Things You Didn't Learn in Nursing School

Nurses General Nursing Video

Updated:   Published

We learned a lot in nursing school, but some things you can only learn while on the job. Here are just a few of them.

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"Whatever works" is just fine, so long as you are certain it's sterile.

Also, never be without your Kelly clamp and long-handled bandage scissors.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

1. How to be a nurse.

2. Not only can physicians be wrong, they frequiently are.

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Anything about any other areas of nursing where a new grad in California is likely to find work.

That you are still a respectable nurse if you work in a setting other than a hospital.

That the fact that our school did away with the 4th semester preceptorship (for my class only) would greatly hinder us when it came time to find employment.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
RNsRWe said:
I wonder if anyone owns the full 12-volume set? ;)

I've seen it on ebay.

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Specializes in OR, CVOR, Clinical Education, Informatic.

Don't Panic!

Words of wisdom there :cool:

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Specializes in Trauma-Surgical, Case Management, Clinic.
\ said:
Didn't learn that nurses are also pharmacist respiratory therapist, clinical techs, physical therapists, cosmetologist, environmental services and the list goes on. Apparently we do it all.

So true. As a new grad I could never understand why others were getting paid to do their job but I was expected to know how to do the job of everyone.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

Oh where to begin ?

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

No one ever explained how I should have entered graduate school immediately. Working while attending graduate school would have given the experience needed and I would be done by now. Come on 2015!

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Things I didn't learn??? Oh boy where do I start....

I didn't learn how to...

- Assess a sick or deteriorating patient, they only teach you to assess healthy patients in nursing school...smh

- How to deal with family members

- How to be a social worker, pharmacist, detective, nursing assistant, psychologist, you know all the jobs we end up having to do LOL

- How to run a code (that would've been really nice to learn in nursing school, my oh my)

- How to interact with doctors as team members and not as some scary God-like creatures somewhere up there

We laugh but it's really sad how poor of a job the vast majority of nursing schools do in pumping out competent RNs. Most nursing schools have made it their sole goal to produce master test takers, students who can pass NCLEX but not much more.

No one's saying nursing school has gotta teach you most things but it would've been nice to at least have learned the tip of the vast iceberg called NURSING!

5 years in I'm still learning & loving it!

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Specializes in Oncology&Homecare.

I learned that my life would be very different from Cherry Ames. I wouldn't get to marry the handsome doctor and live a life of adventure (she was a nurse during WW2). My uniform would not remain starched and lily white. Regardless, I have enjoyed almost every minute.

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I am still a student but I have over 6 years of experience in various health care fields. I often get answers wrong on tests because I use what I know from real life and not what is written in some random textbook. When I challenge the answer the instructor says but we are wanting the correct NCLEX answers not what you would do in practice! :banghead:

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Besides the usual stuff you don't learn in books, being a nurse has taught me the importance of listening to people, it has taught me to soothe the sweet little demented lady who is scared and has no idea where she is, it has taught me that nothing is as sacred as holding someone's hand in their journey out of this life but most of all it has taught me how blessed I am to be a nurse!!

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