Top 5 Reasons Why Student Nurses Rock

Nursing students are the lifeblood and the future of the nursing profession, but their importance is often underestimated. The purpose of this article is to offer reasons why student nurses rock. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

Top 5 Reasons Why Student Nurses Rock

Nursing students sometimes get a painfully raw deal while receiving their education and training to become nurses. For instance, their eagerness to learn and questions are occasionally met with cold receptions from a handful of staff nurses and patients whom they encounter during their clinical rotations. Some behaviors interpreted by students as unkind or disrespectful are eye rolling, heavy sighing, and using a dismissive or impatient tone of voice (Crotty, 2010). Furthermore, some student nurses say they have received humiliating treatment from certain nursing professors.

However, student nurses rock for multiple reasons, and their significance to the nursing profession cannot be underestimated. Every nurse in existence today started out as a nursing student at some point in his or her life. Every expert in his profession started off as a novice before acquiring the knowledge and experience that allowed him to achieve mastery. The role that student nurses contribute to society should not be taken lightly. The following are five reasons why nursing students rock.

1. The students' courage allows them to step into the unknown.

Nobody knows what the real world of nursing will bring until they actually start working as nurses. Even the modern-day nursing school experience does not fully prepare a student for what shall come. The nursing student who is cognizant that he or she still has much to learn is exhibiting courage for continuing to walk into unknown territory.

2. Nursing students will one day be the nurses who care for future generations.

The student nurse who observes the code blue on the telemetry floor during his or her clinical rotations might be the same professional nurse who saves the life of your mother, father, child, spouse, or even you many years from now. The student may graduate and become the nurse who helps safely bring future generations into the world at the birthing center, or they might maintain our dignity as we pass away.

3. Nursing students maintain the interest in the profession.

Some professions and vocations have withered over the years, not due to a lack of need, but as the result of a lack of interested people desiring to enter those fields. As long as passionate people continue to express interest in becoming nurses, the nursing profession still has a fighting chance to weather the storms that lay ahead in this new era of healthcare.

4. Nursing students display fresh enthusiasm to learn.

The nursing profession is complimented by the wonderful students who display eagerness to learn, positivity, energy, and the willingness to help others in their times of need. Their passion, wide eyes, and ideals help to balance the negativity that a handful of experienced nurses express.

5. Student nurses are the future lifeblood of the nursing profession.

The students of today will one day be our coworkers, floor nurses, nurse educators, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, managers, leaders, and political activists. It is in everyone's best interest to be kind and and exchange mutual respect with every encounter, for student nurses are the future of the nursing profession.

To sum this all up, student nurses rock! Thank you for embarking on the journey to join the ranks of the nursing profession. You will be our colleagues someday, and I cannot wait to work with you.

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TheCommuter, BSN, RN, CRRN is a longtime physical rehabilitation nurse who has varied experiences upon which to draw for her articles. She was an LPN/LVN for more than four years prior to becoming a Registered Nurse.

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

Thank you so much for all the positivity you bring to this board, Commuter. You rock, as well. :)

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

What a wondeful and positive article. Thank you for that so much! I have been preparing myself and trying to get excited to go back to school for my third and final year of nursing school and this was so encouraging and well needed. Thanks!

Lovely... and Positive towards everyone.. Plain and Simple. I loved this article

Aw shucks. Thanks.

Thank you so much!

my fIrst day on clInIcals I was advIsed to run away as fast as I can by my preceptor! I dIdnt and I am now a clInIcal OR nurse who loves havIng students and grads! I have formally preceptored 3 students and they have all become OR nurses...well done all you future nurses- we need you xx

Thank you!!!! I'll be starting nursing school on Wednesday.

Specializes in Orthopedics.

Feelin' the love and positivity!

Not getting nursing students to shadow with my is the one thing I miss about day shift. I loved having students because I get to dork out and share all the things that are cool about my job with them. They challenge me to put in to words why I do what I do and I truly enjoy passing on the support and knowledge that I received as a new nurse. I'm a big fan of networking, so since I've benefited from those farther along it merely seems like my responsibility to be willing to extend a hand to those just starting out.

Specializes in Oncology.

LOVE nursing students - their idealism and enthusiasm are infectious. While it may take a little more time out of a nurse's day to work with a student, it is so worth it. You never know, down the road that student may be the future nurse who takes care of me when I'm sick. What an honor and a privilege to be a part of his/her early professional development. Thank you commuter for taking the time to write such a thoughtful, encouraging, and supportive post.

Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.

It was refreshing to see a Registered Nurse active in the field give respect to the student nurses and RN hopefuls. When I was in my first year of my ADN program, my clinical instructor once told me that "nurses eat their young" and while it's "not fair" it "is what it is." I never understood why. There doesn't seem to be any great reason that anyone has been able to yet provide me to support why this system is in place, or why it's so widely accepted, but it's reading this article really made me realize that there are still practicing RNs in the world who do appreciate the nurses of tomorrow.

We may not be RNs yet, but our knowledge base and our enthusiasm is strong, and our work ethic alone is enough to have earned respect.

Great article!