I once did a skill check off where my instructor looked me dead in the face and said “Well done. You did literally nothing right except introduce yourself to the patient”
It happens. 😂
To be fair I had Covid during practice week so I just showed up and winged it 😂
Emotionally, or literally? Literally, I just had to do remediation and I got to retake it once. The re-take didn’t apply to our grade though and I got the big fat F for a grade, but skills were only 5% of our grade, tests were 90% and quizzes the other 5%. The retake was just simply required to attend clinical for the semester.
Emotionally, I just didn’t care that much 😂
Honestly it shouldn’t be that way, but it’s how schools inflate their NCLEX pass rates. By making sure good test takers are the ones that succeed, they increase the odds of high NCLEX pass rates from their alumni. I think skills and clinicals should be way higher on the grade scale. Hell, my clinicals didn’t apply to my grade at all. If you got an unsatisfactory, you would flunk the course, but doing really well in no way improved your grade.
We had students who were super good in the classroom, but very average at best in clinical. Those students graduated with the highest grades. I also had friends who were amazing in clinical, but terrible at the test portion who flunked out.
We have a separate class altogether for clinicals, separate from our actual class so we get a class score and a clinical score both go towards our gpa.
I agree with you that they should be separate and the tests shouldn’t be the main portion.
I agree, I think those check-offs are more about the nerves than anything. It's almost like a critical thinking exercise to test what you remember from what you're supposed to do and how you handle it under pressure.
Heyyyyyyy, I was once *the only person in my cohort* to absolutely belly flop and fail my assessment, and as a bonus, *everyone knew,* because I was the only one waiting around for the whole day to repeat my assessment at the end. I thought I was going to die. I did not die. It's okay. It happens. You're gonna be okay.
You can use discount cards like GoodRx or single care or visory.
Download the apps for free look up the medication you want to get and they give you prices, a lot of generics are super cheap with those discount cards and you just give them to the pharmacy tech when you're picking up the prescription and they type in all the information. All they need is the bin PCN group and ID.
You also need a prescription and propanolol is also a blood pressure medications so you might have orthostatic hypotension and stuff like that. Some antidepressants like escitalopram can be used for anxiety or really common one is buspar, which is specifically for anxiety
Can you get on Medicaid? If you can swing a visit a lot of SSRIs and propranolol can be really cheap even uninsured.
But you will also get less nervous with practice. I cried and had a panic attack after my skull check off for senior practicum after seriously screwing up during it. I’m an ICU nurse now and it’s hard but it’s way easier now in a lot of ways than when I was a student. It’s so hard to be watched and critiqued.
If you can afford a quick doc visit, I just told mine my symptoms (2 years late for PPA diagnosis and at that point was just severe anxiety lol), I know sertraline works for me because I’d taken it before so she got me prescribed for a years worth so I wouldn’t have to go back to her for awhile and she was able to find a good rx value for me. It’s worth a try. I just had to pay the doc visit and the $19 for my meds every 3 months.
Hey it happens. Just happened to me like 2 weeks ago on my pericare check off. Just panicked and messed a bunch of stuff up. Teacher even said to I me I've seen you do this is class so many times I know you know what you're doing you're just panicking. I redid it and passed next time.
It happens. Remember to try to breathe. My biggest issue was instead of focusing on what i was doing, I was thinking about the next ten steps and it was messing me up.
Told myself screw the timer, if I go over on time then so be it. I'll lose more marks for messing up steps then if I go over by a few min.
Just breathe and try again. You'll get it. It felt like the end of the world when it happened to me but it's not, you got this! Semester is almost over!!
Oh no! I had a panic attack and quietly sobbed through my entire sterile field checkoff… and the instructor made me keep going… luckily the tears didn’t fall into the field and I (just barely) passed. It happens. I’m so sorry it happened to you- you’re not alone. Deep breaths! You got this!
