Entepe

Hello fellow nurses/nursing students; I could definitely use some suggestions, insights, thoughts, whatever anyone has to offer at this point of my nursing student career. I am at the tail end of my third year of nursing school in a university nursing program, and I am currently in my clinical posting. I am 44 years of age. My clinical tutor has pointed out to me that I am probably going to fail the course. There are several components to the marking guide: we need to pass a med-math exam, where I got 98%, we need to pass an OSCE which is a head-to-toe assessment on a patient, which I did very well in, we have clinical reflective papers to hand in, all of which have been good, patient research to hand every time we get a new patient; usually two or three a week. The research usually ends up being about 10-15 pages in length. We are also expected to do post-conference presentations which I have done and received good feedback. The patients, nursing staff, and my peers have all given me really good feedback, and really like me. My tutor's criticism of me is that I apparently lack knowledge-base, and she pointed out to me that "she can't put her finger on it, yet she's seeing some serious gaps in the clinical area which are of serious concern"....enough to fail me. Yet, she is unable to point out specific examples. I have made some errors, not thinking errors, which are definitely not good, yet on consulting with my peers, any one of them could have done the same thing. I am scheduled to see the nursing coordinator today to discuss what my "options" are since I will probably fail the course. My clinical instructor doesn't even think I should be a nurse as she said "I'm not assertive enough." To be honest, I am a very right-brained person, and excel in social sciences and the arts, yet also have a passion for health and healing, hence my decision to go into nursing. I am considering whether I should drop nursing altogether, as it seems as though every clinical, I get picked on for reasons which are foreign to me. I have gotten feedback from friends, colleagues, peers, that I should definitely not drop nursing as they see so much potential. I realize only I can make this decision, yet I am so incredibly discouraged at this point. My intention is to go into psyche and/or community nursing if and when I graduate. Anyways, given what I've pointed out, what would you folks out there do? I'm curious to know, and welcome experiences or insights, success stories, etc!!! Thanks. Entepe

Hello and thank-you so much! I love this website! I've told quite a few of my colleagues about it, and they have been very appreciative! SMK1, your knowledge base is amazing. I aspire to have all of that patho info ingrained in my head, so I can rattle off what you wrote without having to look in my texts! There's so much to know, that's what I love about nursing, yet that's also what I find overwhelming at times. Daytonite-thanks so much! you're always so quick to respond and also have so much knowledge! This is so much appreciated, and admirable! Cheers fellow nurses and have a wonderful day! Entepe

Hi; Does anyone know of a good website/resource to find specific laboratory values which are correlated to specific types of pathophysiology? In other words, if a patient has a diagnosis of CHF, diabetes mellitus type II, and renal insufficiency, which lab values would be crucial to look at and assess. Or, if someone has pulmonary patho. going on, which specific values would be important, and why. There's lots of info on lab values, ranges, what is happening if the values are out of range, yet I need to know what specifically to look for, why, and how these values relate to the disease process going on in a patient.??? Any assistance with resources would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks! Entepe

Thanks for the response! Cheers and have a great day!

Hello folks! I am a student nurse presently doing my psychiatric nursing rotation, and am finding that I really like it. Is there as much demand for Psych nurses as there are in other nursing specialties in the U.S.? In Canada? Some nurses have suggested that after I graduate from nursing, I should do a couple of years in medicine or med-surg so I don't lose my skills, before I go into psych. Any comments or opinions? Also, does anyone know if there is a demand for psyche nurses internationally? Do psych. nurses get paid the same as other nurses? Thanks all for answering and expressing your opinions and insights! Entepe