Things you wish nursing school would have taught you?

TAKOO01, BSN · Jul 29, 2019

Uh, everything? Some specifics: IV starts, blood draws, how to deal with short staffing specifically related to nursing, managing nursing work cultures.

Tips for nursing school:

Prepare so that youre not asking the floor nurses questions with obvious answers

Be helpful to floor nurses. Dont hide from the work

Let the instructor know what you want to see, he/she may be able to call you over when the action is happening

What I learned OTJ:

How to navigate the awkward relationship between nurses and ancillary staff. You're not really their boss, but somehow you're responsible for they do (or dont do).

I have been places where they are awesome, know more than me and are willing to share info as well as do their job superbly. I have been places where they use the fact that nurses are held to account for their work as an excuse to spend the day relaxing and gossiping about how nurses make the big bucks, so they can do the work.

I learned to be firm and not engage in the nonsense with the ridiculous ones. I learned to show gratitude to those who do their work, which makes my work easier.

Ok, im done now?.

Vanessa76 · Jul 29, 2019

Thanks for the great tips

bitter_betsy, BSN · Jul 30, 2019

So I'm still a student but.... sorry its long

1. Don't buy all the crap that Pinterest says you need. You need a notebook, a pencil (or 10), good shoes and a good backpack, earplugs and headphones. My backpack has: a pencil bag, a CHARGED battery charger with appropriate cords, iPad (and iPad pencil), notebook, bottled water, debit card. This is exactly what I take to clinical also. You don't need all that crap they say you do (except maybe extra scrubs - you do need those).

2. Buy every dang book - new - with the computer stickers inside so you can use all the resources from the book to do the nclex style questions (or buy the ebooks because they are lighter and easier to carry around!!). AND DO NCLEX questions until you speak sentences nclex style. The rationales for what is wrong is just as important for what is right. Read them all.

3. Don't expect to perform skills you learn in class in clinicals. I have now met a bunch of nurses that have told me their first human stick was actually after they earned their RN.

4. Don't memorize anything - LEARN it. Learn how systems work and how they work together (dude has ascites and is now having trouble breathing - why?? well his abdomen is filling with fluid, pressing on his diaphragm making the space for his lungs smaller so he can't fully expand his lungs and now its harder to breathe.) Don't study for the test - study for being a nurse. Really learn and understand how stuff works. When you get to clinical - you can then apply what you are learning and REALLY understand how stuff works. Plus you don't have to study as hard as you go along because you actually understand and can reason through the situations and questions and its easier to pick the best right answer when they are all right.

5. BE A SPONGE. When you get to clinical, be early, know your stuff, make notes and do not leave your nurse until you are to report back to your group. Know your patient and make sure you know a few basics about your nurses other patients - at least what rooms they are in and what their admitting diagnosis is so that you can help out easier. Make your clinical instructor find you because you are like a band aid on your nurses shoe. Do every skill you are checked off to do and go see every test you can go see. Keep your phone somewhere other than on your body and don't bother looking at it until after you leave. Always thank your nurse after your shift (don't forget to let them know what time post conference is at before you ever take report). Remember these nurses don't get paid for you to follow them around - sometimes we make their job harder and we certainly slow them down. Listen to everything they say and watch everything they do. I've found nurses that I want to be like and I've found nurses that I don't want to be like. When you graduate you never know if you will run into someone that you have worked in clinicals with - always make a good impression. It isn't about your friends in clinicals - this is just about you and your future.

6. Learn your meds early. Pharm tests suck. Just learn the meds like you learn systems. Now these - you do have to just memorize. Names, MOA, side effects, contraindications.... learn it all. Get a little notebook, write every med you hear and start learning them on day 1. Not even joking...

7. Nursing school is not nursing. When you get out of nursing school, you will learn to be a nurse. Nursing school is nursing school and being a nurse is being a nurse. They are in fact VERY different. We get told all the time "this is what the book says, this is what you do". Don't think for one minute that you are actually prepared to come out of school ready to be a nurse on your own.

8. Sleep now.

9. I make my own planner and I use my iCal and iStudiez to keep track of my schedule. I use iCloud to keep all my documents accessible from any device any where.

10. You will often wonder when you get to the point where you learn to be a nurse. Truthfully it is when you pass your NCLEX. Before that you will question yourself often as to why you are doing half of the stuff you are doing. I promise though - it all comes together.

Good Luck.

Next time you blink - you will be half way through!

