MaryFutureRN

I feel the same way! Pretty much the same way

i'm a new staff nurse in a surgical oncology unit. I'm still on my preceptorship but much of the workload are already being delegated to me, which means I'll be on my own very soon. My preceptor said I can go on my own now, tho I have to know how to handle emergencies and other precautions and she said she'll help me through it. I've been in my job for 2 months and feel kind of really stressed and anxious every time. My schedules are okay, tho I find it exhausting daily to keep up with the physical demands. I live about 2 hrs away from work so commute kills me and I have to leave earlier in my house bc of the distance of the hospital. I cant rent a dorm near my hospital even tho I want to because I am not financially capable of doing that yet. It's just that I'm in this huge learning curve (I'm only practicing for 2 mos as a new grad nurse) and everyday is a real struggle to me. How can i feel less anxious and stressed daily?When I go to bed after a long day of work, I get anxious for the next day and think about the struggles I'll have the next day. It feels dragging to me. How can i cope with it? Thank you.

Also thanks a lot for all the responses. I wish people didn't argue with each other often tho :/ I cant reply to each and everyone of you. Coincidentally, my manager gave me a couple of weekends night and off even though I never spoke to him about this. I'll enjoy that one for this month :) Thanks a lot and God bless to AN and all our nurses :)

Thank you so much. It is what happened to me this month of my schedule! I didnt ask or tell my manager anything about this (I never requested a thing or two from him) but surprisingly, I got about two Sundays off and night weekends this month of June. Of course, this may change and vary over the next couple of months and I am very accepting of that, but hey at least I have some free Sundays this June!

Hi allnurses :) So I'm currently working in a surgical onco floor as a new grad nurse and my shift begins tomorrow. I just finished a month of didactics and now we will be sent to our units. So my didactics went from 8a-5pm and I had weekends off. That meant I had all the time to attend Church every sunday and have some free time. So I was called as a member of the young women presidency in our ward and also was assigned a teaching assignment for the youth. So I accepted these callings because I have always wanted to do these before. What I am very sad about it is that we start working with shifting schedule this week (just as all us nurses usually do) and ofc, I may not always have the time to go to church and attend to my calling (or teach) every weekend consistently and this makes me sad. I spoke with my bishop about this and he knows I am on a shifting schedule. He said I didnt need to be there all the time. Im just worried I might get schedules that will require me not to attend church for a loooong period and it makes me honestly sad. How did you deal with shifting schedules and Church callings and responsibilities? Thank you so much!

I'll be taking the exam in 2 months and I've been studying for the past 3 months. I'm diligent studying each day with my reviewer and answering at least 100 questions on most days of the week. I use Saunder's and another reviewer for the test questions. I'm not very hardcore on answering questions each day since I'm still reading and brushing up on some concepts in MS (and finishing MS subject too) before going full-blown in test questionnaires. I have answered about 3000 + questions until now since the last 3 months. I have also attended review classes for a month. Now, after getting a brush-up of all the concepts I'm weak about and answering the reviewer questions, I figured I am not meeting the standard level of achievement this reviewer has set on me. (For example: Out of 85 questions, I need about 64 correct in order to meet this standard level of achievement, but I manage to get lower like 60 or 58 ...) Is it just me? I'm getting a bit worried though. Also, my review plan consists of studying a chapter a day from the reviewer (the condensed modules) or two days for a loooong chapter and then answering about 50 questions everytime I finish a chapter. Also, there are days when I answer 100-200 questions just for straight 3-4 hours while studying the rationales and feedback on my wrong answers. Am I doing it right? My exam will be on November by the way. Thanks? And I hope I can get feedback and tips. Should I worry too much about lower scores?

I'll be practicing in the Philippines. Not much of Psych nurses here, although they accept new grads from a mental health facility (working in the gov't). I think I'll still give it a try!

Thank you so much! My professors have been teaching us to go to MS wards first before moving on to a specialty. Been feeling troubled about this since I never liked working in MS (although crit care was so cool).

Thank you! I'm already done with my BSN and just awaiting the licensure exam! >. I'll send in an application to our national mental health facility here after passing. I just don't think I'll enjoy MS.

Hi, I will graduate in 2 months and get my BSN degree. I wonder how I can be a psychiatric nurse and do tertiary hospitals (mental institutions) accept fresh graduates or do you need to take a specialization course or something? I have this notion that you're supposed to work as a general ward nurse first and get all the training before you move on to a specialization? Is it true or can I apply directly to a mental institution as a staff nurse? Thank you!

2 months away from graduation. Just one more clinical shift left and grading period and they're letting us go. Now we're just finishing some clearance requirements and we're almost good to go. I don't really feel like it's too long blah blah. I still have a year to go for review alone for the nursing licensure exam, so I guess this is just another year of study. Time is ticking unbelievably fast and it is making me anxious The unknown after graduation is still unknown to me.

I'm on my last year of nursing school. I'm used to being reprimanded by and then, but I learn from them a lot. I'm always always careful not to harm any patient or be negligent so I've never had issues with that. Just that, my clinical instructor flipped out on me and to the whole group because I failed to do my nurse's notes for one patient. And I had this impression that I do not care for the patient or is lazy or less confident. That was very stupid though in my part. She said she'll ask me to go home immediately if it happens again. Sorry, just really down right now. I'm also the first person who upset her really bad (she just has this reputation for anger issues and excellency at the same time in the ward..) Maybe she'll remember me forever and for the rest of the shift. How do I really stop fuming over this incident? It just grits on my self-esteem (I know its my fault..) and I couldnt help. Thankss.

