I certainly do not profess to be the expert here, but as a nurse for 23 years in med-surg, surgical progressive care, open heart, and ICU as well as a clinical nursing instructor and a graduate student (MSN), I think I have some general words of advice. So, for those of you who need it - here it is for what it is worth to you.
1. First - every time you sign your name as a RN - please remember how hard you worked for this accomplishment and the sacrifices of yourself and all those people in your life that helped you "make it!"
2. Remember, nursing is a hard job! It has always been a hard job and it will always be a hard job! (Florence Nightingale).
3. Learn as much as you can! Do NOT be afraid to ask questions. You might drive an experienced nurse crazy, but in the long run, any experienced nurse understands why you are asking the questions and will respect you for trying to build upon and grow your knowledge base. For those that don't - forget about 'em - they ain't worth the time of day and probably are burned out nasty nurses that need to get the hell out of the business.
4. Always remember - the only reason you are an RN is to care for that patient. They are the true reason our profession is here. Don't ever forget your compassion, honesty, love and integrity. Fight for that patient and the care they need - they are counting on you!
5. Never give a medication that you don't know how it works. Ask the "WHY" questions as many times as you need too until you feel you understand and are comfortable with WHY you are doing something. Too many nurses don't ask the "WHY" questions and that gets them into trouble.
6. Never let a physician intimidate you. Yes, they are more educated (in some cases) and have more experience than you do, but you are the person at the bedside that is best situated to see changes in condition. While in the beginning you might feel like you don't know enough - rely on other experienced nurses to review your assessment with. They will help you to determine what to say to the physician.
7. An employer will work you until you are dead! Live a balanced life and don't make excuses for having balance in your life. If they ask you to work extra and you know that your child has a play and you can't work - please know that NO can really mean NO! And, you don't need to feel guilty about it.
8. Don't get STUCK working in an area of nursing that you are not passionate about. It is the fastest way to burn out in this profession. Seek out learning opportunities that will grow your knowledge and skill in an area of nursing that you desire to work in. Nursing offers so much variety that there is really no reason to stay in a place that you are not happy working. And - don't let them tell you that you need a year of med-surg before you can go to a speciality area. While having a med-surg background offers you the opportunity to develop your skills and competencies - I have known many of nurses that went into a speciality areas right out of school and have been highly successful. It really all depends on your motivation and your commitment. You call the shots.
9. After you have finished your first year in nursing - pay it forward. Remember that poor new graduate that your manager just hired - help them, be friend them and mentor them. You owe it to them.
10. Remember that nursing is a life-long learning profession. No matter what happens in your life - keep learning and never forget the benefits of more education. And - finally, remember your days as a new graduate and be the experienced nurse that other new graduates can look too as a resource and a person to learn from.
Congratulations on passing your boards and becoming a nurse! We need you and we need you to stay around for a long time. Thank you for entering our noble profession and for making a REAL difference in the lives of patients that need your care and love. Thank you for caring.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Special Thank you!
Over the course of the last several months, I have diligently tried to get my blog up and running. I have visited some wonderful, wonderful blogs and I want to take the opportunity to extend some thanks out there to a few of my new blogger friends and those that I hope to become blogger friends with as well. To DisappearingJohn a word of thanks! Your blog has been great to read and your help to get me started has been invaluable. Keep writing and doing what you do - it is exciting to read the next saga for sure! Thanks also to Kim at emergiblog - while you don't know me from adam - I have totally enjoyed reading your blog and your links have helped me to learn more about how to manage this blog business. To Crystal at Nurse Pickle you are one of my first real visitors and that is exciting (Yes John - you were really the first, but Crystal came to the site without any provocation - at least I think).
And finally - a special thank you to all those bloggers listed in my favs! While I may not have linked you here - you are linked on my blog and I read you faithfully. At times, I may lurk not comment on what you have written, but I love the readings! Thanks to you all and I hope my blog will one day be as successful as yours!
PS - For Lisa at cargosarge your site has great meaning and I hope you continue to develop your blog. Many women have come home from Iraq with stories of their own and need a place to read, and post so they too can begin the slow and arduous process of healing. Your long range idea to provide a blog for these ladies is forward thinking and compassionate!
And finally - a special thank you to all those bloggers listed in my favs! While I may not have linked you here - you are linked on my blog and I read you faithfully. At times, I may lurk not comment on what you have written, but I love the readings! Thanks to you all and I hope my blog will one day be as successful as yours!
PS - For Lisa at cargosarge your site has great meaning and I hope you continue to develop your blog. Many women have come home from Iraq with stories of their own and need a place to read, and post so they too can begin the slow and arduous process of healing. Your long range idea to provide a blog for these ladies is forward thinking and compassionate!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Impacting Lives!
