huge issue with my co-assign. I'm not really one to lose my cool over anything but this nurse and I were ready to kill each other. My instructor took me aside listened to my rant and said now what do you plan to do about this? You have to deal with her for the rest of this clinical and you may work with her later. She guided me through it but left it up to me to handle. My co-assign and I never became friends but we learned how to work together. As much as I still hate that day in class, I have to be honest and say it really did help me out during that clinical.

I honestly started nursing school because it was the quickest amount of money I could make in the shortest amount of time. I'm about to graduate and have learned that I was really meant for this. Not every aspect of nursing is for me but there are so many things I can do with this degree. After knowing what nursing school does to you (thought processes, lack of sleep, financial problems, etc) I don't think you can make it through a program if part of you doesn't REALLY want it. Also, some of us can not handle failure and if we are worried we make excuses so it's not a big deal if we don't make it. Pay attention to you. Keep your head up. Do a great job. Don't worry about the people who are doing a back up plan or a just going to nursing school because they think it's cool. It's less stress on you and that is what matters

It's hard and it always seems impossible but you can get it done. I wrote myself a letter when I found out I got accepted into my nursing program and when I feel like I can't keep up the pace anymore I read it. It's totally possible and if you don't have great time management and priority skills you will learn them very quickly :)

I hear your pain and I understand your struggles. I am a single mother who works full time and I don't have a huge family support system. There have been times where I didn't want to get out of bed, not because I'm lazy but because I'm so tired. But I always did. Mainly because I don't have anymore times for make up labs/clinicals/classes. I pushed forward. If you can handle going another year take the withdrawal. Try again. You learned a lesson already without all of us telling you what you should or should not have done. Best of luck to you. It takes a strong person to go through nursing school whether they decide to go back or not!!

My instructors have been fantastic from the start. I may not have always liked them in the moment but I couldn't have asked for anything better. And one in particular was very quick at making sure I didn't drop on the floor after my adrenaline left from my very first code.

My instructor had a ball with this. I'm very composed and not nervous (on the outside) at clinical but this gave me a deer in the headlights moment. Good Lord!!!! It was a huge toss up as to who was more uncomfortable about the bedroom visit talk. I almost would rather talk to my teenager about it. Also, I will never look at my grandparents in the same way again :)

I'm not sure what the b term is but I'm taking Psych during my 3rd semester and completely underestimated the work load. Nursing this semester takes up almost all of my time and I have to slip Psych into it.. It's doable but usually only in the wee hours of the morning. Wish I would have taken it earlier on. Apparently, non-nursing courses don't understand our need for them to be quick and easy so we can focus on learning how to save lives

During clinical last week I was educating an elderly couple (just shy of 90 elderly couple) about the wife's upcoming pacemaker insertion. Both the husband and wife were very concerned about her activity level once recovered. I kept trying to reassure them the patient's activity level would improve once her heart was beating regularly again. I was not getting through to them and was actually beginning to get frustrated. How many times can you say the same things different ways right?? Finally, the husband says to me what about bedroom visits? I repeated his question because honestly I was confused about bedroom visits. They will both be celebrating their 90th birthdays within a year and a half. I assumed that "THAT" aspect of their life wasn't a concern as much anymore... After a very awkward explanation I can honestly say the old saying about when you assume you make an a## out of u and me is completely correct. Who knew that was possible? And I officially have a new goal for when I hit 85 +

I'm doing it. It's totally possible Keep your eyes on the prize!!! When the day(s) come that you feel like throwing in the towel because it seems impossible, your exhausted and you don't want to keep it up, read this post. Remember why you are doing this. It's not impossible just hard. But everything worth it is. Good luck!!

Benadryl and a glass of wine... But only on the rare occasion I don't have to get up for work or school. Otherwise, who has time to sleep??

