[WindwardOahuRN]

Originally Posted by challenged annie

hey who ever says dont talk about well in college we were told to do it differently. Im a qualified nurse and its important to bring about up to date evidence based practice. People who talk about not saying what you have previously learned are most obviously old school and holding the nursing profession back. unless you read journals every day its usefull to have new faces to explain new ideas. If there not practicle then we will just say and give explanation. too many qualified nurses make short cuts which is where mistakes lye

Oh. Thanks for the clarification...(??)

[EDRN2BE]

You made it this far!
There is no giving up and beleive in what you are saying.
Care, Care, Care about what it is you are doing.
Stop to take a deep breath
Remain calm as best you can.
Educate, educate educate; educate your patients and yourselves.
I hate to hear a nurse say "I dont know" and give you the blind stare.
Dont turn into cattle and just show up at work.

I must say that just last week in clinical we were all in on a bronch and the patient not only had an MI and a Stroke but there was cancer found in her r ight lobe. We had a debriefing afterwards and I will never forget what my classmate said. She said " You know this doesn't change my mind about being a nurse, it makes me want to be better, Out of all those people in that room from R.T to the X-ray Tech you just knew who the nurse was, she was the one holding the patients hand and rubbing her head while everyone else just stared at her." I honestly feel that people just forget why we became nurses in the first place. I was an LVN for 3 years and decided to further my career and I am so grateful everyday that I made this decision. I love being a nurse!

[AngelsRN]

Thanks for all the advise and setting my nerves at ease. I am graduating in 3 weeks and will take my boards in Feb to be a RN -- I am so excited as this has been a life long dream that got away from me for awhile. As an experienced professional in another field, I know I have the ability to organize etc. and i have some intelligence but I have been sooooo nervous about remembering everything and feeling stupid when I dont understand something. This has helped me a lot knowing it is not just me who feels this way. I work in a hospital and will be staying on my unit when I graduate and join the graduate program in January. A nurse (who has been a nurse 20 or 30 years) asked me yesterday how my preceptorship was going and if I liked it. I said yes, but sometimes just felt stupid bec there is so much to remember. She said to me --- remember, we have all been there. There is no reason to feel stupid. The more you do it, the more natural it will become and it will become natural. But dont let any nurse tell you they have not been there . . . we all have.

So thanks for the advice --- it makes me even more excited to graduate.

[gotnurse333]

Does anyone have any tips about negotiating salary? I don't really know how much to be expecting as a BSN and how to get the most out of it. And what kind of benefits are considered "good"? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[nicole830]

Hey everyone,
I am a pre-nursing student. I will start the BSN program in Fall 2006. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what to expect in nursing school, specifically my first year. I'll admitt...I'm a little nervous and I want to be as prepared as possible. Thanks!

[bjlee]

My advice? keep your cool, Nursing (and nursing school) gets stressful, no matter what specialty. If you can keep a cool head, you're better prepared to assess, diagnose, plan, implement, and evaluate more effectively. A screaming nurse running around the ER looking in the sharps box for the narc keys doesn't do anybody any good.

[bjlee]

oh yeah, the first piece of advice I ever got in nursing school was

"Air goes in-and-out, blood goes around-and-around, any deviation is a bad thing."

worth remembering

[eedyah]

don't hesitate to ask!ask! avoid pretending that you already knew everything. nursing is a continous learning so expand your knowledge, focus your attention to the things that you find difficult.
Just be yourself and God will do the rest but you have to do your own thing...

[Cherre]

Thanks for all the advice! I graduate as an LPN Dec 14, and after ending a clinical day last week feeling totally incompetent and thinking maybe I'm not ready for this, these posts have helped.

[Barb 123]

I am reading this site because I am trying to develope a brand new program at our hospital for the New Nurse- its called a preceptor program. I would appreciate anyone completing their first year at a hospital answering 2 questions...what great things did a nurse do for you that made a lasting impression forever and what awful thing did a nurse do that has left a lasting bad taste? Please help me to help nurses.