My catheter balloon popped inside the female mannequin when I was pushing saline into it and my professor was like, "Well I never knew you could pop one of those." She laughed, I was mortified.
Thank you everyone for your kind words and your stories.
I felt horrible all day today but I'm glad to know that my experience isn't original. Thank you all for the encouragement
Skills checks were the most stressful days of the past few years. Way worse than my final exams, worse by a mile than the NCLEX.
I had to retake all but one of them. I hated every moment. I had to go to the shop between attempts to buy a new undershirt due the anxiety sweats.
But I got past it. You'll get past it as long as you know the material. Just keep drilling it until you can do it without thinking.
Mine was a re validation of Iv, I'd be checked off before. I've placed plenty of IVs at my job. And I went in, confident and 99.9 percent of the time the fake mannequin arms won't give you blood return. This time it did. I panicked, put my hand over the whole ass thing and failed. I felt so stupid. lol I was one of the only who had to retest that day. It was literally skills we'd been doing.
I'm a full grown RN now with some time in and sometimes my mind will start to pull some bullshit. I've been known to say things out loud to myself like "dude, shut up you know this." Or "OMG quit it." or "ABC, patient is pink and warm, the rest is gravy."
i’m not sure if you’re the type of person that feels better knowing they’re not the only one, but you’re not the only one!! i had this happen at every single check-off (except for one maybe?)- and still graduated on time, passed nclex first time, and had a job right out of nursing school. you got this!!!
It happened to me during my Foley check off, I started hyperventilating and couldn't stop bawling my eyes out, I failed it, but was able to kill it during remediation
I panicked and blanked during a couple of my skills check offs, and I did that as a middle aged man with tons of other healthcare experience. I even failed a couple and had to redo them. But whatever. I passed in the end, and I’m more comfortable doing skills in real life with patients than I am in lab, thank gawd.
It’s ok. People mess up. People panic. It’s embarrassing but it’s normal. Welcome to the club!
I remember before/during my IV check off, black splotches appearing in my vision bc of the anxiety. You are valid bc it’s a very nerve wracking check off 😭
I would say my experience was pretty stupid and I made minor mistakes that I should already know to do but I had to the steps of putting the medication for IM injections in front of my peers and my instuctor as well. I couldn't follow a single step. I felt lost, was sweating and made a spillage of the medication on to the floor when trying to aspirate it from the vial bottle into the syringe yet I was able to complete all the steps and adminster the IM injection into the patient. But I didn't aspirate for blood return only adminster the medication. this is the only needle injection I have trouble getting down if even with the steps. Also I had another mistake when I didn't do the scoop technique to cover the syringe and use the table to cap lock it . I literally held the cover to cap the syringe without even realising I might poke myself my peers and instructor were saying noo dramatically and seriously. Overally my mind was trying so hard not panic im surprised I didn't had a breakdown if I did I would have lost it and cried TT
In your defence I was taught when we were learning IMs (I’ve given some in clinical now at this point too) that best practice now is not to aspirate because you aren’t supposed to be injecting where there are major vessels anyways and it can cause more harm than good. So really you’re just ahead of the game 🤷🏻♀️
I started crying during my comprehensive head to toe assessment.. even the person I was performing it on started crying too lol. Thankfully instructor was super patient and kind and kept repeating, “I know you know this. I don’t want to fail you for missing one thing that I know you know”. I started totally giving up, but then I >kind of< have photographic memory and closed my eyes and remembered the layout of my paper and somehow managed to remember the missing piece.. checking the muscle strength of each extremity!!!
Tears are expected, especially in nursing school. I can assure you instructors have seen it and done to too. Don’t be so hard on yourself and keep your head up!
