Starting my last semester of nursing school and I'm TERRIFIED!

jemaro67 · Jan 12, 2011

Me too with the last semester! I've freaked out so much! I'll still do it this semester, but hey that's my thing. I'll be freaking out when I graduate! Hooray for the last semester!!!!!

EarthhAngel2013 · Jan 12, 2011

OK, go into your last semester "TERRIFIED" and with the belief that nurses need to be "almost perfect" and routinely have "patient's lives in their hands."
There, is that what you wanted to hear?
Even the very good nurses that I've seen are nowhere near "almost perfect" and there are not all that many cases in which nurses are holding patient's lives in their hand. However, if you feel better with your terror and your false beliefs then, by all means, hold on to them very tightly.
My recommendation, instead, is to relax but whatever.

LMAO sorry but that was one of those "Ok so why don't you just write down what you want me to say and I'll say it. That way we save time, and avoid bickering." LMAO! :yeah:

Now good luck in your last semester, but if you go into it being that sarcastic. you're doomed, just saying! Chill out relax enjoy the ride! and Good Luck!

Moogie · Jan 12, 2011

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NC-RN2011 · Jan 14, 2011

I am also in my final semester of RN program. I graduate on May 7th and can NOT wait until that day. This semester for me is filled with lots of test. We have 1 calculation test, 6 unit test, 1 final exam, 7 ATI test, and 1 exit exam. Any suggestions on how to make the most out of a busy end?

llltapp · Jan 14, 2011

Back to the topic at hand
I'm going into my last semester, and I'm terrified, also.
My doctor put me on anxiolytics and sleepers to help. We have a new clinical instructor who's a trauma nurse, and if we don't come up to her standards she has no problem failing people. Her standards are perfection. The class before me lost 5 people in the last semester.
~Simmy

Dislaimer: I am a nurse practitioner and not a doctor. I don't know your psychiatric history either..... just MHO, if you are needing prescription anxiety medications and sleeping pills to get through school, you may want to rethink your career choice. I am not being mean here, seriously. Stress only gets worse in the nursing field after graduation sometimes :). You'd be amazed at how much talking with others going through the same thing and doing nonmedication interventions help with stress management as much if not more than pills :). Just something to think about as you continue on.

GOOD LUCK!!

nurse simmy · Jan 15, 2011

Dislaimer: I am a nurse practitioner and not a doctor. I don't know your psychiatric history either..... just MHO, if you are needing prescription anxiety medications and sleeping pills to get through school, you may want to rethink your career choice. I am not being mean here, seriously. Stress only gets worse in the nursing field after graduation sometimes :). You'd be amazed at how much talking with others going through the same thing and doing nonmedication interventions help with stress management as much if not more than pills :). Just something to think about as you continue on.
GOOD LUCK!!

Thank you for your concern. I do really appreciate it, I did a lot of soul searching before I took this step. I've always had issues with insomnia, nursing school just lit the fire under me to do something about it. Not getting to sleep until 3 or 4 wasn't a problem when I didn't have to be to work until 2 the next afternoon, but it is a problem when I have to get up by 5 to make it to clinicals.

As for the anxiety, I'm an A student who loves sitting in a classroom and learning. Test anxiety doesn't exist for me. When I took the NCLEX-PN I felt it was the easiest test I've ever taken, finished in 30 minutes and passed the first time. And I've always gotten really good evaluations in clinicals. I love what I do, though I do get nervous being watched by some of the clinical instructors. But I've started having irrational fears of failing that I couldn't control on my own. This new instructor got 5 students expelled for plagerism because, in their group paper, they forgot to put end quotes on a direct quote. This happened a week before they were due to graduate. They were able to appeal and won, but that was a nerve wracking experience for them. And honestly, I'm scared my dream will come crashing down because of an inadvertent mistake.

I have worked in high stress environments before, and I am usually the calm, mellow person that doesn't get upset about anything. So I, and my NP, see this as a temporary issue that will resolve itself on May 21st.

~Simmy

llltapp · Jan 15, 2011

Sounds good. You sound A LOT like me when I was going through school. I have just seen a LOT of nurses, especially ones who work nights and work in high stress areas rely on alcohol, prescription medication, etc. to deal with sleep/wake cycles, stress, and you know..... I am really rooting for you and &^%&&*() on that instructor. She sounds like she needs to find a new career. Fear is the FIRST thing that will kill someone's ability to learn :)