Do you KNOW what nursing is?

[ComeTogether]

If I could write a letter to my classmates based on what I have heard them talk about and say over the last 8 weeks, this is what it would say, maybe someone will read it and choose a different route, who knows.

Nursing is HARD work and it is often times not pleasant. Wounds are "gross" and if you can't handle a picture you won't be able to handle the real thing.

HIPAA is serious. You WILL lose your job, NO you can't announce that a member of faculty is a patient where you work. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

YES you HAVE TO READ THE BOOK. You can't just google questions all day and hope it sinks in. Maybe you should try putting your phone down during lecture and, I don't know, take notes?

Please, if you're going to apply to nursing school, have some semblance of a clue as to what type of career this is going to be for you.

*huge sigh*

[Purple_roses]

Last semester, one of my classmates sat all the way in the back and just put headphones in during class. She struggled to maintain the required GPA to even be considered for the nursing program, and told me later in the semester that the teacher just wasn't a good enough one...he was apparently too confusing.

[duaneconnell7, RN]

Nursing is an emotionally fulfilling and rewarding career, and there are tangible benefits, too.You will be not the Angel but you will be the next to that. :)

[honeyforasalteyfish]

I am still in my prereqs so I am just a hopeful at this point, but I have had students ask me if the homework actually helps. Then tell me they have never opened the book. I learned the hard way to do the homework its there to help you learn. Then when I tell them I studied 20 hours a week just to get an 87. They are like wow 87 what is your secret. Well I have 100 pages of notes. I had one student tell me she did not even have a book! Oh well sometimes you have to learn the hard way like I did. Seriously though I idolized nurses when I started my prerequisites because they have been so wonderful to me personally. I suppose I still do. I feel guilty because at my age I have some more life lessons than some of these younger students. I am not that old, but the bad things that have happened in my life has made me stronger, and more determined than ever to succeed. With the knowledge I may never get an opportunity to do this again. I cannot take it for granted.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Dang. I thought the prereqs got rid of the slackers. Oh well.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I can attest to NOT knowing all that nursing entailed when I was a student. Sometimes I think back and wonder where I got some of my ideas from! Students are oftentimes self-righteous, arrogant, self-important and overly-confident in their abilities and skills. Ok....they are students. They will change their way of thinking and approach to their careers if they are to be successful in them. Just facts of life. People should expect to grow, change, evolve.

I do not believe nursing is a calling, nor a "passion". I DO believe it is a career well-suited to some people's personality and work ethics....and not for others. Being passionate about something doesn't always equate to being good at it. Being "called" relates most to those in religious orders...not a professional career. The nursing profession encompasses a dizzying variety of backgrounds and ambitions, from those who believe G-d Himself has directed their paths to those who simply want a comfortable lifestyle for them and their families. No one is in it for "The Wrong Reasons", they are all "Right" to someone.

Growing in this career means starting out a novice with minimal or no knowledge and morphing into someone who has the ability to skillfully apply knowledge gained along the way. Time will tell.

Some of your classmates will become successful, competent nurses. Some will not. Just do your best to make sure YOU are one of the "good" ones :)