Scared to death

[atucker86]

I am scared to death to go to my pediatric clinical (I only have to go 5, 8 hour shifts and I have already done 2). Every day I am there I think I am going to be failed out of the program, I think it's the instructor I have (she is known for failing people), I feel like I do everything to try to prepare and stay strong but I still feel like at any moment she she going to walk up to me and say "your out!"

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

So how are you going to handle this?

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

A little anxiety is a good thing-- on a strictly physiological basis it makes your eyes focus better, your hearing is more acute, your liver pumps out extra glucagon to support your muscles in case you have to run away from the tiger, your heat pumps more blood to support the activity, and the brain gets extra energy to think and react. All useful and good things to have inherited from our remote ancestors.

Your instructor has no intention of meeting some sort of quota of students scared half to death or flunking them out. She wants to have you maximize the value of the time you have in clinical to learn, experience, and consider. She is acutely aware of how much there is for you to learn, and the pressure is on her, too, to see that you do.

Therefore she is really on your side. You have no particular reason to be in fear, and every reason to dial it back a bit to maximize your ability to learn and succeed, which is what she wants of you. What is your plan to do that?

That said, if your anxiety is truly paralyzing and affecting other areas of your life, go to the student health center and ask for the help they can give you. They see this all the time; breaking this cycle of fear-paralysis-fear of paralysis is best done sooner rather than later. Let us know what you decide and how it works for you! You are definitely not alone in these feelings. But you can overcome them.