Anatomy and Physiology is memorization, unfortunately. But don't focus on memorization.. focus on understanding. Be interested (and amazed ) with what you're learning. When you're interested, you understand better. And when you understand, you retain the facts, parts, etc. I suggest writing down words and little notes in a small notebook that you can carry around everywhere. Or maybe put little notes of anatomy stuff as your ipad wallpaper, laptop wallpaper etc. so you can see them everywhere and always retain. (I know this can't be done all the time, but it helps sometimes.) Or when you memorize the names of the muscles or bones, associate the names with another object/word/event/memory so you don't forget. Mnemonics help too. You won't remember everything in A&P after graduating from the class, but when your interest is intact, it wouldn't be too hard to memorize!

Hi, going on my 3rd year BSN program now. What I learned though in nursing school is not only working hard, but working smart. The lecture classes are always bulky in material and always you will have a bulky amount of information to learn. But don't fret, because all you need to do is focus on what the lecturer discussed since they are the most important info you must learn. Quizzes and exams are tricky because they don't focus on rote memorization; you need a lot of common sense (sometimes we forget that we have this, don't we lol) and some analyzing to do. Clinical instructors will be harsh to you, but not all of them. I've met wonderful clinical instructors who teach, correct, and act nice to you, and I've also met CI's who are well...you know what I mean. If you've received a criticism, it's inevitable not to take it personally, but move on and don't do the same mistake again. Hydrate and eat before you go on clinicals. Doing your 6 or 8-hour duty/clinicals in the Delivery Room without food or drink is pure torment (that applies to all clinical setting) What else? Hmm. Don't worry you'll still have your free time! It depends on how you manage your time. I have my free time still, and there are days that I don't, but you'll have at least a day or two in a week for a break :) Nursing school is tough, but think of it it will only last for 2-4 years. Have fun and I hope we all become nurses in the future.

Hi everyone, I know this response is sooo late but I really thank you for helping me out. Reading all your responses comforted me and helped me alot. I feel the love and concern. The semester has just ended and I am so glad my grades are still consistently good and my instructors have not failed me or anything. I hope to be able to maintain this. I was stressed and all, but I'm really glad I was able to surpass allthose troubles. There's more for me out there, more challenges, so I'm bracing up with all your lovely help. I will graduate and I'll be an awesome nurse someday. Thanks a lot!!!!!!

Hello, I only have two more years left until my BSN diploma. It's just...ugh...nursing school is distressing me. All of a sudden, I felt like I wanted to be alone all the time and I've lost energy just to do everything. My self-esteem is extremely low, and clinical instructors being too harsh on me just give extra blows on the littlest self-confidence I could have. I have a clinical instructor right now who I feel is too harsh on me but kinder to my colleagues. I don't know what's up with her, and every encounter with her I palpitate and feel terrible. All of a sudden I am irritated of people around me and how annoying they can be. And I'm losing my patience. I don't know. I'm currently on the dean's list for last semester, which I don't really like because professors tend to put extra pressure on us and you know that extra blow when you fail people and teachers. I don't feel like I can carry on with any task. I feel like a terrible nurse, student, person overall. How do I deal with this?

Hello, I'm on my 5th semester of my BSN program and we're currently assigned on OB and Delivery Room in clinicals. Of course we were severely reprimanded and criticized during our first-time moments blah blah, but I've improved so far. It's just that I feel sometimes I make too many mistakes and it's really making me feel stupid. I mean literally dumb, stupid, and incompetent. I have decent grades in both acads and clinicals, but I always snap whenever I make mistakes. It's not that I've given the wrong drug or catered to the wrong patient or forgot to regulate the IV. Thankfully, I've been careful when doing those stuff. Like today, my clinical instructor was really upset and called me 'high' because I plotted the VS values on the patient's VS sheet wrongly. I drew a wrong line and it ruined the sheet. She was really angry at me that she asked me to leave her sight. I just felt really terrible about that. Ehh, I may be overreacting or being oversensitive or Idk. But how do I deal with low moments like this?

I'm on my second year in nursing school. This is my fourth semester and my 5th clinicals shift. I've taken normal OB/Pedia last semester, and this time I'm taking Pathologic OB, Pedia, and Pharmacology (and some other subjects). It's just...ugh..okay. I did my trick of memorizing and digging into pathophysiology and all those stuff. I can understand them very well, but they keep fading in my memory and I keep forgetting. There are times during clinicals where I forget to do something for the patient because I can't recall the last item on the list of nursing interventions. I'm doing better in clinicals than the my very first one. DR shifts stress me immensely, but I'm doing absolutely better (but not perfect) than the my first shift in it. Pharmacology is stressing me out too. For some reason I feel extremely obliged to memorize the dosages and the specific side effects of each drug. I'm just too overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving Nursing now than before, but my fear of incompetence and stupidity just impedes me. I really wonder whether I'd be as good as my professors (who act like knowledge dispenser machines-you click and the right pops out). I confided this with my clinical instructor before during a one-on-one evaluation and she said I will be as good as her as long as I keep on practicing and studying. Ugh. Just stressed out. Any tips, suggestions? Thank you!

Haha. I do have a life, at least I try to have. I'm on my second year in nursing school and all I can tell you is nursing school is one tough hell. Read your books, listen to the lectures carefully, pass exams, aremember your stuff in clinicals and you're good. But unfortunately, these are not easy. Not easy. My first year was difficult for me because of the adjustment period but I was able to do it. Everytime you study, always imagine yourself talking to a patient and she asking you questions. It helps me to integrate what I learned. Listen to your clinical instructors because they provide you the most practical and applicable knowledge since both of you are working together with a real patient. I have a life because I try to slow down and manage time. Give yourself breaks here and then. Breaks keep you in optimum state. When you're tired, rest. Simple as that. Never procrastinate. Procrastination will be your greatest enemy if you do. You'll have your Sundays or Saturdays as a rest, but still keep up with those quizzes next week!