Being a new nurse is freaking scary. All the time you spent binge drinking coffee, cramming for tests, memorizing lab values and texting under the desk seem so heavenly and pleasant in retrospect, for once you pass your state board exams and set off into reality, thats the actual tough part.
After 2pm tomorrow, I have officially 3 more shifts at my job before I hang up my stethoscope, and try some new adventures for a bit. This doesn't end my nursing career by any means, I am just taking a small hiatus to travel, and enjoy being young - for if this job taught me one thing, it taught me to enjoy life while you can, because getting old and sick is super lame. This also means that my last day will mark one year of employment with one of the more challenging nursing facilities in my neck of the woods.. One year may not sound like much, but to me it is a major accomplishment, as I had found days where I wanted nothing less than to crawl into a soft cozy blanket cave, and stay there for days, eating ice cream and crying in the dark.
In this year I have learned SO Much. Things that school was completely wrong about, and things that were spot on.
Here is what I can tell you:
Doctors aren't all total A-Holes! In fact, as long as your efficient and nice, they're usually okay, Its the mean tired nurses you gotta worry about, they do eat their young, but not before stalking the hunt for weeks behind the victim's backs, then shredding them into pieces out in a desert safari.
There is never enough time in your day. Ever. and you will never finish all your work. so quit trying. You will probably forget to drink water, eat, use the bathroom, or stop running for like the first 9 hours of your shift, and whatever you're scheduled to work, expect to stay about 1-2 hours past that, and you still wont finish. Oh and your scheduled "Days off" will be filled with calls from work, trying to take away your day off.
You should probably get a sleeping pill prescription. Ambien is a beautiful thing, but the $2 "Sleep Aid" works just fine.
Poo Happens. A lot. And Puke and Pee and Bedsores and Skin Tears and G-Tube intestinal fluid explosions.
Many-a-Laughs will be laughed, so lighten up and retain your humor with every day. It will get you very far.
Many a tears will be shed, so don't wear mascara, and dont think it's a bad thing to breakdown into a waterfall of sobs to your boyfriend at 12AM, hopefully he's nice like mine 
They can try and try, but Nursing Home food will never taste good. Especially Puree Ham Sandwiches.
Sometime's your patience will wear so thin, that you need to step outside and breath, or shout into a pillow, or smoke a cigarette once in a blue moon, even if you don't smoke. Call me crazy but sometimes all you need is Three Words: After Work Cocktail.
Death isn't as scary and sad as you'd think it to be, in fact, at times, it really is a beautiful release and a happy thing for many. I have experienced so many eerie, magical events happen before/during/immediately after a patient's death that it's made me reconsider a lot about our existence on earth. and when people say "I just don't wanna die alone" Trust me, chances are you probably will, I think some people end up choosing it that way, and its not necessarily a bad thing.
Buy good shoes. The uglier the better!!! Just do it. Those ugly shiny clogs are just perfect. Pink Snakeskin, Breast Cancer Ribbons, Whatevs! Your knees, back and feet are about to be sore and ruined for the rest of your life, so try to slow the process a little bit.
Just Listen. Over and Over again on NCLEX questions, class exams, lectures, They told us, when a patient is talking, the best thing you can do is just listen. It sounds easy enough. Just do it! Even if your rushed, which you will be, don't scramble for quick answers to problems, or ways to solve their emotional hardships, just sit down and don't say a word. They will do all the talking for you. They might cry, or yell, or whatever, but sometimes all they need is for one single person to just give them time to sort things out.
And lastly:
TRUST NO ONE. Seriously. Friendships in the workplace can ease the pain, but when there is a bunch of high stress women in a big room together, it is a big recipe for drama. Don't trust anyone else with your keys, don't tell anyone anything personal, don't add any coworkers on Facebook, just do your work thing, and keep the rest of your life separate. It has been the best decision I have made this whole year. I have seen employees get girls "they don't like" fired, Narcotic Diversions, Marriages have split up, Cat fights have happened in the middle of the hall. All things I have had the pleasure of staying way out of. As if your job isn't hard enough, you don't need that extra Bologna. Just do your job, and leave.
