I am having anticipatory anxiety about clinicals for
my Nurse Practitioner program - clinicals do not start for another year
. I have AuDHD, anxiety, and bipolar (thankfully the bipolar is fully stabilized). The thought of clinicals brings me a lot of anxiety because we have to do group therapy sessions. I struggle with new situations, communication, socialization, group settings, and not knowing what to expect. I do better one-on-one. Do you have any advice, or recommendations for school accommodations, regarding clinicals, as well as my anxiety related to them?
Thank you!!
One thing I do know, is that there will be at least some anxiety around clinical rotations. You don't have to be on the spectrum to experience this. There are plenty of folks on the spectrum who are in health care, a lot of them. They made it through the process. Depending upon how your clinical rotations are set up, you will have 3-6 weeks in each unit, depending upon your specialty. The whole idea here is to give you a "taste" of each area and learn. However, clinical rotations, are more or less about how you deal with people, do you know when to ask questions before jumping in and doing something, would you be a good co-worker, etc. The staff know that you are not going to know "diddly squat" about anything. You are a student. You are there to learn. They all know that. Interns and resident physicians will come into our neonatal unit, total "deer in the headlights", afraid to do anything because it's a million and one things they were never taught in med school. They do NOTHING without clearing it from their senior resident or attending physician. Our nurse practitioners operate the same way. Usually, sometime at the beginning of your shift, you will be involved in team/multi-disciplinary rounds, discuss what happened the previous shift, goals for the day, labs, imaging, etc. It's lead by a senior member, and for the most part, you're listening, only speaking up if you have new information or questions. Then out to see your patients, gather your information, write your notes, make your recommendations, consult with the attending physician, and then write your new orders afterward. There's a process in place. Our nurse practitioners, being mid-level providers, will also be involved with many invasive procedures on the unit, which can be a mixed bag of challenging, stressful, rewarding, and fun depending upon the situation. What they want to see from you is initiative, assertiveness, and a drive to learn. If you are too quiet, showing hesitation, not asking questions, they don't want to see that. They will pass you over as a potential future team member. It's a working "job interview" in a sense. If you apply for a position, they are going to ask the staff how you performed as a student. (1) Are you reliable? (2) Are you capable? (3) Do you work well as a team member?
Anxieties are most often caused by some fear of the unknown. I am immersed in this world working at a teaching hospital and also being an instructor. Once you get into your clinical rotations, these thoughts will subside and it will be "just another day".
