How has Nursing changed you?

I do not feel any different. I do like the responsiblity that comes with the job. Finally all the classes pay off!

Jennifer LPN

I graduated from LPN school in August and will find out if I passed the NCLEX tomorrow. Since graduating, my whole demenor has changed. I am still doing CNA work but I come to work with my uniforms starched and my little nursing pin on. I try to do my hair everyday(I usually pull it back.) The nurses tell me that I look like a real nurse. Im planning on buying one of those Ultrascopes and a whole new wardrobe. I have a job waiting on me that is paying me $7 a hour more than Im making now. Its strange but I feel like a totally different person. Did anyone else feel this way? I guess I am feeling proud of my accomplishments and taking it up a notch.

Nursing changed me in a few ways, some negative, many more are positive. I enjoy comprehending most of the medical jargon discussed in my favorite medical documentaries and television shows. I enjoy teaching the patients and consulting with the other disciplines on courses of treatment. I am now re-reading my textbooks, because now, I am not under any pressure to learn 20 things in two days. I do feel as though I am an important member of the health care team, for the most part for my own commitment and contribution moreso than the perceived negativitity that LPNs receive because I am not an RN. I have numerous opportunities for making money from home care, vaccination nurse and will be working per diem in med-surg soon (my main job is a hospital clinic).

The negative is that I am less trusting of my co-workers because I have seen people being jammed royally. Unfortunately, you must pick your associates carefully. I am more tired and irritable than before, developed plantar fasciitis, and funny, enough, because of the profession I enjoy, I do not have much of a life right now. That is due to having an increased ability to make extra money to pay some back bills. I see that many of the nurses I worked with in the past as an aide are not the best role models as a relatively new nurse, so, I have to watch what they advise me as well as what they tell me to do.

You are always learning as a nurse, no matter what level you enter. I have to research information on a constant basis. I went to an army base to vaccinate soliders before being shipped to Iraq, and I had to give myself a crash course in side effects of vaccinations such as yellow fever, typhoid, Hep A, and other more exotic shots and have to be quick in informing the people of side effects. I don't understand nutrition very well, so, I have been reading about diet and vitamins, lately, so I can teach better. No matter what, take this as an opportunity to grow as a person as well as a nurse.

i feel like i am fulfilling my dreams and hardwork!! nrsg has made me ultravigilant of myself and my work, it keeps me on my toes, everyday that i go into work, i try to do things more efficiently and better than before, it keeps my eyes open, and keeps me thinking!!

Nursing has changed me in alot of ways one being able to say i strived for a goal and i reached it even with all of the bumps in the road. I also feel better as a person because i am actually proud of myself and i worked so hard to be where i am today.

I am so with you Commuter, as I am out of the honeymoon stage. Nursing is so not like school. The real deal is that you really do have to watch your back with certain people. On the plus side, I have learned a lot and continue to learn. I too am a non-catty, introvert so I do find it hard to adjust to certain situations.

My language has cleaned up a lot, and I'm more likely to say, "It must be upsetting to you to have to wait for someone to answer the call bell" than, "Bite me."

Oh, and having worked with demented old folks for so long, it takes a lot to get me angry now. I can really let things roll off my back in a way I never could.

i think nursing has hardened me somewhat. death doesn't bother me as it did before becoming a nurse. i have a better understand of illnesses of course.

the one thing i don't like since becoming a nurse is that friends/family will ask me questions about things. i still think its best for them to ask their doctor. i don't know everything and don't claim to. this is a big pet peeve i have, i just wished they would ask their doctor. once i was at a church function with my sister and someone had a problem, she said "my sister is a nurse". i wanted to crawl under a rock , nothing like being put on the spot.

Absolutely no offense is intended toward anyone, but all of the nursing students who posted responses may wish to revisit this very same thread after a year or two of working full time as a licensed nurse to see if their perspectives change somewhat. I'll bluntly declare that the real world of nursing is so very far removed from the textbooks and clinical rotations of school.

Nursing has changed me in one major way: the sight, smell, and thought of death doesn't really bother me much anymore. I now fully comprehend that human life is temporal, and that no person is placed on this earth to live forever.

However, it has not changed my personality. I am still a laid-back, quiet introvert. I have never been catty, envious, or the type of person who snitches on colleagues.

I am so with you Commuter, as I am out of the honeymoon stage. Nursing is so not like school. The real deal is that you really do have to watch your back with certain people. On the plus side, I have learned a lot and continue to learn. I too am a non-catty, introvert so I do find it hard to adjust to certain situations.

Yeah, I would, too. It is not like I desire to rain on anyone's parade; but, the honeymoon stopped for me before I began. I wanted to be a nurse because I do enjoy the exposure to science and medicine, I do enjoy people and I wanted to have the ability to obtain a position whenever I want to. I really do enjoy those aspects of nursing, but I am also a realist (not saying others are not). All of that has happened for me. Because I worked in a hospital for many years, I was not surprized to see that BS that goes along with it. Nursing is not an honorable profession by far. You have to be strong to survive in our jungle. I think I spend more time looking like I am pissed off because I hate to witness the things that I see so frequently.