Today after clinical I broke down in Tears!!:(

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jun 5, 2010

with the last post, ya ur probably right i should probably just give up.

My own take on nursing school is if you haven't thought about giving up, you haven't gotten your money's worth.

As far as not knowing the meds you were about to give, the advice about looking them up first is good. I still do that when I give a new one at work, or if I'm not sure why I'm giving it. Some, like metoprolol or dexamethasone, I give every day, so I do have them more or less memorized. But one thing I think doesn't get emphasized in clinicals is that you are more or less expected to screw up. Better to do it while you have an instructor to catch you, then learn from it and move on.

As for Science, it isn't Science, it's just science. It seems imposing, but it isn't. Most nursing math can be done on a paper towel. The science isn't quite that easy, but you don't have to be able to invent a med to give it. A decent background in anatomy and physiology will help you develop the practical knowledge you'll actually use, but you don't really have to be able to recite the Krebb's cycle to know when your pt needs O2. Mastery of organic chemistry won't be nearly as important as common sense. When I'm paging a doc to say my patient's respirations are rapid and shallow, I don't wait to figure out whether they're in respiratory acidosis or metabolic alkylosis or whatever. I describe the symptoms and tell them Respiratory Therapy is on the way. I'm not allowed to draw a blood gas, but I might grab a fingerstick while waiting for the doc. I'm not saying it isn't useful to know what's wrong with your patient. But, a lot of times, the docs won't know what's wrong with your patient until they've done some diagnostic testing. Your main job is going to be recognizing that something is wrong. You do that by assessing thoroughly and checking frequently. You don't save lives by running codes, you save lives by noticing subtle changes long before it gets to a code.

Working as a nurse, I'm sorry to say, is actually harder than nursing school, but it's also a lot more fun, and in some ways less pressure. Lives are at stake, but at least you aren't being graded.

leslie :-D · Jun 5, 2010

Besides, you've made it this far, don't make the rest of the misery that is nursing school go to waste. Just 6 weeks, no matter how burned out and frustrated you are, you can do 6 more weeks.
Nursing school is a miserable experience. It's quite normal to wonder if nursing is really what you want to do. Don't make the decision now when you really can't think clearly about it. Finish the last 6 weeks, then give yourself a few weeks to recover, and THEN decide.

wooh, as usual, you're spot on.

and believesall, the timing of your frustrations, is very relevant.

although my rn program was 3 yrs, it was truly the last 6 wks that i started questioning if i could go any further.

i was so darned tired and burnt out.

snappy, snarly, weepy, and just plain, old miserable.

this is THE time to buck up and plow forward.

besides, i will not accept you picked your username, and not live up to it.

you can do this.:balloons:

leslie

believeallispossible · Jun 5, 2010

Hello everyone. Well I have to say, thank you to everyone that responded to me. I have done some thinking, and I have talked to my family about it and my older brother and sister about it too. First off my brother is an engineer and he said that when he graduated from college, he didn't know everything he learned in college either. He learned on the job training. Actually he said he didn't remem ANYTHING once he graduated. But now that he has like 6 years experience behind his belt, he said he would like to retake all the classes he took, it would have made it easier to take those classes, and those classes would have made MORE sense. When you take college classes, all your thinking is wanting to pass and get a good grade, then head on to the next test. You are right, college is a foundation. My sister said the same thing and she is an accountant. A couple days ago I was feeling very frustrated and down in the dumps, and when I feel that way I do just want to give up and then I say I hate everything about it. But really I don't, I do like caring for my patients and I do like my job as a cNA, most days. As for science, I didn't have the greatest instructor in high school either. Actually he got fired because he didn't teach us. I took chem, and A&P and passed them both, so that should say somethin right? Some people say I may not be cut out to be a nurse but I have made it this far so that should also say something... I have about gave up several times during this, but I haven't. And I've also heard it's pretty normal to feel this way, because nursing school is hell, as so I've read in MANY postings on this website. I have done really well on my past care plans and I have studied really hard also. Yes my medications are a lil iffy right now, but there is always a medication book in handy. And once you get a job you will be familiar with a lot of meds because you are giving them on a regular basis. It will all come naturally...i'm assuming. My interest really isn't hospital setting, my main goal right now is working in a clinic. Once I get a job, I won't be thrown into this without any orientation. I'll get it. So with everyone I have talked to, I am not going to give up because I think I can do this. But it makes me so mad that nursing programs don't allow us to do the things NURSES do. Clinicals isn't really learning. And Also when you only have 5 days on Pediatrics, do think i'm going to know everything in 5 days about Peds?????????!!! no! It just makes me mad...

