Reflection of My Very First Semester of Nursing School

My first semester of nursing school was something I will remember for the rest of my life. The shock you feel once you realize your no ordinary student puts the whole program into perspective. Meeting the people you will soon call your closest friends makes everything you go through well worth it.

Nursing students, and I'm sure this feeling is mutual throughout all nursing schools, are not among the average students you see walking around campus. Once you start the program you can expect to: have no social life outside of your clinical group, become well aware of what it feels like to be in class for ten hours straight, and completely forget about the idea of cramming before a test. The main shock comes from realizing the world you just stepped into. You as a student are required to know so much at such a fast pace and there is no other option. I know that for me personally failure is and will never be an option, my only choice is to put in the work and achieve what I view as success. All that matters at the end of everyday is that you came and attempted to conquer.
If there's one thing I can picture all professors saying is that "no one else will understand what you're going through unless they're in nursing school," and it is absolutely 100% true. It was so nice to be able to bond with people in your cohort because we're all in the same boat, and if one goes down we all go with them. These people are what made first semester of nursing school one for the books, without them I don't know how or if I would have made it this far. I'm so excited for the rest of the program and to grow closer to all these amazing people. I feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such smart, loving, and funny people.
My first semester will be something I will never forget. From the shock of the first test to the meeting of new people, these things are what contribute making the first semester of nursing school an unforgettable one. All that really matters at the end of the day are two things: 1) how hard you tried and 2) the people who were along for the ride.

Nursing Communication: the good & the bad

THE GOOD

Communication can be an important part of the nursing process. This simple tool, something we do on a daily basis for multiple reasons, can mean the difference between a good or bad day. As a nurse, you are there to listen to the patients concerns, fears, and joys. You should always take the time to sit down and pay attention, for you could be the only person this person has to talk to. More importantly, it is your job to communicate with other people in the health profession. The good part about this is that it leads to better and more effective care. When your a nurse your job revolves around communication, its up to you to make sure that it is done effectively. 

THE BAD

With communication being such a powerful tool in the medical field, nurses have the power to use it ineffectively. When this is not done properly, the patients care is in jeopardy because the nurse failed to communicate the necessary information to the nurse of the subsequent shift. In addition, nurses can communicate about the wrong and/or unnecessary things instead of focusing on the patients they are assigned to. On countless occasions, I have witnessed the nurse I was assigned to gossip in the hall, right outside the patients room, about certain patients and how difficult or dramatic they were being. I felt it so wrong to gossip like that when I knew that the nurse had multiple things that were in need of being done. Nurses can take vitals all day long, but they play a vital role in the functioning of a hospital.

Communication- the human 

connection- is the key to 

personal and career success

-Paul J. Meyer