Trainee Nurse - scary emotional placement

[Little Flower]

Hi everyone, my name is Marie and i'm 32. i'm currently studying for my degree in nursing and am on placement for 2 months at the cancer centre in what was my local hospital.

I'm finding it a really great place to work and i love the fact that i am nursing people at a time when i can really make a difference - even if i can just offer comfort to them in their awful situation.

The trouble is, even though i was expecting this to be a really tough placement emotionally, i hadn't realised just how hard it was going to be. there are days when i just dont think i can cope.

Its a difficult situation, as i am married to a soldier and we have just been posted 100 miles away from home, yet i still have to carry on my studies so i stay away from home whilst i am at work. this makes it very difficult to find anyone to talk to after i have had a particularly awful shift, as i dont want to spoil my phone calls home

Sorry for my little outpouring, it feels good just to write this all down

 

[mommasita]

Hi Marie.

What a fabulous thing you are doing. I remember 10 years back going with my MIL through this awful ordeal. The nurses, assistants, volunteers, each and every one held such a special place for us. I don't think you honestly know exactly how much you do...So thank you for that

Please feel free here to release, vent, chat, cheer, anything you feel like, at any time..

 

[minkydog]

You might also want to check out allnurses.com. They have BBs for student nurses, specialty boards for oncology (and others), general nursing boards and even some nursing humor(kind of dark, but sometimes you have to laugh or you'll just burst out crying.)

I think what you're going through is pretty normal. I've been a nurse 34 years but i still remember how hard it was in nursing school. My particular Waterloo was psychiatric nursing. We did our rotation at East Mississippi State hospital, at the time one of the worst. It was just a scary, scary place and I had a hard time adjusting. Thankfully, I had a good instructor to go to with my fears and concerns. You reallly can't talk to non-nursing people about this stuff--they just don't understand. Be sure you are taking care of yourself, eating right, sleeping well, getting exercise. It's easy to become consumed with caregiving, but it's not good for you.

Please be careful what you say outside your place of work. HIPAA is in place to protect us all from people having knowlege of our medical information and you don't want to run afoul of the law. It's okay to discuss your patient with the patient's nurse or your instructors, but not with your mom, your BFF, other staff members, or on bulletin boards. Nurses have been fired from their jobs for things they posted on Facebook. Just wanted to give you that heads up...

 

[Little Flower]

You might also want to check out allnurses.com. They have BBs for student nurses, specialty boards for oncology (and others), general nursing boards and even some nursing humor(kind of dark, but sometimes you have to laugh or you'll just burst out crying.)

I think what you're going through is pretty normal. I've been a nurse 34 years but i still remember how hard it was in nursing school. My particular Waterloo was psychiatric nursing. We did our rotation at East Mississippi State hospital, at the time one of the worst. It was just a scary, scary place and I had a hard time adjusting. Thankfully, I had a good instructor to go to with my fears and concerns. You reallly can't talk to non-nursing people about this stuff--they just don't understand. Be sure you are taking care of yourself, eating right, sleeping well, getting exercise. It's easy to become consumed with caregiving, but it's not good for you.

Please be careful what you say outside your place of work. HIPAA is in place to protect us all from people having knowlege of our medical information and you don't want to run afoul of the law. It's okay to discuss your patient with the patient's nurse or your instructors, but not with your mom, your BFF, other staff members, or on bulletin boards. Nurses have been fired from their jobs for things they posted on Facebook. Just wanted to give you that heads up...

Thanks for the heads up we've been warned about non nursing related things on places like facebook as well, drunken photos, bad language etc. i'd hate to imagine loosing my license before i've even got it, just for some stupidity on the internet.

I'm quite lucky in my mentor, shes been a fantastic support, and it seems little by little i'm getting over my fear hurdles. things that i was terrified of i am now beginning to take in my stride, i even had a bit of a milestone this week! after almost fainting during my first wound dressing, where i was assisting, i did my first dressing on my own!! i know it sounds like such a small thing, but i felt so "nursey" and was so proud of myself

I've actually had a great week this week. i've had to stay at my parents for the week which is a bit rough, simply as i'm not able to see my husband as he's too far away. I'm going to take advantage of this long weekend as i'm not back at work until tuesday so am going to have a well deserved rest

 

[minkydog]

I'm quite lucky in my mentor, shes been a fantastic support, and it seems little by little i'm getting over my fear hurdles. things that i was terrified of i am now beginning to take in my stride, i even had a bit of a milestone this week! after almost fainting during my first wound dressing, where i was assisting, i did my first dressing on my own!! i know it sounds like such a small thing, but i felt so "nursey" and was so proud of myself

Well, see? You can do it. After 34 yrs there isn't much that can surprise me, make me queasy, or feel faint but I have to admit I've had my share of fainty moments. My first two attempts at IM injections nearly deep-sixed my nursing career. Got the third attempt right and promptly fainted at the guy's bedside. I woke up in the other bed in his semi-private room. And the night I delivered a baby in the backseat of a car on a frigid December night--yeah, that got my heart racing. But you build on every experience until soon you find your comfort zone. Good luck to you!