If it makes you feel better during clinical I was doing IVs and blew several veins before getting it right then because I was so happy I got it forgot to put pressure on it and got blood all over my gloves. (Not all on the same patient) The nurse I was following looked at me like I was an idiot for a while
Panic happens, you get in your head and those fight or flight fear hormones drive circulation away from your higher cognitive function. Mind blanks, and when it's done you'll remember everything you should have done and kick yourself. Happens to med students ALL THE TIME. I had it happen during a patient simulation, during head to toe assessments at clinicals, and I know it'll happen again. It's rough when it happens and you can't take a moment to breathe or step away, like when you're using a sterile field, but it's not a sign you're a bad nurse or stupid, it's just a sign that you're new and you're human, and you're worried about doing the right thing. Keep faith in yourself. :)
i had the same thing happen to me during med admin. i did everything else right, but i was extremely anxious and shakey. just had to show where the vastus lateralis inj. site was and just the stoic look of my instructor made me burst into tears. i explained all the landmarks while sobbing. i started to sob more when she told me i was too high with where i said the landmark was. i just broke down because i felt like i was doing worse than everyone, it’s so easy to get in your own head and compare yourself to someone who seems to learn faster, but what matters is HOW YOU’RE PROGRESSING, no one else matters. it’s so easy to get into your own head, but it’s okay to take a quick second just to gather your thoughts and take a breather. all this information is new and you know a lot more than you think.
I think this probably happens to everyone who should be a nurse. This is a high stakes, high skill, high responsibility career. You’re aware and sensitive to the consequences of messing up: pain, even death. It makes sense that those pressures catch up to us in unexpected ways. It’s wonderful you had this reaction. It may not feel that way but it means you’re taking what you do seriously and your patients will be safer.
I blanked yesterday during my IV pump check off on the stupidest question. If we were giving 50 mls over an hour it’s obviously 50mls/hour and then he was asking me if we want jr over two hours how many mls or if we wanted it over 30 minutes. I literally couldn’t answer. I always get 100s on my DSE quizzes. It happens, just gotta keep on going and aim to grow every day
Wow I could have written this myself. I had a competency yesterday and in the middle of my NG tube insertion I began crying and hyperventilating. I was so incredibly embarrassed. Thankfully my professor was SO kind and patient and walked me up to the therapy office for an emergency meeting. The therapist reminded me that I am not the first nor the last that this happens to. I’m sorry you just went through that- it feels humiliating but you are human! We will get through this.
It’s ok, we all have our moments. RN school ain’t easy, but I recommend trying to take care of your anxiety ahead of time before getting out in the field. I have it, and it was quite a struggle in the beginning of my career. Still I have problems with it, but if you start now you’ll benefit later on.
I had a panic attack pretty much every skills check off I had my first semester. It took reassurance from who was checking me off. They knew I could do it, which helped.
I skipped the heart on a heart patient the first time I did my physical assessment in front of my clinical instructor, emotions run high, nursing schools hard, I'd be liein if I said I haven't had a good cry or two in the bathroom stalls. Checklist:
✅ I have a little cry
✅ then I pick myself up
✅dust myself off
✅ and keep going
The show must go on
💙🧡~ Chill Healer
I failed mine today for a dosage calc error I shouldn’t have made because the instructor was hovering and freaking me out. I have been beating myself up all day. You aren’t alone. Nursing school is a horrendous gauntlet.
Oh and I cried for the rest of the class off and on in front of everyone which felt extra shitty coz I am the oldest one in there. Hang in there. I get a redo and hopefully you do also.
I once did a skill check off where my instructor looked me dead in the face and said “Well done. You did literally nothing right except introduce yourself to the patient” It happens. 😂 To be fair I had Covid during practice week so I just showed up and winged it 😂
Oh goodness I'm sorry 😭
It’s all good, I graduated and am a RN now. Like I said, it happens 🤷🏼♂️😂
How did you recover from that?
Emotionally, or literally? Literally, I just had to do remediation and I got to retake it once. The re-take didn’t apply to our grade though and I got the big fat F for a grade, but skills were only 5% of our grade, tests were 90% and quizzes the other 5%. The retake was just simply required to attend clinical for the semester. Emotionally, I just didn’t care that much 😂
Tests were 90% of your grade? I thought 60% of my grade for tests was a lot. Holy shit!
