Christina Rafano identifies three mindset blocks holding nursing students back: fear of failure, self-sabotage after setbacks, and not asking instructors for help. She shares her own struggles with skills labs and pharmacology, and urges students to view failure as learning, push through negative self-talk, and persistently seek answers to their questions.
In this video, I am giving you the top three mindset blocks that are holding you back in nursing school. A few weeks ago I posted this question on Instagram for you to tell me the biggest mindset blocks you struggle with. And these three things were just repeating. I know I struggled with each of these in nursing school. So let's chat about them so that you can overcome them and start feeling more confident in in nursing school. So hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell. Let's dive in. So the biggest one that students keep messaging me about is the fear of failure. This is seriously one of the biggest mindset blocks that I help nursing students overcome. And let me be super straight with you. You must overcome this fear of failure if you want to be successful in nursing school. And honestly, even in life in general. I cann tell you how many times I have fallen on my face in nursing school and in life. Basically every single day. I am not perfect and I stink at a lot of things. And when I was in nursing school, one of those things included skills and pharmacology. Those were just not my thing. I literally failed every single skills check off the first time. For real friend, I had to retake every single one. I was just no good at them. And when it came to pharmacology, well, let's just say that the instructors knew who to grill and always double check this girl right here because I would rarely know the answers if they asked. For some reason, I just couldn't get it to stick. That's actually how I figured out how to study pharmacology the right way. I was so bad at it that I had no choice but to try everything and anything until I figured it out. So now I get to teach you the easiest way to learn it. Because I struggle struggled with it so much. So if you're like me and pharmacology is not your jam, then this video is for you. It's all my best tips. But here's the thing. I wouldn't know it as well now if I hadn't failed at it so much. You have two options. You can either let failure knock you down and you can leave nursing school feeling defeated, or you can pick yourself back up, learn from it, and keep going. And friend, I pray that you keep going. Because the only way you're going to get to where you want to go is if you fight for it every day. And that will require you to show up for yourself. Stop using failure as an excuse and just keep moving. There is no way around it. Failure is not an option. But using it as an excuse as to why you can't succeed and pass nursing school is. Do not do that to yourself. You're worth more than that and the world needs you. So stop, stand back up and make it happen. I know you have it in you. If you find yourself lacking confidence and just don't have the energy or motivation to keep going, be sure to join our Nursing SOS Membership community. You'll get access to our private Facebook group where you can get encouragement from other nursing students, learn from their struggles too, and be inspired by their success stories. Now, the second mindset block is really a result of what happens when you let that fear of of failure overtake you. And I can almost guarantee you're doing this right now without realizing it, because most nursing students I talk to are, and that is sabotaging your own success. Here's what I see happen all the time. You study super hard for an exam and then when you go take it, you don't do as well as you want, or maybe you even fail it. This is when I start getting messages from nursing students saying that they're not feeling much motivated to study, or they just don't have the energy, or they're burned out. But friend, here's what's really going on. You've let that little voice in your head start to spin in negativity. Things like, I'm not smart enough. I can't do it. I tried and it didn't work. I'm going to fail anyway. It's too hard. And on and on and on. And all of those thoughts are preventing you from taking action and studying for your next exam because you feel like you're going to fail anyway, so why even try? But here's the problem with that. If you don't show up for yourself, do your best and study for your next exam, you are not going to do well on that test. That's just the reality. You can't expect great results if you're not putting in the work. So you're sabotaging your own success by not studying. But if you can fight through it, remember that a failing grade does not define who you are. Instead, study hardcore for your next exam. Then, friend, you have a much better chance of succeeding next time. But if you don't, you are just sabotaging your own success. The next mindset block we'll talk about is so pervasive in nursing school, but before we dive into it, I want to give a shout out to Natalie for our YouTube comment of the week, which says very helpful. This makes everything much more manageable. Thank you so much, so much. Oh Natalie, Awesome. I am so glad to hear that. Thanks for your support and letting me know that the videos have helped you out. I love, love, love showing up for you every week and helping you pass nursing school. You are going to do great, my friend. Now, the next mindset block is being afraid of your instructor and not asking questions. I get messages about this all the time from nursing students. It's actually a big reason that some students have joined our nursing SOS membership community. They don't feel like they can talk with their instructors, so they just need a place to get their questions answered. Thankfully, our nursing SOS membership community solves that problem. Since our members get direct access to our private Facebook group and we're constantly in there answering questions. It's pretty great. So I totally understand this fear of asking questions and approaching your instructor. I hear it all the time. But here's the thing, friend. They're there to help you out. So even if you feel like they're unapproachable or you can't ask questions, that's what they're there for and they know that. So even if you have to email them multiple times or stop by their office over and over again, don't give up and don't get upset. Just keep trying. Being afraid of your instructor doesn't help you in any way. It will actually hurt you if you don't get your questions answered because they might show up on your exams. So step into your confidence, walk into their office, or send that email and ask your questions. And if you want to know the two questions that you should always ask your instructors after an exam, be sure to check out this video. In a few weeks, I'll be posting a video on nursing school exam hacks and I'll walk you through how to get nursing exam questions right. Even if you don't know the answer. Trust me, you don't want to miss this one. So make sure you've clicked on the notification bell to get notified when that video goes up. Because seriously friend, you don't want to miss it. Now make sure to like, comment, subscribe and share this video with a friend. And click on one of these videos right here so you can keep rocking nursing school. And as always, go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I'll catch you next time. Take care, friend. Bye.
