Dealing with Fear as a Nursing Student By Hollie David
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Dealing with Fear as a Nursing Student By Hollie David
I knocked on the hospital door sheepishly as I entered the room and introduced myself . “ I ’ m going to be your nursing student for today , may I take your vitals ?” I said quietly to the patient who was drifting off to sleep . I stepped closer and my patient groaned . I was used to patients not being overly enthusiastic about meeting the nursing student assigned to them for the day . But as I approached the patient , an elderly woman diagnosed with COPD , she appeared pale and exhausted . She was barely able to open her eyes . Her beathing was labored and shallow . Taking my stethoscope out of my scrub pocket I replayed the lung assessment steps in my mind . I listened as the shallow respirations filled my ears . I gently pulled my patient ’ s hand out from beneath the blanket , apologizing as I did so for disturbing her , and I placed the pulse oximeter on her cold finger . As I read the numbers on the screen , I knew something was wrong : the oxygen saturation was 82 %.
What should I do , I thought as I took a deep breath and the gears in my brain started to turn . I focused on what I learned in school about what to do for a patient having difficulty breathing . There was no time for fear , there was only time for action . As I scanned the room , I noticed that the oxygen gauge setting which was ordered to be on three liters of oxygen was not turned on . I raced over to the oxygen and turned it on . As I did so the patient started to cough . I slowly raised the head of the bed .
Then I began to suction her , clearing her airway of thick white mucus . As the patient regained consciousness , she looked at me and said , “ Help me , I ’ m scared .”
I immediately realized that I must stay focused and reassure the patient that I will help her . I felt confident in knowing what needed to be done . The fear I felt when entering the room was replaced with actions that I knew had to be taken . As nursing students we will have new experiences that can lead to anxiety and fear , but we cannot let this hold us back . As nurses we will get scared , too . But we must not let that fear prevent us from acting . As nurses we must be brave for the people who place their lives in our hands . I looked into my patient ’ s eyes and said , “ I am here , and I am going to do everything I can to help you .” As the oxygen flowed her blood-oxygen saturation reached 92 %. I sighed with relief . I stayed with my patient making sure she knew I was there and that I would do everything possible to make her comfortable . n
Hollie David is a nursing student at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain , CT . She expects to graduate from the BSN program in May 2024
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