This past week, I finished the fall semester with my clinical group. I have worked with these students both in the classroom, lab and now in the clinical arena for the entire semester. As a clinical instructor, I am not sure that you really ever realize the impact you have on a student until you see the difference in what they have become.
Case in point are my initial freshmen students. These folks (most of them) were as green as green can come. Each having their own background and their own personal reason for wanting to join the ranks as a registered nurse. My quest, to teach them how to become registered nurses.
As we entered the clinical environment, I came to realize that these guys and girls had a great deal of anxiety. I thought anxiety was good, because it keeps you on your toes and helps you to question everything, making a mistake a lot harder to come by. After the first rotation, I could see that these students were going to need to some hard love! That is what they got. Hard love. My expectation of their knowledge growth was predictable. They knew I wanted them to learn and they worked hard to do what was needed to demonstrate their growth.
As the semester ended this week and I held my last clinical day with these young men and women, I was thrilled to be a part and to witness their knowledge growth. They had finished out their first semester and were successful. Each had developed strength, confidence, but more importantly, their passion to care for people became stronger.
I salute you guys - you know who you are and say thank you for making this last semester one of my best!
They asked me to publish this "ODE" that I wrote them for their last day - so here is the "ODE" as requested.
Case in point are my initial freshmen students. These folks (most of them) were as green as green can come. Each having their own background and their own personal reason for wanting to join the ranks as a registered nurse. My quest, to teach them how to become registered nurses.
As we entered the clinical environment, I came to realize that these guys and girls had a great deal of anxiety. I thought anxiety was good, because it keeps you on your toes and helps you to question everything, making a mistake a lot harder to come by. After the first rotation, I could see that these students were going to need to some hard love! That is what they got. Hard love. My expectation of their knowledge growth was predictable. They knew I wanted them to learn and they worked hard to do what was needed to demonstrate their growth.
As the semester ended this week and I held my last clinical day with these young men and women, I was thrilled to be a part and to witness their knowledge growth. They had finished out their first semester and were successful. Each had developed strength, confidence, but more importantly, their passion to care for people became stronger.
I salute you guys - you know who you are and say thank you for making this last semester one of my best!
They asked me to publish this "ODE" that I wrote them for their last day - so here is the "ODE" as requested.
An Ode to the
Student Nurse
Fundamentals, sciences and labs galore
I am a student nurse and I know there is lots more
I work and I slave to know all this stuff and
Go to the bedside and lose it fast enough!
The teacher, he’s great and helps me a lot,
But when he asks why, I stand there in shock
Does he not know, does he not care,
I am a nursing student and I am aware!
Ask me those questions, I’ll tell you I know
But the truth is, I am buried in oh no!
Room 235 and 236 are assigned to me,
teacher comes down the hall to tell me they are all in pee
Luis is shoutin, help me in here
The patient is squirting, it looks like yellow beer.
Todd comes a running with Amanda aside,
Paige and Landon have on their stride.
They’re working sir, exclaims Mike with a grin,
As he barrels past with the hairs on his chin.
Tammy’s a smiling, she got quite the laugh
As she sees all the students quickly run past.
She shouts Hey Teacher, you need me there too,
Only to find that her patient is blue.
Autonomic Dysreflexia she shouts to the crowd,
But she knew it already and was real proud!
Bravo to you and all of your cronnies,
The nurses love you and they are not phonies.
Stephanie just stands there gathering it all in,
Oh these silly students, she says with a grin.
They will all learn, they will all know
That nursing is something you pace as you go.
No running is needed and no shouting galore,
Simply walk to the patient and clean the pee up off the floor.
This class is almost over and it all about to end,
I know I’ve learned a lot and Teacher has been my friend
Today I sit and ponder the fate of my career,
I wonder to myself, was that really beer?
Student Nurse
Fundamentals, sciences and labs galore
I am a student nurse and I know there is lots more
I work and I slave to know all this stuff and
Go to the bedside and lose it fast enough!
The teacher, he’s great and helps me a lot,
But when he asks why, I stand there in shock
Does he not know, does he not care,
I am a nursing student and I am aware!
Ask me those questions, I’ll tell you I know
But the truth is, I am buried in oh no!
Room 235 and 236 are assigned to me,
teacher comes down the hall to tell me they are all in pee
Luis is shoutin, help me in here
The patient is squirting, it looks like yellow beer.
Todd comes a running with Amanda aside,
Paige and Landon have on their stride.
They’re working sir, exclaims Mike with a grin,
As he barrels past with the hairs on his chin.
Tammy’s a smiling, she got quite the laugh
As she sees all the students quickly run past.
She shouts Hey Teacher, you need me there too,
Only to find that her patient is blue.
Autonomic Dysreflexia she shouts to the crowd,
But she knew it already and was real proud!
