I wish sombody would have told me......

[Xcited 2B-N-RN]

I start nursing school in 6 weeks (5 weeks, 6 days to be exact) and I'm sooo excited I can hardly stand it! My question to all of you is; What do you wish you would have known either before, or during, your program?

I wish sombody would have told me...

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I wish I'd known how many times I'd have an emotional breakdown in the first semester. Wait.....maybe if I'd known that, I wouldn't have done it.

[philanurse74]

When your instructors say jump you will need to know how high and be mid-air before they finish their sentence. :)

Oh and this I knew and it held true: It will all be so worth it. Many congratulations!!

These are both the most true things about nursing school I have ever read.

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

What I wish I'd known:

--That you'll absolutely need a bookcase, a study area, and a reliable compute/internet connection. I actually had to get 2 bookcases.

--That you'll be telling people "No, I can't, I've got to study" so often, I want to just make a recording.

--That only 1/3 of the people in my class would make it, so don't get too attached.

--Get those new glasses now.

--Some nurses are mean, stupid, nasty and cruel -- and you'll have their patient.

--Some students are mean, stupid, nasty and cruel -- and they'll be in your clinical group.

--Some patients are mean, stupid, nasty and cruel -- and you'll be their student nurse.

--What do they call the person with the lowest passing grade in med school? Doctor. And the size of the Ego is in inverse porportion to actual ability. Lucky you.

--You'll use more psych than you ever thought -- with the families.

--You'll learn just how many people come to the hospital for things it would NEVER dawn on any "normal" person to go for. Like "near syncopy" or "emesis x1" for people who are drunk off their backsides.

--You'll never believe how many folks come in for the narcotics. And how they come up with a new story every month, like you haven't seen them during their prior CIWAs.

--Codes are NOTHING like tv. I spent my first code shoving the furniture into the hall and then sitting in the sink, out of the way. The last one, I was doing compressions, and pushing epi -- and automatically ran for the ambu bag when I saw the chair and the bedside table getting slammed into the hallway by another nurse, I didn't wait to hear the tones.

--Listen, watch, and pay attention to the experienced people on the floor. No amount of book learning takes the place of hands on experience.

--AND MOST IMPORTANT: You can do everything wrong, and they can still live; you can do everything right, and they can still die. There's only one Person in charge of that, and it's not any of us.

Good luck, and see ya out there...

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

And just so you know, it's not all bad. I saw the daughter of an acute CVA at the grocery store, and she came up and hugged my neck and told me how much she appreciated me looking after her mom. She went on with her shopping, and I sniffled in front of the macaroni.....it can be the most rewarding job you'll ever have.

[jenrn6282]

What I wish I'd known:

--That you'll absolutely need a bookcase, a study area, and a reliable compute/internet connection. I actually had to get 2 bookcases.

--That you'll be telling people "No, I can't, I've got to study" so often, I want to just make a recording.

--That only 1/3 of the people in my class would make it, so don't get too attached.

--Get those new glasses now.

--Some nurses are mean, stupid, nasty and cruel -- and you'll have their patient.

--Some students are mean, stupid, nasty and cruel -- and they'll be in your clinical group.

--Some patients are mean, stupid, nasty and cruel -- and you'll be their student nurse.

--What do they call the person with the lowest passing grade in med school? Doctor. And the size of the Ego is in inverse porportion to actual ability. Lucky you.

--You'll use more psych than you ever thought -- with the families.

--You'll learn just how many people come to the hospital for things it would NEVER dawn on any "normal" person to go for. Like "near syncopy" or "emesis x1" for people who are drunk off their backsides.

--You'll never believe how many folks come in for the narcotics. And how they come up with a new story every month, like you haven't seen them during their prior CIWAs.

--Codes are NOTHING like tv. I spent my first code shoving the furniture into the hall and then sitting in the sink, out of the way. The last one, I was doing compressions, and pushing epi -- and automatically ran for the ambu bag when I saw the chair and the bedside table getting slammed into the hallway by another nurse, I didn't wait to hear the tones.

--Listen, watch, and pay attention to the experienced people on the floor. No amount of book learning takes the place of hands on experience.

--AND MOST IMPORTANT: You can do everything wrong, and they can still live; you can do everything right, and they can still die. There's only one Person in charge of that, and it's not any of us.

Good luck, and see ya out there...

WOW!!!!yes yes and yes.....that post sums it up nicely.....especially! -

--AND MOST IMPORTANT: You can do everything wrong, and they can still live; you can do everything right, and they can still die. There's only one Person in charge of that, and it's not any of us.

and also the first patient you have die you will remember forever and your first patient who codes...will be traumatic!

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

And just so you know, it's not all bad. I saw the daughter of an acute CVA at the grocery store, and she came up and hugged my neck and told me how much she appreciated me looking after her mom. She went on with her shopping, and I sniffled in front of the macaroni.....it can be the most rewarding job you'll ever have.

Agreed, nerdtonurse, I have seen patients or their family members out in the community and it is really special to get a thanks. Pretty humbling to think they remember you after all these months/years.

[casperx875x]

I wish somebody had told me that nursing school is not even close to real-life nursing.

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

I wish somebody had told me that nursing school is not even close to real-life nursing.

What, you don't work at NCLEX General, where there's all the staffing, all the supplies, and all the resources you'll ever need?

[BeccaznRN, RN]

.....how important it is to be a sponge and to take every experience as a learning tool, but to NEVER think that you are finished learning or that you know it all.

Congratulations! Enjoy nursing school and learn as much as possible. It will be over so soon.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

--That you'll absolutely need a bookcase, a study area, and a reliable compute/internet connection. I actually had to get 2 bookcases.

I have three bookcases and still have books on the floor and in my closet.

[casperx875x]

What, you don't work at NCLEX General, where there's all the staffing, all the supplies, and all the resources you'll ever need?

:chuckle I don't even know what I would do with myself!

[lizmogrant]

thank you for that encouragement.. I feel my instructers eat their young.. they really make my classmates and I feel stupid & that we'll never make it..