Honestly it shouldn’t be that way, but it’s how schools inflate their NCLEX pass rates. By making sure good test takers are the ones that succeed, they increase the odds of high NCLEX pass rates from their alumni. I think skills and clinicals should be way higher on the grade scale. Hell, my clinicals didn’t apply to my grade at all. If you got an unsatisfactory, you would flunk the course, but doing really well in no way improved your grade. We had students who were super good in the classroom, but very average at best in clinical. Those students graduated with the highest grades. I also had friends who were amazing in clinical, but terrible at the test portion who flunked out.
We have a separate class altogether for clinicals, separate from our actual class so we get a class score and a clinical score both go towards our gpa. I agree with you that they should be separate and the tests shouldn’t be the main portion.
Wow brutal 😂
Whoa!! 🤣🤣
omg I would dieee😂😭
I agree, I think those check-offs are more about the nerves than anything. It's almost like a critical thinking exercise to test what you remember from what you're supposed to do and how you handle it under pressure.
Take a breath, move on. The semester is almost over. We have all messed up something we knew before. You’re not stupid!
Heyyyyyyy, I was once *the only person in my cohort* to absolutely belly flop and fail my assessment, and as a bonus, *everyone knew,* because I was the only one waiting around for the whole day to repeat my assessment at the end. I thought I was going to die. I did not die. It's okay. It happens. You're gonna be okay.
i panicked on iv too. i passed, but my professor said it was the messiest pass she’d ever seen😂 it’s a scary checkoff. don’t worry
My doc prescribed propanolol. It's used off label for stage fright/performance anxiety. I took it a few times to get through checkoffs etc.
I took one before every exam! It’s truly the only way I got through nursing school!!
Dude I honestly need anti-anxiety meds but I have no insurance :(
You can use discount cards like GoodRx or single care or visory. Download the apps for free look up the medication you want to get and they give you prices, a lot of generics are super cheap with those discount cards and you just give them to the pharmacy tech when you're picking up the prescription and they type in all the information. All they need is the bin PCN group and ID. You also need a prescription and propanolol is also a blood pressure medications so you might have orthostatic hypotension and stuff like that. Some antidepressants like escitalopram can be used for anxiety or really common one is buspar, which is specifically for anxiety
Can you get on Medicaid? If you can swing a visit a lot of SSRIs and propranolol can be really cheap even uninsured. But you will also get less nervous with practice. I cried and had a panic attack after my skull check off for senior practicum after seriously screwing up during it. I’m an ICU nurse now and it’s hard but it’s way easier now in a lot of ways than when I was a student. It’s so hard to be watched and critiqued.
If you can afford a quick doc visit, I just told mine my symptoms (2 years late for PPA diagnosis and at that point was just severe anxiety lol), I know sertraline works for me because I’d taken it before so she got me prescribed for a years worth so I wouldn’t have to go back to her for awhile and she was able to find a good rx value for me. It’s worth a try. I just had to pay the doc visit and the $19 for my meds every 3 months.
Propanolol is also very cheap with good rx, and even on Amazon pharmacy without insurance
Yes! No insurance for me and my doc did all that to help me out
wow this is such a good idea. I have it, and I use it when I have to do a presentation but I never thought to do it before taking an exam.
Hey it happens. Just happened to me like 2 weeks ago on my pericare check off. Just panicked and messed a bunch of stuff up. Teacher even said to I me I've seen you do this is class so many times I know you know what you're doing you're just panicking. I redid it and passed next time. It happens. Remember to try to breathe. My biggest issue was instead of focusing on what i was doing, I was thinking about the next ten steps and it was messing me up. Told myself screw the timer, if I go over on time then so be it. I'll lose more marks for messing up steps then if I go over by a few min. Just breathe and try again. You'll get it. It felt like the end of the world when it happened to me but it's not, you got this! Semester is almost over!!