Nursing school will rank up there with one of the hardest things I have ever done. I have realized I was meant to be a nurse but I wouldn't put myself willingly through school again... With that said when I graduate in May with my RN I will roll it over because I know myself well enough to know I won't go back. I think it's more of a personal decision. If you are they type of person that will go back after a break go for it. You've earned it. If you know you'll be happy enough with what you have and will not, that's fine too.

When I first read your post I thought you must be kidding that is rude..... HOWEVER... I can't sit still. My lectures are two and a half hours long. I have ADD and can not sit and be still while avidly taking notes. Medicine makes me crazy so I sit at least two seats away from my other students and I fidget. My legs bounce, they cross and uncross, I play with my hair, name it.. I can't help it. I am very conscious of how distracting I am though. If someone where knitting/playing games/texting/fidgeting by me I would want to scream. I do actually forewarn people who sit near me how distracting I am and my instructors are all aware. Personally, I feel knitting is a huge distractor but I'm also sure the people sitting behind me are drawn to the constant fidgeting I do. Talk with your instructor. See if she has any suggestions. And stay way from other classmates if possible. People who need to "do" something to focus on a lecture shouldn't be ignored but we shouldn't impact others around us either.

Thank you guys. It's hard to explain what a huge moment that was to others. It was definitely one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. Until this point I've been focused on learning as much technical things as I can before I graduate. I have listened repeatedly to my instructors say but what about the patient and have you talked to them. They also said you'll have a moment that will make you understand why you put yourself though all of this. They were absolutely right. It will go down in my history as the moment I realized becoming a nurse isn't something I do, it is part of who I am.

I was assigned a patient tonight in clinical that was getting prepared for emergency surgery. He was in extreme pain and his nurse gave him dilaudid for the first time. I was asked to stay with him while she called the doctor to update him on the status of the patient's condition. He was panting and shaking and kept repeating "I can't breathe." I started out by trying to reassure him that he was breathing and his O2 stats were perfect. But no change in his condition. I was frustrated (not with him) because I felt like there was nothing I could do to make him feel better and wondered what in the world would convince the nurse to leave me alone with him???? So, out of desperation I sat on the side of his bed, grabbed his hands, made sure he looked in my eyes and had him breathe in and out with me and tried to keep the both of us from panicking (To be honest I needed the breathing as much as he did ). He calmed almost immediately. He squeezed my hands and said simply thank you. He asked me to stay with him until his family got there...... And then it hit me.... He was scared. He was alone. He thought he might be dying. I only held his hand but I helped him feel less afraid. I helped the person, not the assignment. I made a difference. I felt like a nurse. It was amazing

I was getting ready to straight cath a patient with a clinical instructor I had never been to clinical with before. After I set up the sterile field she told me I handled keeping sterile like a pro. As I was giving my witty reply, I caught the edge of the pad and dumped my entire STERILE field onto the ground. I was thankful the patient wasn't aware (again geri patients) but my instructor still busts me about it.

I had a nurse like you last semester. With the permission of my instructor, I did nothing but follow her around for two full clinicals. I helped or watched everything she did from calling doctors to charting to deciding what task had the highest priority. I got to see a ton of things I really wanted to (the procedures for hanging blood, actually dealing with hospice patients/family members, managing a full patient load, etc) and I got a fantastic preview of what nursing really is. Not just the one patient you get to take care of under the watchful eye of an instructor. I went home exhausted and feeling accomplished. After being frustrated with me in the beginning because I was camped out in the break room, she really taught me a valuable lesson about how far a nurse will help/teach a student who wants to learn. It turned out to be a blast. Especially when she had the patients quizzing me on why I was giving them meds, re-positioning them, or even asking me to explain why they were staying in the hospital to begin with. Can't wait to do it again this semester.

