So Frustrated! "think like a nurse"

[glovedgoddess]

Hi to all the other nurses and nursing students out there. I need advice! please!..heres my issue.

I am a 2nd year nursing student at the end of my semester. I had a surgical rotation last semester and a medical rotation this semester. Getting down to the bitter end of 2nd year, I am starting to have a lot of doubts about my skills and my abilites to "think like a nurse" I mean I do really well in school, however I realize that this doesn't mean I'm gonna go out and be the best nurse there is. That's where I'm struggling, I thrive at school and I fall apart at clinical. Critical thinking doesn't always come easy to me and I have a lot of trouble applying my classroom material when I'm actually at the hospital. Half the time I come home in tears. My instructor has never said anything to me, but I am super hard on myself and just want to get it!! (I sometimes feel like I'm somehow staying under the radar and managing to get by without failing clinical, even though I don't feel compotent half the time). And don't even get me started about simulation labs, I had one about a few weeks ago and I froze up and believe it or not couldn't even do a thorough head-to-toe assessment because I was so nervous, with my instructor and 7 other students watching me.

I need to now..this obviously doesn't happen for everyone cause everyone learns differently and at a different pace but is there a time where things will "click"??

[editor2rn]

Thanks for the comments. I have a conference coming up with my instructor,which will give me an opportunity to discuss how I've been feeling these last couple of weeks.

Other than that, I need to stop getting flustered and start using what I know.

[CardioTrans, BSN, RN]

Many students do very well on exams, in the classroom when asked questions. When it comes to clinicals, they freeze.............. I see it everyday with the students that are on our service. With some of them, they have made comments that they don't feel the safety net of the classroom. They are not dealing with simulators, books, or "scenarios" they are dealing with real people. That's what makes them lose their senses. Like someone else said, you have all the pieces of the puzzle in separate boxes.... you just now have to put those pieces together on the table. As for the poster with the clinical instructor........... I 100% agree with the fact that the instructor may see more potential in you than in your fellow classmates, that is why you are pushed so hard. Believe it or not, when you get in the real world of nursing and even when you take boards, that instructor will be your favorite person in the world. Trust me, I have been there, and to this day 17 yrs and 3 degrees later, I still absolutely think she was the BEST instructor that I have ever had.

[niffy1]

To all of you,

Keep the faith. I am an RN with 10 years experience, many of those spent in clinical instruction. There is pressure put upon the instructors to graduate competent nurses; programs are getting shorter and shorter; clinical groups are getting larger and larger; the pressure is on. Hospitals do not want to bear the burden of orienting a new graduate that "doesn't get it". My opinion is that we need to slow down...for the patients and the student nurses. You need time to understand CHF and learn what that patient looks like. You will get to a place in your career when you can sit at the airport and pick out the CHF-ers, the renal patients, and the arthritic patients. It WILL COME. Have patience. The suggestions listed throughout this post are great! Develop a support system; never be afraid to say "I have to look that up". To this day, I look things up. I always will. THAT is critical thinking. The ability to know when you don't know. Also beware of a phenomenon that is close to my heart: horizontal violence. This is the "eating their young" phenomenon. Remember how it feels now so you don't do it as an experienced nurse. Experienced nurses need to nurture and support the new graduates and less experienced nurses.

Keep the faith all. Someday we will be colleagues.

[Nepenthe Sea]

I could have almost written the original post word-for-word...been feeling very incompetent and insecure lately. There are some really good replies on here. As usual, the All Nurses people save the day! Thanks, everybody.