Bravo to you and all of your cronnies,
The nurses love you and they are not phonies.
Stephanie just stands there gathering it all in,
Oh these silly students, she says with a grin.
They will all learn, they will all know
That nursing is something you pace as you go.
No running is needed and no shouting galore,
Simply walk to the patient and clean the pee up off the floor.
This class is almost over and it all about to end,
I know I’ve learned a lot and Teacher has been my friend
Today I sit and ponder the fate of my career,
I wonder to myself, was that really beer?
Friday, December 7, 2007
Thoughts - Reflection
So - I have returned to school to finish my Masters degree. Ultimately, I want to teach. That has been and continues to be a firm desire of mine. I think I have a great deal to offer new nursing students. I have been teaching in an adjunct capacity for sometime now. Interesting though, that every time I finish a degree in nursing, the requirements to teach on a full time basis seem to change right at the same time I finish school. It can be and often is very frustrating to me. While I recognize the need for faculty members to have advanced degrees, it is frustrating how the degree requirements change right at the same time as I finish my education.
Ok - here is my question - when I finish my MSN, will the requirements for teaching change again to the PhD level? Is it a bad thing to require more advanced education for nursing educators? No - not at all, but I really wish someone would clue me in the changes so I can be prepared rather than disappointed.
I will earn my PhD and then colleges and universities are going to be hard pressed to tell me that I am not qualified to teach.
Ok - enough about that!
I have not been on for a while and apologize to my devoted readers ( I think that totals about 2 people), but you are both very special to me and I am glad that you read my blog. I have really grown to love blogging and hope to spend a great deal more time doing this. Of course - right now I should either be at the gym, finishing (starting actually) my Christmas shopping, or doing my homework assignment, which is due tonight. But I'd rather be here.
I am going to begin a section in my blog for theory. As I finish my course work on nursing theorists, I have discovered that theory can be extremely interesting. Yes, the elements of theory are boring and some theories are simply boring as well. But, the more I read and discover nursing theory the more compelling I am to inquire further. I think there is such a need for effective theoretical framework as nurses navigate the health care maze these days. We need empirical information that will help us as nurses to advocate for our patients and get the care they need.
Patients enter and leave the health care system so fast that many of their chronic needs fall through the cracks. As nurses, we have an opportunity and an obligation to help these patients access care and serves that will promote a quality of life. As a nurse - I love the advanced technology of our time, but I hate the health care system. There needs to be major change if we are ever to help those that need our help the most. As the baby boomers age - the system will become more bogged down and access to health care more difficult for those that need it the most.
As nurses - are we powerless to voice our desire for effective change to the system? I DON'T THINK SO! We are the most powerful professional group in health care. Our numbers are staggering, if we would only come together with one STRONG, collective voice. Yelling - IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE! Are you going to join and become a member of the collective voice? Or, are you going to just sit back and watch the system devour patients? Interesting and thought provoking.
Ok - here is my question - when I finish my MSN, will the requirements for teaching change again to the PhD level? Is it a bad thing to require more advanced education for nursing educators? No - not at all, but I really wish someone would clue me in the changes so I can be prepared rather than disappointed.
I will earn my PhD and then colleges and universities are going to be hard pressed to tell me that I am not qualified to teach.
Ok - enough about that!
I have not been on for a while and apologize to my devoted readers ( I think that totals about 2 people), but you are both very special to me and I am glad that you read my blog. I have really grown to love blogging and hope to spend a great deal more time doing this. Of course - right now I should either be at the gym, finishing (starting actually) my Christmas shopping, or doing my homework assignment, which is due tonight. But I'd rather be here.
I am going to begin a section in my blog for theory. As I finish my course work on nursing theorists, I have discovered that theory can be extremely interesting. Yes, the elements of theory are boring and some theories are simply boring as well. But, the more I read and discover nursing theory the more compelling I am to inquire further. I think there is such a need for effective theoretical framework as nurses navigate the health care maze these days. We need empirical information that will help us as nurses to advocate for our patients and get the care they need.
Patients enter and leave the health care system so fast that many of their chronic needs fall through the cracks. As nurses, we have an opportunity and an obligation to help these patients access care and serves that will promote a quality of life. As a nurse - I love the advanced technology of our time, but I hate the health care system. There needs to be major change if we are ever to help those that need our help the most. As the baby boomers age - the system will become more bogged down and access to health care more difficult for those that need it the most.
As nurses - are we powerless to voice our desire for effective change to the system? I DON'T THINK SO! We are the most powerful professional group in health care. Our numbers are staggering, if we would only come together with one STRONG, collective voice. Yelling - IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE! Are you going to join and become a member of the collective voice? Or, are you going to just sit back and watch the system devour patients? Interesting and thought provoking.
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