I hate my degree

[SurfWaves]

I am 1.5 years into my nursing degree and I hate it. I really enjoy being at uni and my 2 weeks with the health visitors but have hated my other placements. Any advice to get my nursing mojo back?

Can you identify what it is you don’t like about your placements?

Boring, having to constantly ask for things to do or just standing around watching things rather than actually doing anything. I just feel like if I never get the opportunity to try I'm never going to learn but I'm never working with a consistent person as both my mentors are off sick again ( were on my last placement too).
I just feel so deflated and underwhelmed.
Maybe I'm just being really ungrateful, I just want to be competent but without practice I'm never going to be it.

For what it's worth, I also hated being a student nurse. You're always in the way, feeling like an extra part, or being put upon and being treated like an HCA. Some placements were better than others, but on the whole I endured them rather than enjoying them.

It was a whole different picture when I qualified- I went straight into community nursing and loved it. I'm now a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner and studying for my Masters.

My advice to you would be to stick it out, grit your teeth and get on with it, try and find some learning in every placement you're in. As a student you have a freedom that you don't have as a qualified nurse, so request time in surgery, with different professions etc whilst you're on placement- try and pursue you're interests and take control of your own experience there.

Best of luck!

@DebkaPower

For what it's worth, I also hated being a student nurse. You're always in the way, feeling like an extra part, or being put upon and being treated like an HCA. Some placements were better than others, but on the whole I endured them rather than enjoying them.

It was a whole different picture when I qualified- I went straight into community nursing and loved it. I'm now a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner and studying for my Masters.

My advice to you would be to stick it out, grit your teeth and get on with it, try and find some learning in every placement you're in. As a student you have a freedom that you don't have as a qualified nurse, so request time in surgery, with different professions etc whilst you're on placement- try and pursue you're interests and take control of your own experience there.

Best of luck!

Thanks so much- this is really helpful.

Pretty much everyone I know hit a wall in the 2nd year. I agree with previous poster find learning opportunities where you can arrange to spend time with members of the MDT you will never get a chance to find out what the OTs actually do when you qualify, ask to shadow the clinical nurse specialists and go to the outpatient clinics. Use the placements to narrow down what you’d like to do when qualified, if you know where you’d like to work, what can you take from this placement that will help you get to where you want to go.

I feel a bit better now, I'm now the only student in this placement and there seems to be more availability for me to be included in stuff. I'm doing drug rounds and dressings etc and not just standing around.