Pre-graduate Jitters

[ABM1227]

i am a nursing student who will soon begin her 4th and final semester of an asn nursing program.

i always thought upon graduation i would be filled with a sense of pride, accomplishment, and knowledge.

instead i'm finding myself questioning what i have learned, felling nervous, apprehensive, and concerned about finding jobs.

i feel like a baby bird about to be thrown out of the nest and i'm afraid i wont be able to fly.

i guess i am just wondering how all of you graduates felt about your upcoming gradutation?

how difficult was it for all of you to find your first job or internship?

what are some of the biggest challenges you felt you had to overcome during this transition period?

[Turd Ferguson]

You are making the transition from student nurse to new-grad nurse, and the fact that you are nervous is a good thing! It's those that aren't worried about the transition that scare me.

As far as finding a job- start networking now. Use this semester's clinical experiences to make connections for possible jobs, references, letters of recommendation etc... (you're going to need them!). I spent this past semester doing some serious networking with everybody that would shake my hand, and I've already been through the interview process and got a full time new grad job offer in a hospital before taking my finals.

You've worked hard to get where you are, you've just got to stick with it and really follow through!

[IndiKast]

Personally, I'm terrified, again. Late 2008 I was 5wks from graduation and suddenly got stupid. I had a very tough and very new clinical teacher who decided I wasn't ready to graduate. She put me on probation because I wasn't thinking things through to her standards. I remained "stupid" and was kicked out of school after a second warning. No one died. In fact I saved a patient who threw a PE. But that didn't matter. I was left taking my LVN instead of an ADN through clinical hours and have spent the last two years working to prove I deserve my RN. BTW, I got stupid because I was suddenly diabetic. Not a single one of my instructors stopped to ask themselves why this A-student was suddenly not up to par. And FYI, I'm now not diabetic. But yes, I'm still scared. My final exam is next weekend. Things still happen. Suddenly. But hey, it's Nurses week! That's a good sign right?