vryeesfeathers

Stephany, I did not get anxious when I was in the simulation labs and I set up today an audit of the skills course at my community college so I would have a refresher since it has been a year since I took that course and I want to ensure the material is fresh. I'm trying to find all the ways I can ensure that I will be successful; failure has never been an option and is alien to me. Like it was mentioned, that patient is my priority so it only matters insofar as I can safely practice.

I'm interested in reading comments from fellow nursing students (or nurses who were injured before/during their nursing education) who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. Hopefully I can network to figure out the best strategies for my deficits. I know they aren't learning and synthesizing the material for written exams but I have practical application issues. I went through my state university program well until the clinical courses began. I even had an A grade in the lecture portion of the course each semester I dropped [2 in a row :-(] but I get EXTREMELY anxious at the hospital and my mind goes blank. I enrolled in my community college's ADN program and will start in the fall 2016 in semester 2/4 with only three clinical courses left to do. In 2010, I sustained a TBI from a 30' fall and almost died. I have the mental capacity to be a nurse as my 3.7+ GPA exhibits but I need to wrestle that performance anxiety monkey off my back. I have volunteered in a clinical capacity a a regional hospital since 2012, worked as a CNA for a few months in 2013, and currently work as an aide for a quadriplegic but it is someone looking over my shoulder and evaluating me and pointing out all of the things I should do better (do a head-to-toe faster, use unfamiliar equipment right the first time) that makes me freeze up. Words of encouragement and strategies to get through the ADN program when I begin during the fall term are what I need. Not only do I have the intelligence to do the work but also the patient perspective and a caring/giving/selfless demeanor that makes for a good nurse. After all, nurses are instruments of care, not just a cog in the wheel of a cure. I'm taking an SSRI, an antianxiety med as of last month, and seeing a psychotherapist specializing in TBI and developmental disorders in hopes that those things will allow me to finish and become an RN. I also see a vocational counselor who specializes with TBI patients (high functioning level) to get advice from and who wants to connect me to nurses who have sustained a TBI during their career. While I am fortunate to simply be alive, I want to contribute to society again in a meaningful capacity and like the motto of the ARMY says, I want to be all I can be. Help me formulate strategies so I can get past my deficits and become an RN so I'm no longer eligible for social security disability insurance income [sSDI](I put in my 40 quarters before I was injured so God saw fit to motivate my family to ensure I have that backing). To restate what I'm wanting in the comments from ya'll: *caring support since I'm a nursing student with emotional trauma from failing to apply my knowledge in my clinical rotations (compounded from a diffuse axonal injury) *your stories of nursing school post TBI *suggestions of strategies I should employ to find success in the practicum portion of clinicals Thank you all for your attention and help! I'm kinda wordy.