Day 3 of clinical I’m feeling so discouraged. Tips?
I’m 17 and doing a CNA program. We started clinical a few weekends ago and the past 2 times I’ve felt okay. I was with the actual CNA most of the time so I had support. However as I’ve started to become more independent I feel so discouraged…this morning I was so frazzled I put a residents shirt on backwards and didn’t rinse her dentures well enough, so she tasted something “icky”. She was understanding but I felt bad. All my peers seem to be confident but I’m not.
The thing that really got me down was when I was by myself and a resident yelled at me. He was not on my set so I didn’t know him. The hoyer lift was pinching his crotch and he screamed out in pain. My partner went to grab the nurse and I stayed with him. He told me I needed to fix the issue and I was the person in charge and needed to figure it out. I have only been working with female residents so I didn’t know what to do. I just froze up until the nurse came in. He started going on about how I didn’t know how to do anything. I went in the bathroom and cried.
I feel like everyone has to constantly correct my mistakes. I felt embarrassed because I accidentally was about to gently push a resident into the doorway and her wheel almost hit the frame. The charge nurse yelled at me I needed to be more careful, which I know, but I just feel like I’m doing everything wrong.
I genuinely love caring for all my residents. I think about them for the days after I leave and how I can help them. I want to do well but maybe I’m not good enough for this job?
Posted Aug 10, 2025, 7:38 PM UTC