Another semester down...and as I head toward graduation, I have advice for future or current nursing students. I hope this helps in your path toward the nursing world.
1. Be prepared to work hard. You will have to do a lot of reading, and it will be very confusing at times. Do the best you can to get through it and, don't dwell on it.
2. Find a few classmates you get along with, and stick with them through the whole program. At times when no one else in your life fully understands what you are going through, they will. I can't emphasize enough how important this mutual understanding is, and I guarantee that these people will talk sense into you every time you REALLY need it. Thanks Paige & Meagan!!!!! Muah!
3. Be prepared to feel lost. My first time doing everything (including putting a patient's sock on her foot), I was so scared I was shaking. It is normal to completely forget how to do everything (even the most simple tasks) when you are nervous. So don't let this make you feel stupid or inferior- it is NORMAL!!
4. Ask tons of questions. If you are told by a nurse to do something on a patient and you are not familiar with it or are uncomfortable, ASK for help.
5. Be prepared to laugh at yourself. When I do something stupid, I simply laugh. I'm not embarrassed, we all do dumb things.
6. Even though I'm extremely busy, I take one night off. This means do not do any school work whatsoever one night every week. Thursday night is my night off. I watch TV, catch up with friends, just do whatever I want. On Monday, when I really want to watch something on TV or feel unmotivated to work, I keep telling myself that I only have a few more days until Thursday.
7. Find an outlet for your frustrations. This blog has been wonderful for me- I just write about what I feel, and even though I usually don't end up posting those things for the world to see, just writing about them makes me feel a lot better. Although this takes away from my study time, it is well worth it. I don't think I could keep going all those hours if I didn't have some way to release some steam.
1 comment:
Good advice!
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