Test Anxiety for Scenarios

[Pacer901]

Hey everyone,
I am currently in Paramedic school (4 months in as of today), and I have a hard time with scenarios. I have a lot of test anxiety, especially when I have to do it in front of my peers and my teachers. How did you overcome this?

Thanks,
Pacer901

 

[luke_31]

Hey everyone,
I am currently in Paramedic school (4 months in as of today), and I have a hard time with scenarios. I have a lot of test anxiety, especially when I have to do it in front of my peers and my teachers. How did you overcome this?

Thanks,
Pacer901

Practice, practice, and more practice. Try getting one or two of your classmates to run some scenarios with you. Keep doing it till you don't worry about the others watching you.

 

[DrParasite]

While I am not trying to belittle your test anxiety, how will you function when you are on an ambulance, dealing with a sick CHF patient who can't breath, and all the family is staring at you to help grandma breathe? or when little timmy got hit while riding his bike and is now pinned under a car, and a crowd is forming?

Or when you first get on the truck, and your FTO is evaluating every single thing you do?

or when you get cleared by the medical director, and you are being quizzed on knowing your protocols and every drug you carry?

I know a lot of the confidence you might lack will come from experience, but all those test scenarios are for fun.... the real test happens when you are out on the street, and you have a sick patient in front of you, and everyone is looking to you to see what needs to be done.

 

[Pacer901]

Practice, practice, and more practice. Try getting one or two of your classmates to run some scenarios with you. Keep doing it till you don't worry about the others watching you.

Thank you for the advice, Luke_31!

 

[mgr22]

First, Pacer901, cut yourself some slack. It's normal to be nervous, particularly at the beginning of high-stakes scenarios -- real or hypothetical -- before you start proving to yourself that you know what to do. Often, the hardest part is getting started.

When I was new at EMS, I found I did better by turning some of my nervousness into anger -- not fury, just a bit of an edge -- during practice scenarios. I'd remind myself to show the SOB who was testing me that I knew my stuff. I found a little anger made me more assertive and more self-confident.

Another suggestion would be to practice whatever you're going to be tested on right before you have to do it. Think of EMS as an unnatural act -- like hitting a baseball or stopping a hockey puck. Getting some reps right before the game helps make it more natural. That's why, in my opinion, the second cardiac arrest of the day tends to go more smoothly than the first, regardless of the outcome.

 

[Pacer901]

When I was new at EMS, I found I did better by turning some of my nervousness into anger -- not fury, just a bit of an edge -- during practice scenarios. I'd remind myself to show the SOB who was testing me that I knew my stuff. I found a little anger made me more assertive and more self-confident.

Another suggestion would be to practice whatever you're going to be tested on right before you have to do it. Think of EMS as an unnatural act -- like hitting a baseball or stopping a hockey puck. Getting some reps right before the game helps make it more natural. That's why, in my opinion, the second cardiac arrest of the day tends to go more smoothly than the first, regardless of the outcome.

Thank you mgr22! I never thought it like that before! I will try to put that way into practice!