When I was studying for peds (It was the bane of my 2nd semester existence) I made up flash cards. But instead of putting a problem/vital/blood value on the front of the card and the answer on the back, I made up my own nursing type question. For example, the front of the card would read a severely malnourished looking 14yo female presents to the ER with blisters on her fingers that are becoming infected. Her teeth are showing signs of erosion. Upon the physical exam she complains of abd pain and palpatations.... On the back of the card it would say bulimia It wasn't a perfect NCLEX question but the flashcards really helped me think of situations and not definitions. Also, when I studied with friends it helped all of us together. I study for all of my nursing tests like that now. It helped set my mindset change from only memorizing definitions to beginning to look at the symptoms/lab values/vitals and trying to tie them together

I loved micro but I also spent a lot of time on it. I took tons of notes in class, then i went home and wrote it down on the power points and read through them everyday. When the test was coming up I rewrote all of my power points out again and went over them like crazy. My teacher tested solely off of his power points and stories to go along with what he was teaching. I never once needed the book BUT the study guide saved me in the lab section

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I talked with my adviser today about everything going on. Even though the instructors and staff can not make life as a student nurse any easier for me, they did make provisions like being able to carry my cell phone on me during clinical in case of an emergency and offering a shoulder if I needed one. It's a very nice feeling knowing when your family is going through a really difficult time your school family is more then willing to be there if you need them. I will finish this year of school. I will become an RN and hopefully my gram can be there to see it. But if not she can look down and be proud of what she has inspired me to become.

Use guys r making me lolz b/c finna is a mute point anywayz... Their is know need to correct all y'alls speak b/c it culd hurt ppl n make ppl feel dum

A family member of mine got diagnosed with cancer two weeks before my second year started. She is beginning to accept that she will not recover and is (heroically, I think) starting to put her affairs in order. It's very hard watching her go through this. School has just begun and I'm very worried about being able to manage both. On one hand having school as a distraction from what is going on is good. On the other one I'm losing someone I love very much and I want to be there for her. Have any of you gone through this during school? If so, how did you deal with both? Taking a year off isn't an option for me. If I stop now, I won't go back. Also, if by any chance my family member could make it through the year, I know it would make her so happy to see me graduate before she is gone.

Stress in nursing school is crazy!! My PCP told me to try meditation but I couldn't do it without falling asleep. Walking will help. Physical activity is a great way to relieve the pressure and anxiety. Also every day to and from school I blare my radio and pretend I'm a rock star. Get together with other students and have a b#tch session. Seriously, who better to complain with then the people that are going through it with you? There is really no way to eliminate the stress and you probably don't have time to take an entire day to do things that mellow you out. Just steal tiny minutes to relax. The semesters go so fast you won't know what to do with yourself once you have time to sit down and do nothing.

Let me start out by saying I'm not bashing my instructor or the RN on my clinical rotation. It was just an aha moment for me. At my clinical last week my instructor spent a lot of time in the conference room with all of us prepping for the finals coming up. Mainly because all of us in our program are paranoid and obsessing over them. When I went to check on my patient the nurse in charge of my patient asked me whey we weren't out on the floor doing something.... At first I took offense because it's not like we weren't doing anything and at our school the instructor/student relationship is close because we spend more time together then most of us get with our family. And also now that most of us are starting to think more like a nurse we love to endlessly discuss how smart we're becoming But then the nurse said "Listen, when you graduate what are you going to do? Be really glad you prepared for finals or be friggen grateful your ass was out here on the floor gaining the skills you are going to need to be a nurse? It's not all passing meds and having post conferences you know." It got me thinking that in another year I will not have an instructor sitting with me and coaching every single thing I do. Or asking me if I feel okay and guiding me when I'm feeling flustered. Also, HOLY CRAP *** am I supposed to do with no one watching over everything I do? So I talked with my instructor (who told me finding a nurse who was willing to have an SN follow them around and explaining everything for an entire shift was a miracle) and from now until the end of my semester I'm going to stick to my co-assignment nurse like glue. If I'm giving meds or doing anything invasive of course I'll have my instructor present but I think it is really starting to hit home the reality of the career I've chose. I don't want to begin my career wishing i spent less time discussing everything I should have been doing in the first place. Sometimes I feel like going through nursing school is like going through puberty a second time