Why am I so nervous?!

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I feel so ridiculous, I know that it's 'normal' to feel nervous when you first start clinicals, but I am sooo nervous that I am dreading going to my next clinical day tomorrow. I have been looking forward to clinicals since I was doing pre-reqs. My first day however, did not go as expected. It took forever to get the bed changed, forever to do the bed bath and forever to get my assesment done. I know what to do, I always do well in class and in labs so I don't know why I struggled so much that first day. Did any of you feel this way? Does it get to the point where it feels more 'natural' and not so disorganized? Thanks for letting me vent :)

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Specializes in LTC, SNF, Rehab.

Relax. It will get easier and you will be less nervous. I was terrified on my first clinical day. I've never been a CNA, so I was brand new to all this. We did a CNA skills check off in the lab, but that's NOTHING like working with real people. Thankfully, we were allowed to pair up & help each other, so I made a point to buddy up with a class mate who was a CNA. I learned a lot that way & yes, we were slow and that's ok. We're there to learn. I'd rather be slow than harm a patient. My first semester of clinicals, we had 2 days each week and we were basically CNA's that semester. We did a lot of bed baths, brief changes, position changes, etc. as well as our assessments and interpersonal communication assignments. 2nd Semester, we did short rotations in different clinical areas & were still assigned to just one patient. Third semester, we were in a the same nursing home the entire time, 2 days a week. That is where I learned the most. I loved 3rd semester clinicals. There, we were assigned a task, rather than a specific patient, and we rotated tasks each week. I didn't get to do everything, but I do feel better about performing skills on clients.

It does get easier with practice. Hang in there.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

you are nervous because you do not have full confidence in what you are doing and you may not fully understand the expectations others have for you. The secret is to ask questions, be receptive and be available for anything another classmate or nurse might need help doing. Everything you do is a learning experience. Good luck!

OH! Try keeping a diary of each rotation and jot down the most important things you learned or saw or heard. Then make sure to include what you did right, even it was a small thing. Eventually the small things will add up and you will gain confidence.

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Specializes in L&D.

You will definitely get there! It is a slow process at first but you start to become better at organization as well as doing more than 2 things at once...

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You are not the only one! Ive only had one day at the actual hospital and it sadly made me way less excited. We were doing CNA skills as well and it wasn't all I expected. I had a very dependent patient and the instructor yelled at me for not putting the blanket on facing the correct way saying "DONT YOU MAKE BEDS AT HOME!" Haha.. I just had to learn to not let it bother me and motivate me to do better next time.

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Thanks for all of the encouragement! It is appreciated. I finished my second week today and it was much better! I just decided not to over think everything and just do what I needed to do. I actually had extra time today and was able to help others. It felt great :up:

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