trytwo

Do it!! One of my biggest regrets is not getting this experience prior to starting nursing school. You'll get comfortable in the hospital and have the "basics"--how to walk a patient safely, change an occupied bed, correctly turn a patient...down so you can focus on the more challenging nursing skills once you get to clinicals. Also, many nurses will make a point of having you help out with nursing skills, etc, if they know you're a nursing student. If you have the time, I highly recommend it!

Yes!! And if I can glance through the prof's notes or PowerPoint slides before the lecture, I feel like I follow the lecture better, too.

I'm currently in clinicals & I feel like I'm very slow--in my assessments, when I do baths & other ADLs, & especially when I give meds. But I also think it's ok to be slow now, I'm still learning & for the most part, it's all so new to me. I've heard that as we get more familiar with everything, we get faster but it's normal (& good) to be slow & really think about what we're doing right now. Also, I agree with what everyone else has said about getting some meds & any other treatment you need. Honestly, you'd be surprised (or not) at how many of my fellow students are taking some kind of antidepressant/anti-anxiety med. Nursing school is stressful & can in some ways bring out the worst in us. But, I really do think that if you can get your mental health taken care of, you can do this. And you may be able to comfort & care for patients in a way some nurses can't--not that you need to share your experiences with anxiety but you may understand what they're going through a little better.

Wow! You are amazing, and very inspiring. That is a good idea, I didn't realize hospitals had such programs. Thank you!

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm looking into some prn PCA jobs, to get some more experience. I appreciate the thoughts and it helps to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Congrats, PVCCHoo on the job!

Thank you! I actually considered getting a PCA job for the experience but I'd have to take time off from school. With a family and full-time school, I'm not sure working in addition to everything is doable. I think at the least I will see if I can take some of my clinical time to follow the PCA to see how he/she does things. I appreciate the insight. I look at the other students in my cohort and everyone else seems to "have it all together" in the hospital. In my head, I know that everyone starts somewhere and struggles at some point but what I see doesn't seem to be the same. I really appreciated the driving analogy, I hadn't thought of nursing in that way and it makes a lot of sense. I think I have a comfort zone that I'd fallen into and nursing school has taken me way far away from that.

Just some background, I'm an older student on my second career, in an accelerated master's program. I'm 1.5 semesters into a 4 semester program. I'm regretting it now but I did not get any long term healthcare experience prior to starting my program. As a result, I feel very inadequate and incompetent. Once in a very rare while, I'll have a good day where I'm on top of everything I need to do for my patient, even if it is just getting water/walking the patient to the bathroom. 99% of the time, however, I feel like a complete moron. I fumble over baths and gown changes, forget parts of my assessments, get the patient (and even myself) tangled up in the lines. And that's basic, "easy" stuff that anyone with 0 training could do. I haven't gotten the opportunity to do the actual nursing skills (even though I'm allowed to) and I'm nervous about when I will. The flip side is I'm doing exceptionally well in the classes part, and it's a tough program. I'm so afraid that I'm "one of those students" who has the brains but none of the common sense that it takes to be a good nurse (or even just an adequate one). It's to the point that I'm really considering quitting school. The thing is, I love people and I love taking care of them. I'm happiest when I'm chatting with them and they're sharing about their lives and opening up to me about how they're feeling, etc. But I feel like all the compassion in the world won't help when there's a patient coding or just needing actual nursing care. I also love the actual nursing part (what little of it I've experienced) but I feel so clumsy, like I'm fumbling most of the time and that feeling of utter incompetence makes me dread clinicals. I understand that without knowing me, it's hard to say if nursing is a good fit. But maybe someone can offer insight into characteristic of nurses they've seen who are good nurses and those who need to stay far away from actual patient care. I'd love to someday be a nurse, but I don't want to do it at the risk of my patients' safety. Thanks!