DahliaDaisy, RN · Jul 30, 2019

7 minutes ago, bitter_betsy said:
So I'm still a student but.... sorry its long
1. Don't buy all the crap that Pinterest says you need. You need a notebook, a pencil (or 10), good shoes and a good backpack, earplugs and headphones. My backpack has: a pencil bag, a CHARGED battery charger with appropriate cords, iPad (and iPad pencil), notebook, bottled water, debit card. This is exactly what I take to clinical also. You don't need all that crap they say you do (except maybe extra scrubs - you do need those).
2. Buy every dang book - new - with the computer stickers inside so you can use all the resources from the book to do the nclex style questions (or buy the ebooks because they are lighter and easier to carry around!!). AND DO NCLEX questions until you speak sentences nclex style. The rationales for what is wrong is just as important for what is right. Read them all.
3. Don't expect to perform skills you learn in class in clinicals. I have now met a bunch of nurses that have told me their first human stick was actually after they earned their RN.
4. Don't memorize anything - LEARN it. Learn how systems work and how they work together (dude has ascites and is now having trouble breathing - why?? well his abdomen is filling with fluid, pressing on his diaphragm making the space for his lungs smaller so he can't fully expand his lungs and now its harder to breathe.) Don't study for the test - study for being a nurse. Really learn and understand how stuff works. When you get to clinical - you can then apply what you are learning and REALLY understand how stuff works. Plus you don't have to study as hard as you go along because you actually understand and can reason through the situations and questions and its easier to pick the best right answer when they are all right.
5. BE A SPONGE. When you get to clinical, be early, know your stuff, make notes and do not leave your nurse until you are to report back to your group. Know your patient and make sure you know a few basics about your nurses other patients - at least what rooms they are in and what their admitting diagnosis is so that you can help out easier. Make your clinical instructor find you because you are like a band aid on your nurses shoe. Do every skill you are checked off to do and go see every test you can go see. Keep your phone somewhere other than on your body and don't bother looking at it until after you leave. Always thank your nurse after your shift (don't forget to let them know what time post conference is at before you ever take report). Remember these nurses don't get paid for you to follow them around - sometimes we make their job harder and we certainly slow them down. Listen to everything they say and watch everything they do. I've found nurses that I want to be like and I've found nurses that I don't want to be like. When you graduate you never know if you will run into someone that you have worked in clinicals with - always make a good impression. It isn't about your friends in clinicals - this is just about you and your future.
6. Learn your meds early. Pharm tests suck. Just learn the meds like you learn systems. Now these - you do have to just memorize. Names, MOA, side effects, contraindications.... learn it all. Get a little notebook, write every med you hear and start learning them on day 1. Not even joking...
7. Nursing school is not nursing. When you get out of nursing school, you will learn to be a nurse. Nursing school is nursing school and being a nurse is being a nurse. They are in fact VERY different. We get told all the time "this is what the book says, this is what you do". Don't think for one minute that you are actually prepared to come out of school ready to be a nurse on your own.
8. Sleep now.
9. I make my own planner and I use my iCal and iStudiez to keep track of my schedule. I use iCloud to keep all my documents accessible from any device any where.
10. You will often wonder when you get to the point where you learn to be a nurse. Truthfully it is when you pass your NCLEX. Before that you will question yourself often as to why you are doing half of the stuff you are doing. I promise though - it all comes together.
Good Luck.
Next time you blink - you will be half way through!

^^^THIS, is all brilliant advice and I wish I had read it before I started! In hindsight though, I probably wouldn't have understood it, and the reasons behind it nearly as well as I do now. #4 is GOLDEN and sums up my philosophy in school. Some people wanted to race through the modules and tests like hurdles in a race. I looked at them like mysteries I was determined to solve for my own curiosities sake. Two years later when it was time to take the NCLEX predictors, It was a cakewalk as was the NCLEX itself.

Dive in and learn how the human body actually works, It's fascinating stuff! And the rest is just hard damn work and not giving up!

**LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM** · Jul 30, 2019

2 hours ago, TAKOO01 said:
How to navigate the awkward relationship between nurses and ancillary staff. You're not really their boss, but somehow you're responsible for they do (or dont do).

This. I was a 22 year old traditional 4 year BSN grad and worked with aides who were all mostly grandmothers. I wish I'd been taught better tools for how to navigate the power struggles that inevitably come with this complex dynamic.

RNperdiem, RN · Jul 30, 2019

I wished I had more skill in giving patient report to the oncoming nurse. For some people, this kind of verbal skill comes easily, but not me. Many of the newer nurses I work with girls give organized reports by system using a brain sheet. Wished i knew that then.

allnurses Guide · Jul 30, 2019

The things I see most lacking in new nurses these days are:

1. Resiliency

2. Realistic expectations

3. Grit (close relative of resiliency)

4. Interpersonal skills and ability to have face to face interactions that are warm, genuine and therapeutic

5. Anxiety management

6. Prioritization

araew2129, ADN · Jul 30, 2019

1 hour ago, not.done.yet said:
The things I see most lacking in new nurses these days are:
1. Resiliency
2. Realistic expectations
3. Grit (close relative of resiliency)
4. Interpersonal skills and ability to have face to face interactions that are warm, genuine and therapeutic
5. Anxiety management
6. Prioritization

As a career changer to nursing, after 15 years in social work, I can 100% agree with this. This was what I tried to teach all the baby social workers I was training and the things I hope to bring into my career as a nurse!

JadedCPN, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2019

1 hour ago, not.done.yet said:
The things I see most lacking in new nurses these days are:
1. Resiliency
2. Realistic expectations
3. Grit (close relative of resiliency)
4. Interpersonal skills and ability to have face to face interactions that are warm, genuine and therapeutic
5. Anxiety management
6. Prioritization

I can not like this comment enough, truly. Every single one is on point.

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Jul 31, 2019

To listen. The person precepting you may do something different than you were taught. It doesn't make it wrong. If you don't understand, or it looks wrong, ask! You could learn something new, or it could be policy and procedure difference. But be open to the experience and you will grow!

brownbook · Aug 1, 2019

1) You will make mistakes. Doctors and nurses with 30 years experience will make mistakes. This is what to do when you make a mistake.

2) You should be saying, "I don't know that... medication, that disease, that diagnosis, what that is", several times a week....adding but I will find out may be appropriate. Doctors and nurses with 30 years experience say this without embarrassment...NO ONE knows it all. There are always new drugs, new diseases, new diagnosis, NO ONE has every drug, lab value, etc. memorized.