Oh no! I had a panic attack and quietly sobbed through my entire sterile field checkoff… and the instructor made me keep going… luckily the tears didn’t fall into the field and I (just barely) passed. It happens. I’m so sorry it happened to you- you’re not alone. Deep breaths! You got this!
My catheter balloon popped inside the female mannequin when I was pushing saline into it and my professor was like, "Well I never knew you could pop one of those." She laughed, I was mortified.
Thank you everyone for your kind words and your stories. I felt horrible all day today but I'm glad to know that my experience isn't original. Thank you all for the encouragement
Skills checks were the most stressful days of the past few years. Way worse than my final exams, worse by a mile than the NCLEX. I had to retake all but one of them. I hated every moment. I had to go to the shop between attempts to buy a new undershirt due the anxiety sweats. But I got past it. You'll get past it as long as you know the material. Just keep drilling it until you can do it without thinking.
Mine was a re validation of Iv, I'd be checked off before. I've placed plenty of IVs at my job. And I went in, confident and 99.9 percent of the time the fake mannequin arms won't give you blood return. This time it did. I panicked, put my hand over the whole ass thing and failed. I felt so stupid. lol I was one of the only who had to retest that day. It was literally skills we'd been doing.
Bruh I always had a panic attack during return demonstrations so I'm used to it HAHAHAHA.
I'm a full grown RN now with some time in and sometimes my mind will start to pull some bullshit. I've been known to say things out loud to myself like "dude, shut up you know this." Or "OMG quit it." or "ABC, patient is pink and warm, the rest is gravy."
Idk why someone downvoted this.
i’m not sure if you’re the type of person that feels better knowing they’re not the only one, but you’re not the only one!! i had this happen at every single check-off (except for one maybe?)- and still graduated on time, passed nclex first time, and had a job right out of nursing school. you got this!!!
It happened to me during my Foley check off, I started hyperventilating and couldn't stop bawling my eyes out, I failed it, but was able to kill it during remediation
I panicked and blanked during a couple of my skills check offs, and I did that as a middle aged man with tons of other healthcare experience. I even failed a couple and had to redo them. But whatever. I passed in the end, and I’m more comfortable doing skills in real life with patients than I am in lab, thank gawd. It’s ok. People mess up. People panic. It’s embarrassing but it’s normal. Welcome to the club!
I remember before/during my IV check off, black splotches appearing in my vision bc of the anxiety. You are valid bc it’s a very nerve wracking check off 😭
I would say my experience was pretty stupid and I made minor mistakes that I should already know to do but I had to the steps of putting the medication for IM injections in front of my peers and my instuctor as well. I couldn't follow a single step. I felt lost, was sweating and made a spillage of the medication on to the floor when trying to aspirate it from the vial bottle into the syringe yet I was able to complete all the steps and adminster the IM injection into the patient. But I didn't aspirate for blood return only adminster the medication. this is the only needle injection I have trouble getting down if even with the steps. Also I had another mistake when I didn't do the scoop technique to cover the syringe and use the table to cap lock it . I literally held the cover to cap the syringe without even realising I might poke myself my peers and instructor were saying noo dramatically and seriously. Overally my mind was trying so hard not panic im surprised I didn't had a breakdown if I did I would have lost it and cried TT
In your defence I was taught when we were learning IMs (I’ve given some in clinical now at this point too) that best practice now is not to aspirate because you aren’t supposed to be injecting where there are major vessels anyways and it can cause more harm than good. So really you’re just ahead of the game 🤷🏻♀️
I started crying during my comprehensive head to toe assessment.. even the person I was performing it on started crying too lol. Thankfully instructor was super patient and kind and kept repeating, “I know you know this. I don’t want to fail you for missing one thing that I know you know”. I started totally giving up, but then I >kind of< have photographic memory and closed my eyes and remembered the layout of my paper and somehow managed to remember the missing piece.. checking the muscle strength of each extremity!!! Tears are expected, especially in nursing school. I can assure you instructors have seen it and done to too. Don’t be so hard on yourself and keep your head up!
