being prepared

I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to watch a young person, full of life and new to it, suffer and die. It is gutwrenching for me this day. When someone has lived a full life , decline and eventual death is a natural process, in my reasoning. Whole different ballgame with kids. And its why I can't do pedi to this day...particularly oncology pedi, which turns me into a quivering mass of jello.

My admiration is with those who can work with sick and dying children.

Is there any one thing that you weren't ready for coming out of nursing school?

Please let me know how inadequate you really felt.

My bladder was not prepared to work 12 hours w/o a pee break...

Nor was my stomach prepared to go w/o lunch...

and my mind will never be ready...

i definitely was not warned or prepared for the ongoing petty and malicious back-stabbing that occurs between nurses every single day, 24/7. since then i've been advised to develop a thick skin but to this day, i still haven't gotten used to it.