Let’s appreciate the little things in nursing school! (and in life!)
There’s a lot that goes into the making of a nursing school experience. Of course, when you think of school, you immediately focus on the hundreds of tests you’ll have to pass to survive each semester because that’s what school is right – learning material, regurgitating information, passing exams. So much weight is on every test and every quiz; it’s where you learn the bulk of your formal education.
But what about that other side of education? The learn-between-the-lines part that makes you a well-rounded individual and nurse. I think what sets people apart is taking the time to appreciate those odd, miscellaneous, “get this out of the way” assignments and experiences. You know what I’m talking about. Those group projects, simulated experiences, and the weird assignments on ethical situations that you at first dread writing or doing.
Yeah you can rush through them, put in the minimal amount of brain effort and probably still pass with flying colors, but what if you actually took the time to make each and every one of them mean something? Actually took to heart what you’re writing or the situation you’re overcoming in the experiences outside the books instead of just rushing onto the next thing.
Now, maybe all these “little things” aren’t quite as big as that final exam in patho that your whole first semester is dependent on, because I get it, it’s pretty vital. But I do believe, it’s the little life experiences that shape who we are and help us develop our very own nursey character. When we take a moment to reflect and understand the importance they have on you, you grow.
Every day I go to work, I assess my patients, I review labs, I pass out medications, I send patients for tests/procedures, etc etc. Ya know the everyday regular nursing things. But what I really choose to recognize and remember are the moments I have a special conversation with a patient, or get to see and learn something unique and out of the ordinary for the first time, or when I’m proud of myself for stepping up or outside my comfort zone when it was necessary. Those are the moments where I feel like I grow as a nurse and as a person. I choose to find and appreciate the little things in my day. It’s exactly why I can come home after work and say I had a great day and that I love my job.
Nursing school was no different. What you take away beyond the books and the NCLEX questions is up to you. You can be the person that complains and whines about all those extra papers, projects, and clinical rotations “that don’t matter,” or you can be the person that embraces them, makes them meaningful, and lets them shape you into a stronger, more balanced nurse.
This week I wanted to break down a few of those larger experiences and even the little every day ones that you’ll encounter and why you should make the most of them and be thankful they exist in your life.
Simulation Lab with the Group
At some point in nursing school, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to go to the lab, work with a group and encounter a weird or uncomfortable nursing situation and as a group decide how to handle it. During my time, we did this every semester and worked with mannequins and live actors as we confronted something out of the ordinary or scary.
Now of course until you do this, it’s going to feel unexpected and scary, but don’t let that overwhelm you so much that you can’t think straight. Remember they are mannequins and actors. No one is going to die and the point is just to make the decisions you think are best for the situation at hand. Try not to snoop and figure out the scenarios, because the stress and thrill of thinking on your feet is what you’ll take away and will help you in real life on the floor.
Think with me for a second. In real life, no one is going to prepare you for your shift and say that a patient is going to code or fall out of bed or have some crazy reaction to a medication. Life just happens. And as a nurse it’s your responsibility to think on your feet and make the calls and get the ball rolling for your patient. Maybe you’re the one that has to decide to call the code or the doctor or security. Maybe it’s you that has to get stern with the patient or the family.
But now at the same time, in real life, crazy stuff isn’t alwaaaays going to be happening 24/7 (unless maybe you’re in an ICU or ED or trauma department, then yes probably), but for the general staff nurses out there, there may be routine days without patients constantly crashing. Because of that, it’s hard to actually practice handling these stressful situations when they only come up now and again.
So let this be a time to learn how to handle the weird and awkward and overwhelming situations in a safe environment. So yeah, maybe expect something out of the ordinary to happen and just try to keep calm and talk out ideas to each other! When you’re a nurse in real life, you are going to have a little team to back you up and bounce ideas off of. And other people are going to be more knowledgeable in some areas than others. And that’s what your day is going to be like even as nursing students.
Some of you may have been EMTs or CNAs or pharm techs or even servers that have dealt with rude customers and know how to handle certain situations. Use each others talents and skills you already have and let that help the day run a little smoother. But at the very least, stay kind to one another. I have heard horror stories of people yelling at their group members and freaking out. C’mon, it’s sim lab. Yes, you should take it seriously and do your best, but that should mean remaining professional and cordial with everyone in your team even if you think someone is making a bad call.
Because ya know what, that happens in real life and it’s so important for everyone to be on the same team and keep your patient as the focus! Have fun and stay calm and use this as a chance to build some confidence and remind yourselves you’re going to be great nurses! Don’t be the people that blow this experience off and act like it’s not a big deal. It is a big deal and when you have to call your first code or stroke alert on the floor, you’ll be happy you were put in these mock situations early on.
