Residency: What I Learned (Final Reflection)

chemshark, BSN, LVN, RN · Dec 24, 2017

What can I say? This has been an eye-opening experience. Everything that I didn't learn in class, I learned here. My 3 biggest takeaways are:

1. Time is EVERYTHING

2. If you have a problem with someone, TALK TO THEM

3. Stay positive

"Nursing is a people profession, so don't do it alone." (My new mantra).

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FINAL THOUGHTS

It's mundane, but to me this place marks my official transition from Marine Corpsman to Registered Nurse. It took me 13 years to get here. And always with the help of others, both military & civilian. And I will keep going until I reach my goals.

DISCUSSION

"One of the known reasons that newly registered nurses are more vulnerable is because they have known areas of knowledge need and no past experience as registered nurses, making their work more subject to micro-managing or scrutiny" (Griffin, 2004). No truer words have been said. When I had a problem with how hard my preceptor was pushing me, and how she was criticizing me in front of others, I talked to Professor. She encouraged me to discuss my feelings with my preceptor and I did. She didn't realize that she was being so harsh but said she wouldn't back down & would keep her expectations high (especially w/ charting!). But she would at least try to criticize me away from the nursing station & be more patient with me. That was all I needed to regain my confidence. It wasn't until Week 05, but I think I truly started to progress at that point. When the wife (an actual nurse educator) of a patient screamed at me for putting in a Foley on her husband differently from how she teaches, my preceptor & the other nurses gave me reassurance. And when a mother (also a nurse) of a patient I was drawing blood on snatched my tubes from me while I still had the needle & tourniquet on her son because she wanted to label it herself, my preceptor stood up for me and made me redraw it on my own again but this time with support.

When I interviewed my preceptor, to talk about the nursing profession/lateral violence/patient violence, at first she said "Don't let anything get to you and just move on." But after a while, she came back and said, "No, you should ask for help. Know when you need it."

Nursing is a people profession, so don't do it alone. Now, on to the next thing!