...she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." - Vernon Law
I feel sometimes like I'm moving too fast in this field. On Friday I start my IV approval course. Right now I'm applying for all these crazy jobs: critical care tech, emergency department tech, operating room tech... and sometimes it quite honestly terrifies me that in a month or so I could be treating patients for real. Not as a student. Not until the paramedics show up. For real.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm ready, but the truth of the matter is that in this field at some point you just have to jump in. You can attend lectures and classes and practice splinting and vitals and assessments on other students until the cows come home, but the only way you really get good at taking care of patients is by taking care of patients.
It's just one of the risks we have to accept coming into this line of work. People who are new to the restaurant business or retail or media industry will make embarrassing mistakes. Those mistakes may cost their employer some business or perhaps even destroy a little property. However there are only a handful of fields in which a simple mistake can cost another human being's life or limb. I do feel completely confident that I will not make such a devastating error, but the gravity of this line of work never really leaves the back of my mind.
I'm at such a breathtakingly exciting yet completely nerve-wracking point in my life. This is where the real learning begins.
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4 comments:
Even as a CNA I wonder the same thing. I'm already looking to get my pre-reqs out of the way for my RN, which will be at Regis University in 2 years. That plus the fact that no one has any real patience for a newbie, especially a male newbie it seems.
It will all come to you. The fear starts to disappear as soon as you get something you know you can handle. And despite how it feels, you can handle a lot.
Even after, dare I say it, well over a decade of dealing with patients, I still don't feel ready.
Two things: Know when to fake the confidence, and know when to get some help.
Faking it with a patient keeps them calm, and believe it or not, you calm. Knowing when to ask for help will keep your patient safe, you out of trouble, and the lawsuits at bay.
The moment you are no longer scared to try something new, is the moment you need to quit. Just don't let the fear paralyze you.
"the only way you really get good at taking care of patients is by taking care of patients."
Exactly.
We are all still learning.
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