kaseykeller

Some of these posts are pretty sad. If the person only needs medication due to the stress of the job, that's different. But the size of the nursing population is enormous. Nurses are people, and many of them have psychiatric conditions. I take antidepressants and low doses of alprazolam because it's what I need to function like an average person. I was in and out of hospitals since I was a teenager for suicidal ideation/depression/anx/eating disorders (in recovery from eating disorder for 4 years). The meds and regular therapy get me to a place where I CAN function like a normal human being. And while I'm still new-ish, I know that I am (and will continue to be) a very good nurse. My psychiatrist and I talk often about safe doses/meds to take that won't make me impaired. I don't pop 4mg of xanax a shift- I might take .25mg if I'm finding that the anxiety is taking over and making me "freeze". I also reach out often to my coworkers/management. TLDR- just like a nurse with diabetes, nurses with psych conditions need to carefully monitor their health and yes, take safe doses of meds to be healthy. Nothing wrong with it.

Hi- I've been reading the forum for a while now but this is my first post. I'm a nursing student in the summer before my senior year- right now I'm taking my MedSurg II clinical/course. Classes are going fine, I'm receiving A's in the majority of them without too much trouble, but I have had a really difficult time with clinical. I have pretty severe GAD and depression- I've gone on medical leave for that and an eating disorder twice while in college, so I'm graduating a couple years late. I've found that a lot of the technical skills haven't come very quickly to me- I fumble with IV tubing and will shake so badly that I've had to repeat blood sugars. One or two patients have noticed how anxious I get (I try to keep a poker face but the anxiety slips through sometimes) and comment on it. It gets a lot worse if I'm being watched by my clinical instructor. I'll spend my days after clinical and weekends ruminating on all that I've done wrong, how stupid I am and how I'll never be a good nurse because of it. I know that the anxiety is a serious problem and that I may just not learn the skills as quickly as some of my classmates. My clinical instructor said that I was a little behind on the skills portion (there wasn't an opportunity to practice a lot of the skills while on my first rotation in a nursing facility) but that I was catching up and progressing just fine. Patients have mentioned to me that I do a good job. I've gotten a LOT better but I know it interferes with giving the best care. I'm obsessed with the idea that I'm "behind" the other students and that I'll never catch up and will graduate not knowing what I need to know. Have any of you struggled with this in the past? How did you deal with it? Thank you!!