And Thanks Mom I love U!

CrazierThanYou · Jun 5, 2010

In all honesty, it may be that nursing is not for you. However, what you said originally about the job---that you thought you would be working in a doctor's office taking vitals, doing weights, giving injections---that's what a lot of LPNs do in clinics and offices. While some clinics do hire medical assistants for those jobs, most prefer LPNs.
It isn't a question of "liking" science. It's a question of making science RELEVANT. How do your science courses relate to real-life practice? How do anatomy and physiology help you to understand, say, the changes in the body that might occur due to diabetes? Stroke? Alzheimer's disease? Then---how does a basic understanding of chemistry help you to understand nutrition? The actions of certain drugs? You don't have to love science or have the same sort of knowledge base as, say, a chemist or a biologist to be able to take basic principles and apply them to what you are seeing in your patient population.
I've been an RN for a long time. When I was in high school, I wasn't really into science, either; I preferred the humanities, especially the social sciences, to chemistry and biology. When I started my AD program, I was a bit intimidated over the chemistry but did well. I surprised myself when I found I was fascinated with A & P. But you know, I have taken graduate-level pathophysiology and pharmacology and I STILL have to look things up in the reference books. I can't stuff everything into my brain. I tend to remember the drugs and disease processes that are most relevant to my clinical practice, but if something is unfamiliar, I have to look it up. And I've had to tell students, gosh, I don't know about that, let's look it up together. The more I know about nursing, the more I realize that there is much I DON'T know.
One of the things we did in my AD program----and keep in mind, this was thirty years ago---was we wrote out drug and disease cards each semester for the things that we were learning in the classroom and what we would see in clinicals. Just the process of writing out those cards helped us to retain the information---and we were encouraged to carry those cards to clinicals so we could reference them as needed. Figure out what works for you. Is it a card? Is it a chart? Can you break down complicated information into little pieces so that they don't seem so overwhelming?
Again, as others have said, it may turn out that nursing is not for you. Only you can make that decision and if, after a lot of soul searching, you realize that it isn't anxiety and it isn't that you're not enamored of all your classes, maybe you do need to find something that is a better fit. But that is a decision that only you can make and I would just hate to see you base that decision on a bad experience with one instructor. I also would hate to see you come so far only to quit because people who don't know you are telling you to do so. I think you would regret it terribly if you don't see this through to graduation, though, especially since you are so close to finishing. Get through these last few weeks, get away from the anxiety and take some time off if you can. Then see how you feel.
Please don't just quit because someone tells you to do so. It has to be YOUR decision and should not be done impulsively or in reaction to a tough time in clinicals.

In my area, I honestly don't know of any RN's OR LPN's working at doctor's offices. Here, they hire CNA's and call them nurses. My sister in law just got hired at a clinic and all of a sudden, she is a "nurse".

cmonkey · Jun 6, 2010

I do want a career where I can learn, but as for nursing, every day is different...every day I have to learn something i've never done before, esp as a new grad. I might feel confident one day and then the next day i'm completely unsure of myself. That fact just scares me! Teachers, accountants, marketing majors on the other hand ..... every day is usually is the same, maybe not exact, but learning doesn't change dramatically from one day to another. One day as a nurse I could be taking care of a patient with a fracture. Another day I could be taking care of a patient who recently had a heart attack the night before.... every day is completely different care.
maybe i'm wrong. idk.....

