SRNA clinical skills

[jessi78]

hi - i am in the early stages of my front-loaded program - so i know i have a lot of time to worry about this. But i was wondering how everyone felt right before starting their residencies - and how they were at the beginning - as far as clinical skills. Did you all feel confident about intubating, placing blocks, starting central lines/ a-lines - and if not at first - how long did it take before you felt better and were more accurate? As a nurse, my scope of practice has always limited me to peripheral IV lines. Of course, I realize the time will come in the clinical lab when we are taught all of these things and will have more than just ACLS to practice intubation - before ever entering the hospital. But I was just curious how you felt after your clinical lab time, before entering the hospital and after you were into the residency itself. Thanks!

[apaisRN, RN, CRNA]

Sheer terror for several months.

[EmeraldNYL, BSN, RN]

I'm almost a year into my program and I am finally comfortable with intubating and placing a-lines and spinals. I am slowly becoming more comfortable with central lines. I am still not comfortable with blocks and epidurals as I haven't really had a chance to do them yet. Sheer terror for several months is right!! I still miss the odd intubation every now and then and feel like a total idiot if I can't get it-- even if someone else also has trouble after me. This is why we are in school, we are learning, but it still sucks.