Now that I am done with my first semester, I notice certain things that I have never noticed before, I have certain feelings/attitudes that I've never had before, overall, I just feel different, but I am the same person. I really can't describe it. I can actually visualize caring for people, when before, caring for others seemed so distant.
I know I have a long way before I become an RN, so maybe it's just my imagination with all these "changes". I've been to college before and went through a transition in my life, but I think that it had more to do with my circumstances and my age than with school.
Did you notice any changes while in school? After graduation? Did others pick up on those changes, and at what point?
I don't feel like a nurse yet...been one for a whole 9 months. I feel like a waitress, flight attendant, customer service rep, drug dealer all rolled into one because that is what management expects from us. It's more about customer satisfaction than patient care. I spend the smallest amount of my shift doing actual patient care. My patients don't care that I prevented them from bleeding out, they only remember that I was a few minutes longer than they expected on getting their juice, blanket, or whatever. Then charting to cover my a** takes another chunk out of my shift. Totally not what I expected from nursing...sorry...I don't really feel like a nurse at all yet. Maybe someday.
I felt like real nurse the day I was able to handle 8 emergencies during an 7.25 hour shift without upcoming panic when hearing the approaching paramedics, without omnipresent fear to make a critical mistake.
Then it was the first time I was thrilled and excited about my next critical patient, eager to do my best for the patients best outcome - but it took me a while...
I truly felt like a nursing student when I was reading a blog by a 'civilian' and the writer mentioned feeling VERY thirsty during two oral glucose tolerance tests. All I could think was "Yup, you're probably diabetic." Lo and behold, she was. I still have a year until I graduate.
Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.
I was about halfway through my accelerated program when I realized I was subconsciously assessing the man walking in front of me at the store.... Hmm, gait is off- CVA, polio, CP??? nursing diagnosis, interventions, etc... I thought, "Huh,I guess I am learning something from all those care plans. Maybe I can learn to be a nurse."
A year after graduation, I explained to a friend why electrolytes are important. She said, "I am glad you are a nurse."
I saw a patient at a home visit with an undiagnosed, serious infection.(She started out by saying, "I have this little sore.") I called the doctor's office and explained she needed to be see that day, explained to her family why she had to be seen immmediately. She was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics and had surgery the next day. The next visit, her grandpa, with tears in his eyes, shook my hand and said, "Thank you for taking such good care of my girl. Thank you for caring." I knew I made a difference and I felt like a "real nurse" (whatever that is).
When more experienced nurses explain something to me and I actually understand it, I feel like a nurse.
Though I have moments when I feel like a nurse, I am aware every day of how much I do NOT know. There is always so much more to learn. I can't imagine nursing ever getting boring. I love learning new information even if it has nothing to do with what I am currently doing. I find it all very interesting.
:lol2:
serenity1
266 Posts
I don't feel like a nurse yet...been one for a whole 9 months. I feel like a waitress, flight attendant, customer service rep, drug dealer all rolled into one because that is what management expects from us. It's more about customer satisfaction than patient care. I spend the smallest amount of my shift doing actual patient care. My patients don't care that I prevented them from bleeding out, they only remember that I was a few minutes longer than they expected on getting their juice, blanket, or whatever. Then charting to cover my a** takes another chunk out of my shift. Totally not what I expected from nursing...sorry...I don't really feel like a nurse at all yet. Maybe someday.