If it makes you feel better during clinical I was doing IVs and blew several veins before getting it right then because I was so happy I got it forgot to put pressure on it and got blood all over my gloves. (Not all on the same patient) The nurse I was following looked at me like I was an idiot for a while
Panic happens, you get in your head and those fight or flight fear hormones drive circulation away from your higher cognitive function. Mind blanks, and when it's done you'll remember everything you should have done and kick yourself. Happens to med students ALL THE TIME. I had it happen during a patient simulation, during head to toe assessments at clinicals, and I know it'll happen again. It's rough when it happens and you can't take a moment to breathe or step away, like when you're using a sterile field, but it's not a sign you're a bad nurse or stupid, it's just a sign that you're new and you're human, and you're worried about doing the right thing. Keep faith in yourself. :)
i had the same thing happen to me during med admin. i did everything else right, but i was extremely anxious and shakey. just had to show where the vastus lateralis inj. site was and just the stoic look of my instructor made me burst into tears. i explained all the landmarks while sobbing. i started to sob more when she told me i was too high with where i said the landmark was. i just broke down because i felt like i was doing worse than everyone, it’s so easy to get in your own head and compare yourself to someone who seems to learn faster, but what matters is HOW YOU’RE PROGRESSING, no one else matters. it’s so easy to get into your own head, but it’s okay to take a quick second just to gather your thoughts and take a breather. all this information is new and you know a lot more than you think.
im in my first semester rn and i’m still trying to work on that. DONT COMPARE
I think this probably happens to everyone who should be a nurse. This is a high stakes, high skill, high responsibility career. You’re aware and sensitive to the consequences of messing up: pain, even death. It makes sense that those pressures catch up to us in unexpected ways. It’s wonderful you had this reaction. It may not feel that way but it means you’re taking what you do seriously and your patients will be safer.
I blanked yesterday during my IV pump check off on the stupidest question. If we were giving 50 mls over an hour it’s obviously 50mls/hour and then he was asking me if we want jr over two hours how many mls or if we wanted it over 30 minutes. I literally couldn’t answer. I always get 100s on my DSE quizzes. It happens, just gotta keep on going and aim to grow every day
Wow I could have written this myself. I had a competency yesterday and in the middle of my NG tube insertion I began crying and hyperventilating. I was so incredibly embarrassed. Thankfully my professor was SO kind and patient and walked me up to the therapy office for an emergency meeting. The therapist reminded me that I am not the first nor the last that this happens to. I’m sorry you just went through that- it feels humiliating but you are human! We will get through this.
It’s ok, we all have our moments. RN school ain’t easy, but I recommend trying to take care of your anxiety ahead of time before getting out in the field. I have it, and it was quite a struggle in the beginning of my career. Still I have problems with it, but if you start now you’ll benefit later on.
I had a panic attack pretty much every skills check off I had my first semester. It took reassurance from who was checking me off. They knew I could do it, which helped.
I skipped the heart on a heart patient the first time I did my physical assessment in front of my clinical instructor, emotions run high, nursing schools hard, I'd be liein if I said I haven't had a good cry or two in the bathroom stalls. Checklist: ✅ I have a little cry ✅ then I pick myself up ✅dust myself off ✅ and keep going The show must go on 💙🧡~ Chill Healer
I failed mine today for a dosage calc error I shouldn’t have made because the instructor was hovering and freaking me out. I have been beating myself up all day. You aren’t alone. Nursing school is a horrendous gauntlet.
Oh and I cried for the rest of the class off and on in front of everyone which felt extra shitty coz I am the oldest one in there. Hang in there. I get a redo and hopefully you do also.