student confidence

[marsbar37, BSN, RN]

i'm a second degree nursing student with one semester go for a BSN. For the past 8 years i have worked as clerk on a med/surg floor. I am so thankful i've had this job as it has encouraged me to be a nurse. However i have had some trouble in school with my grades and clinical skiils. I was allowed to practice taking blood pressures on my nursing friends at work but recently someone told me they heard that a nurse told them that that I was doing terrible in school and that i couldnt even do a blood pressure. Well needless to say i feel terrible because does this mean i now will have a reputation an an incompetent person at my hospital? I wanted to do my preceptorship/CAP hours here but i think i have to think twice

[FutureNurseInfo]

Hey, sorry to hear about your troubles in school. Listen, you almost did it, all you have is one more semester to go! if you have gone through so much at your school, do not let anyone or anything to derail you from the path to graduate and finally work as a nurse. There will always be people that will talk trash about you! Who cares? Just move on and do your best to finish the last semester with flying colors.

[Mama&Nurse]

I am sorry to hear this! I think as an almost graduate from nursing school, you're going to struggle with confidence, just because you're at the point where you are figuring out there's so much left to learn but you're almost done being a student. I'm in role transition right now and am pretty freaked out that the next time I'm on the floor, I'll be an RN. However, I will say role transition is where it finally all started to come together for me & make sense. I don't really have advice, just offering comfort (hopefully) in the fact that you aren't alone. I make sure I ask a ton of questions and practice as much as I can--whether it's blood pressures, assessments, or anything else.

As for doing your preceptorship there, maybe it would be a good idea to try another place, if for no other reason than to experience a different facility. Each hospital has it's own "vibe" and they all do things in different ways--it may be good for you to experience something different. Then if you still want to go back to your floor, you will hopefully be returning more confident and capable than ever before.