A Day in the Life of a Nursing Student

Finding the right job is something a new graduate looks forward to. I started applying for jobs throughout my preceptorship! Applying for jobs can be difficult. It’s hard to know exactly what you want or what area you will fit best in. I knew that I wanted to work somewhere that had a variety of patients and also somewhere I knew my skills would be used. With these thoughts in mind I knew I was looking for a medical/surgical floor job. I knew this would be a good fit for me as a new nurse.

I did get an interview for a position on a med/surg floor. I knew that I wanted this job. I was comfortable with the facility and knew that I would fit in!!! Interviewing can be scary. You never know what you will be asked or really what to expect. The advice I can give is really to be yourself. Also know yourself. Think about what kinds of questions they will ask you. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Of course stay calm. Don’t get too nervous. Be confident in your education and your abilities. Know that you don’t know everything as a new nurse! 

After the interview I felt great about it. I felt it went really well and that I did the best I could in the interview. The day of graduation came and then the call. I got the position. It felt amazing to be offered the job!

So for those of you applying….Good Luck…….there is a perfect fit out there for everyone!

Well in about two days I will be accepting my Nursing pin and I will be walking across the stage at graduation. Let me tell you it feels amazing. These last two years have been crazy. I have never worked so hard to accomplish anything and I never realized how much I would grow as a person during this time. I always had the end in sight and now that i’m here it just feels wonderful.

When you are going through the motions everyday you forget sometimes to enjoy the experiences that you’re having. I feel that this program prepared me to enter the nursing world and I’m ready to. It will be a good feeling to work in a field that I know I was meant to be in. I wish everyone could feel that way about their job. Even though the hours will get long and of course there will be good days and bad days but to go to work doing something you love is special. I feel blessed that I was able to get through the program and also to be able to live out one of my dreams! 

Thank you to all the instructors for putting in the long hours with us!! Also thank you to all the supporting staff that makes the nursing program work!!

See you all at pinning on Thursday at 3 pm in the Gym at MSTC and then graduation to follow at 7 at MSTC in the gym!!

Everyone is always looking for the great secret for studying for finals. Well I would say that everyone is different and we all learn differently and we all have our own study habits. Something that I  feel is extremely important to do in order to study is to USE the study guide you get from your instructor if they give you one. This has always helped me. It helps you pick out the high points in each section and really breaks down the information to what you need to know. Also don’t spend a lot of time studying  the things you already know. Start studying the chapters that you have had the most trouble with. This system has worked for me all 4 semesters!  If you spend most of your time on the information you had trouble with and refresh yourself on the stuff you did well on you should be well equipped to take the final exam. Also if your instructors put anything out there for extra learning on a wiki page or other study materials try to utilize them if you can!!!

So today you should go through your binders and mark the chapters you need to concentrate on. This gives you a place to start. As you move on and study more of the chapters refresh daily on the stuff you studied the day before. Just keep building!

Good luck to all of you during these last few weeks of school. Remember you worked so hard to get to this point keep pushing for the next few weeks!!

Each semester the nursing program taught me something different. Here is what you can expect in each of those.

First semester – In this semester you start to get your feet wet.  You start developing your knowledge on the nursing process. You have your first skills class where you learn the basic nursing skills that you need. For example you learn how to take and interpret vital signs, injections and how to do a physical assessment on a patient. You are also introduced pharmacology. This class may only be a first semester class but learning medications is endless as a nurse.

Second semester- This semester has accelerated classes. They are approximately 8 weeks in length. In this semester you are challenged to use critical thinking. The testing is stepped up to a higher level where you learn to apply the knowledge you have. You have clinical rotations in med/surg, Pediatrics and OB-Gyn. This semester prepares you  to practice as a practical nurse. In this semester you also start to connect pieces of the puzzle with patient care.

Third semester- In third semester I feel that this is where you start to learn your way as a nursing student. In third semester you learn advanced skills such as venipuncture (IV’s), blood administration and central line care. These advanced skills allow you to become a larger part of the care in your patients at clinical. Also you feel a lot more confident in your assessment skills and you can really start incorporating more teaching to the patient. In this semester you also take a mental health class that allows you to understand what a patient may go through who has a mental illness.

Fourth semester- This is the best semester. As a nursing student you get your wings in a way. At clinicals you start taking on a team of patients as you work along side the nurse that is assigned to them. This is the time to really see where you are at with your nursing practice. You grow so much during this time and learn a lot. This semester you also have a managment class where you learn a lot of legal aspects of nursing and also you learn about nursing ethics.

You grow so much during your two years in the nursing program and hopefully the great down of each semester helps pain a picture of what you can experience during that time.