The Fake (but real-life) Patient
Just like the group scenario, at some point you may have to encounter a real life, actor patient. It’s different than the mannequins because there is a real human sitting in front of you. However, instead of focusing on the physical skills, the point of the simulated patient experience is literally to work on your therapeutic communication skills!
These people are just actors that know very little about medicine or nursing and their primary focus is to see how you make them feel as a patient. They’re not necessarily looking that you did the exact right things medically or knew everything about their illness, but that you try to keep them calm, and connect with them so they feel safe and cared for.
This may literally make you want to hurl, especially if you haven’t worked in the hospital as a tech or CNA, but does not mean you won’t know what to do. Let’s think about it like this – I’m sure you guys have already had a ton of friends and family members text you or ask you about all their weird medical problems because ya know, you posted you started nursing school and they magically think you know everything in your first two weeks.. but think about how you would respond to them.
First you would totally listen to their concern. Say whatever you kinda think you already know about their problem and then do your best to look it up and say you’ll try to find the answer. No one actually expects that you know the answers to everything yet and no one expects that you’ll do the exact right thing. The point is that you say and do something!
Also remember that there are so many ways to “do the right thing” and probably whatever your instinct is to help them, is probably right and go for it! You guys have better gut feelings than you probably even realize, so don’t overthink! Also it’s okay to say that you aren’t quite sure about something and you’ll ask the doc or you’ll look that medication up and answer their questions when you get back. (I still do this in real life literally every single day!)
The actor or actress in front of you just wants to know that they are seen and heard and you’re going to do your very best to help them, that’s all! Maybe even try to enjoy the conversation with him or her. Don’t let this experience overwhelm you, even though you’re going to be standing at the door and your heart is literally going to be pounding, thinking you may be having worse medical issues than the fake patient behind the door.
Here’s the Nurse Duda way to start your simulation experiences and once you get in a habit of making this your introduction, you’ll get into the zone and it’ll immediately start to calm you so you can focus! (Ps, whenever I meet a new real life patient, this is practically still how I start my conversation.)
Knock on the door, walk-in, smile (literally actually make yourself smile cause it calms you and changes the way your voice sounds in a good way), as you’re introducing yourself “hi 🙂 good morning my name is Lindsey and I’m going to be your nurse for the day” (be walking over to the sink to wash your hands. Finish washing your hands, and go right to the patient and confirm their name and date of birth) “can I just get your name and date of birth please”, (looks at band) “thank you Ms. Jones, do you have any allergies that you are aware of?” “No, okay wonderful”, and then you can start in on what their issue is.. “so what brought you into the hospital originally?” Or “So how are you feeling today?” And blah blah blah..
If you can get in that little habit and just roll through that shpeal no matter what the patient is saying or doing, and you’ll immediately be off to a great start in your very own nurse mindset!
*In my case in school, in order to pass my senior capstone class in my last semester, I had to do one last simulated experience and we actually had a list of like 21 possible diagnoses that our patient could have and you have to go in and spend 30 minutes talking to them. We had to get their full history and complaints and do a focused assessment and give them education. The best part is that the whole thing is video taped (lol talk about wanting to crawl into a hole of embarrassment!) But I promise by then you’ll be feeling way more confident, especially if you take every one of these small experiences seriously!
The most important part! After your experience ends, we always had the chance to go back in and talk to our actor while they gave us feedback. Truly listen and take their advice. This is the little part that can really start to impact how you handle yourself as a nurse. Unless you get a nasty patient someday that points out all your flaws, chances are no one is going to give you feedback for how you make others feel. It’s an important time to learn self reflection.
The only way to grow in life is by understanding where you stand and where you lack skills and choosing to own it, without excuses. So just use these times in your first few semesters as total practice and an opportunity to evolve because it really doesn’t matter as long as you show up, do your very best, try to grow, and remember hand hygiene!
Overcoming Check Out (even if you failed)
We spent a while talking about how to survive your skills check out because while it may feel like one of those little things in nursing you just have to get through, having the ability to learn a skill and repeat it back while maintaining sterility is the name of the game in nursing. But, no matter how much you practice, sometimes things just don’t go to plan and are forced to have to revisit and go back and retest. I’m here to tell you that it’s not only okay that you have to do this, but that you can turn this little, crappy thing into something meaningful and powerful.
It’s okay to be bummed at first because it is a pain in the ass to have to go back and redo things, when you already have zero free time, but try and be thankful you do get another chance. Use these opportunities as times to prove to yourself you can have faith in yourself to overcome difficulties. Let yourself try those different approaches: practice with a friend that you feel comfortable with and have them watch you while you do the skill or go to the sim lab alone during free time. Do something different and prove to yourself that you can change and evolve and overcome this little thing.