See, that's why I think nursing is awesome. You never know what you're going to see that day. Whee!

If you got a job in a peds office, or any office for that matter, you'd probably see day-in, day-out stuff: flu, colds, pneumonia, physicals, well-child, skin stuff. It sounds like you need regularity with your day-to-day life, so why not look into jobs that will provide them?

Whatever you do, DO NOT QUIT WITH SIX WEEKS LEFT. If you do, I will personally come to your house and beat you with a flounder. You don't have to take the boards if you don't want to, but you cannot just say "to hell with it," and beat feet now. It's okay to be scared. It's not okay to quit.

Breathe. Several times. Have a good cry, a nice cup of tea, and get your butt to your next clinical. You can do this.

Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN · Jun 6, 2010

See, that's why I think nursing is awesome. You never know what you're going to see that day. Whee!
If you got a job in a peds office, or any office for that matter, you'd probably see day-in, day-out stuff: flu, colds, pneumonia, physicals, well-child, skin stuff. It sounds like you need regularity with your day-to-day life, so why not look into jobs that will provide them?
Whatever you do, DO NOT QUIT WITH SIX WEEKS LEFT. If you do, I will personally come to your house and beat you with a flounder. You don't have to take the boards if you don't want to, but you cannot just say "to hell with it," and beat feet now. It's okay to be scared. It's not okay to quit.
Breathe. Several times. Have a good cry, a nice cup of tea, and get your butt to your next clinical. You can do this.

I will go with you.

Don't give up!!!!!!!!!!!!

cmonkey · Jun 6, 2010

I will go with you.
Don't give up!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't you just see us, marching up the front walk with a huge fish in each hand?

Moogie · Jun 6, 2010

In my area, I honestly don't know of any RN's OR LPN's working at doctor's offices. Here, they hire CNA's and call them nurses. My sister in law just got hired at a clinic and all of a sudden, she is a "nurse".

Oh, there have been threads about that. Totally wrong (actually, it's a violation of state nurse practice laws and can be construed as fraud) and it totally irritates those who have worked their butts off to become licensed.

believe'smom · Jun 6, 2010

I am going out of town tomorrow and I plan to stop at a Barnes & Noble and look for a "pocket" med book (and anything else) for Believe to use to get her arsnel ready for this weeks clinicals. Do instructors let you carry and use these? Or do you think she can sneek peeks at it before the instructor starts orally quizzing her about meds, so that she is better prepared? Can you offer suggestions on a name or type of pocketbook I should look for and buy? I ask this because Believe does not have access to a large book store like Barnes & Noble...so I told her I will look for her.

In our rural midwest area LPN's actually work in hospitals and clinics. I don't think they will be phased out anytime soon. I know for most of you, especially in big cities that probably seems hard to imagine. Ohhhh, and I like the flounder idea by the way haha

cmonkey · Jun 6, 2010

I'm a mom, too. I have flounders in the freezer just in case.

Gingilly · Jun 6, 2010

Sign me up for the fish line but i only have talapia in the fridge!

And for Believes mom- Mosbys references where good for me. I carried "Nurses Pocket Drug Guide" by Judith A Barberio. It really does fit in your pocket and has complete info on the 1000 most common meds. If you want to go all out, skyscape.com has excellent drug guides to download to a smart phone. They have a entire nurse suite w/ math, clinical guides, s/s etc for about $250 but if she has nso insurance thats an automatic discount- $167 I believe.

Good luck to Believe. I'm so happy she has gotten so much support here.

Jen

allnurses Guide · Jun 6, 2010

Can't you just see us, marching up the front walk with a huge fish in each hand?

:lol2: yep. . .lol. . . we used to have a funny "trout-smack" smilie. It's gone now, though. Maybe someone thought it was too violent.