PTSD and nursing school

mrsboots87 · Aug 4, 2015

Find out how many peds/ob hours your program has. Some have more than others. Some just have the board require minimum because it's a specialty not heavily tested in for NCLEX.

MY program has 3 OB shifts and 3 Peds shifts. I don't have PTSD or anything besides being a mom myself, but I hate Peds. I went in knowing it wasn't for me. I had a hospitalized child and while the nurses were fantastic and beside a sick child it was an overall good experience. But I know I can't handle sick, injured, or dying children. My first day in Peds was rough. My clinical instructor said I had the worst patient assignment she has ever seen a student get. I won't go into details but it was absolutely terrible. My main patient sent me home crying from clinical. Even some of the people u told about it cried.

I don't say this to scare. My point is actually the positive. It was only 3 shifts. 3 days out of my student time. My emotions were wrecked and it confirmed that I could NEVER be a Peds nurse.

You may not see a dying child in any of your shifts. You may even have a clinical I structor who is understanding and may do their best to give you a "better" patient assignment if possible. But if you can get past just a handful of clinical shifts then you will be on your way to RN and will never have to work I. Those specialties again. If you go home cryin. And emotionally distraught after a rough day then that is sucky. But it won't be everyday. Just enough to pass the program. I can imagine the hardest will be the lectures on complications of newborns.

Valcorie34, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 5, 2015

I don't say this to scare. My point is actually the positive. It was only 3 shifts. 3 days out of my student time.

Three shifts, three days that sounds fairly managable. I think your right lectures will be rough. But it sounds like I could tough that out. Thank you!

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Aug 5, 2015

My first concern is this school you are attending. Is this a commercial, for profit school? Those places are notorious for firing an entire staff and hiring new, and also treating students terribly under the guise of being a tough nursing school. When in all actuality, the program is horrible, NCLEX pass rates are terrible, and they don't have accreditation. I just see red flags there.

I'm very sorry for the loss of your child. I can't imagine. I have PTSD from being sexually assaulted in my early 20's. I'm hyper vigilant about certain things, like always knowing how to get out of a room. To this day I have nightmares. I was stalked for months afterwards and he tried to kill me. I then got into an emotionally and mentally abusive marriage. I do much better now, like you do with day to day living but it's not always easy. Last semester I had Mental Health Nursing. We had to cover the topics of abuse and sexual assault. It was over 2 lecture days and it was hard. I teared up a few times and I could feel my body shaking a little. I don't share that aspect of my life with too many people. My boyfriend knows but only because I still have nightmares from time to time. It's not something I like to talk about. I found though that contributing to the conversation we were having helped me. Instead of being lost in my thoughts and allowing those thoughts to get the best of me, I found I could contribute to the conversation and maybe help some of my classmates understand to be compassionate and what to expect when encountering someone like me. I didn't share a whole lot, many people where talking about abused women and why don't they leave their abusers and such. I felt maybe I could help them understand why women stay and the thought process of someone living in these situations. I hopefully opened some eyes and taught some compassion.

Your situation is different. In my mental health clinical I worked with teenage kids at a facility. I would most certainly sit down with whomever your clinical instructor would be and have a private conversation with them before the rotation. They should be able to assign you patients that won't bring that up for you. There are certain times when a nurse has to trade a patient with another nurse so it doesn't interfere with that patients care.

But with lecture, try and turn it into a positive and don't just sit there and stew in your thoughts. That won't help and you won't hear what the instructor is teaching.

check out your school though. It sounds kind of shady to me.

Nienna Celebrindal · Aug 5, 2015

My school was not 3 days it was 10. Look into your program. My school would have been very supportive of a student like you and given you patients that wouldn't give you triggers.

But I agree with pp. Are you sure you want to go to this program? It must be a for profit school because they can't fire tenure. I know you want to be a nurse but don't go into a bad program.

mrsboots87 · Aug 5, 2015

My school was not 3 days it was 10. Look into your program. My school would have been very supportive of a student like you and given you patients that wouldn't give you triggers.
But I agree with pp. Are you sure you want to go to this program? It must be a for profit school because they can't fire tenure. I know you want to be a nurse but don't go into a bad program.

For every other rotation we get 6-10 shifts in that area. But due to so many programs in my metro area, it is hard to get enough clinical slots for the Peds and OB rotations. So they combined into a semester with med/surg 2 and we got 3 shifts for each of the 3 sections that semester. I think we end up with like 11 total med/surg days (with removing facility orientation), 6 critical care, 6 psych, 3 OB, 3 Peds, and 10 fundamentals in LTC in the beginning. Then of course preceptorship at the end adds like 9 or 10 more shifts in whatever area we get placed in.

I agree with checking with the school because 3 shifts per OB and Peds rotation is a state requirement here, so we just had the minimum for those. But some schools may be afforded more slots and have more clinical time in those areas.

MsCupcakes · Aug 5, 2015

You may want to look at trying to address the PTSD prior to your OB or peds rotation. Although I have very different triggers, I have had good results with a combination of immersion/desensitization therapy and counseling.

I say this because I have seen many good health care professionals experience premature burnout from pushing off or avoiding their issues. You'd be hard pressed to find a job where you won't ever deal with babies or children. Even some LTC facilities have pediatric patients in PVS.

SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP · Aug 6, 2015

Talk to someone at the school before you start I was fortunate enough to get very good clinical instructors and when I had to do a skill they did not have the entire group come in to watch which was something I needed to cope with PTSD. If they know what's going on ahead of time hopefully they'll be able to work with you. Best of luck.

Jules A, MSN · Aug 6, 2015

You may want to look at trying to address the PTSD prior to your OB or peds rotation. Although I have very different triggers, I have had good results with a combination of immersion/desensitization therapy and counseling.
I say this because I have seen many good health care professionals experience premature burnout from pushing off or avoiding their issues. You'd be hard pressed to find a job where you won't ever deal with babies or children. Even some LTC facilities have pediatric patients in PVS.

Excellent advice and my suggestion would be find a skilled therapist who will do EBP therapy not just one who sits around doing talk therapy. Although this will likely be uncomfortable before it gets easier it might have the potential to get you moving toward more healing. Best wishes.

Valcorie34, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 7, 2015

It is a community college and it actually has very high NCLEX pass rates. They are trying to get a BSN program set up also. So the school is decent, but the last staff had some issues. Plus It is the only school in my area. I applied at one 1.5 hrs away (next closest) But I was waitlisted. Here I was accepted. That alone is a big plus. lol

I appreciate your input from the view of having PTSD in nursing school. I am thinking I might just take a wait and see approach about sitting down with instructor. Just get a feel for them, see how it goes.

Also, how did the stress of nursing school affect your PTSD, did the stressors of school kick up your symptoms? Thank you for sharing your story.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Aug 7, 2015

My condolences on your loss.

I didn't have PTSD, but I had a toddler and an infant while in nursing school, and I was wary of doing my pediatric clinicals at the county hospital. While admittedly a great learning experience, I knew I wasn't interested in being a PEDs nurse and really didn't want to experience a lot of child deaths as it was just too close to home at the time. Not everyone felt that way, it was just my own little issue.

I was lucky in that one of the options was to work at Scottish Rite, which is a hospital for children with chronic conditions, many of them ortho related. They were sick, but not injured, abused, or in critical condition. I was lucky to have had that option. My clinical went really well, I enjoyed all of the children and families, and it was over before I knew it.

Good luck. I hope you find a satisfactory experience.

ashrose1992 · Aug 7, 2015

I would just say to be completely honest and up front with that clinical director. Let them know what you told us and you fears and I'm sure they'll have some ideas and help you the best they can. Good luck!