Also! Do not let other people make you feel any less because you have to redo something. Chances are you had a crazy hard instructor that saw every freaking detail and you made a little error. Everyone will have their moment they struggle and use it to help yourself grow. Resilience: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. That is all you are experiencing right now and you will recover from it and you will become a stronger student and nurse from it!
It’s because of moments like this, that I know I can overcome anything. Setbacks are a part of life. Things not going according to plan are a part of life. It’s how you react and handle adversity that shapes you into a confident person. It’s something I take with me to work every single day. When shit hits the fan, I know I’ve risen to the occasion before and can do it again. Cultivate those skills right now during these “little setbacks” and know that it is shaping you into a badass nurse that just handles it.
Remember: Recognize your weaknesses, own your mistakes, don’t make excuses, and decide you’re going to improve. Now, no one can ever use it against you.
The Ethical Papers
Throughout nursing school, you’ll have a ton of little papers to write that will help you to dive deeper into your morals and the ethical decisions you’ll make as a nurse. Now most of the time, it’ll be “obvious” how you should respond to these prompts because “it’s the right thing to do.” Although, when it really comes down to it in real life, you might question how you really react to or treat those odd, difficult situations.
Okay for example, when I was in school we had to write a response to how we care for someone who was a prisoner. Long story short, the prisoner was more critical than our other cute, sweet old lady down the hall. Both of them ring their call bells at the same time, who do you go assess first? The prisoner is the obvious choice right, cause clearly, you’re a good nurse and you don’t want anyone to crash on your watch. Butttt, on a deeper level how do you feel about caring for someone who is in jail or say is chained to the bed, or is transgender, or has a mental illness, or appears to be abusive to their family? How are you going to handle a tough situation with a coworker, manager, doctor, or overstepping family member?
You will come across this sooner than you think as a nurse and only you truly know how you will respond. Not only do I think it’s so important to take these “little” ethical papers seriously, but I think you can learn a lot about you when you’re truly honest with yourself. As a nurse, I would hope you would always follow the nursing oath to do the right thing and put your own morals aside and provide the best care for the patient you are assigned that day. But I do also think it’s easier to do that when you’ve taken the time to reflect on yourself and come to terms with your own biases.
Every day things worth smiling over
I wanted to leave you guys with a few simple and smaller things to remember and appreciate while you’re in nursing school. It’s not always about the big projects or tests, or even little papers and assignments you have to do; sometimes I think it’s about the teenie, tiny every single day moments when you catch yourself smiling or feeling whole or proud inside. Choose to pause, appreciate, and celebrate those just as much.
Here were a few of mine, and I’d love to hear the little things that make your day!
- when you rewrite your notes in pretty colors and they just look so dang pretty
- when your family/friends text you to wish you luck on your test
- when you taste that perfect cup of coffee before that long night ahead of studying
- going to bed knowing you can sleep in as long as you need to tomorrow
- when your friend goes out of their way to help you understand a topic or practice a skill
- getting that official passing grade
- when the professor lets you out 10 minutes early
- when you go for it and answer a question correctly out loud in class
- late night laughs with your friends trying to cram for a test
- looking back to day 1 and seeing how far you’ve come
- closing out the world and jamming to your favorite song after leaving a hard exam
- the satisfaction of crossing things off your to do list
- when someone holds the door or smiles at you while on the verge of a mental breakdown
- splurging and ordering your favorite food or takeout
- the moment a hard concept finally clicks and makes sense
- hitting the “submit” button on a paper that is due in a few hours or minutes
- when a professor or instructor compliments you for something you did
- having a conversation with someone and feeling like you’re understood
- kicking your shoes off after a long day of lab or clinical
- noticing something pretty or beautiful on your morning commute to class
- discovering you can push your mind and body to new limits
- remembering how lucky you are to be in nursing school because this was all you wanted
Romanticize your own world, every single day.
Remember happiness and contentment is not about a checklist or the next milestone. It isn’t just reserved for when you finish your first semester, or get pinned with your BSN, or when you pass the NCLEX, or when get your dream job, or finally get into grad school. You deserve to feel happiness and contentment every single day, because your life – it’s happening right now.
I think it’s all about those little things that add up to be your life. Every lesson, every conversation, every positive or negative encounter, every obstacle you over come, and every moment worth smiling for is what makes up you and gives you a reason to feel fulfilled and proud! Don’t forget to love the little things because it’s better to be too much in the current moment, than to look back and think you were too cool for the little things, while waiting for the “next big thing.”
Be the person that wakes up every single day with a purpose, and is excited about life; that makes the most of every situation, and chooses to think every day life is fun. I promise you’ll find yourself loving and appreciating more of your days, even the sad, overwhelming, or stressful ones.
Don’t stop pushing to be the amazing nurse you know you can be, and as always, stay positive my friends!
Xoxo, Lindsey ♡
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