Transition: Student to Nurse

[khobbs98]

I am a student nurse that is graduating next month. What is the most difficult part of transitioning from student to nurse? What is the best part (other than the paycheck)?

[Libby1987]

I would say that you no longer have the luxury to go slow and work through things at a thoughtful pace. In school you tackle tough subjects while spending a great deal of time understanding the concepts, on the job you are in constant motion and making decisions while carrying out tasks on your feet with a productivity expectation.

I'd say the second is how essential it is to consider the first year on the job as an extension of school where some have to study harder, put more time in to learn and perform the basic functions. It seems it is expected to essentially put life on hold and live on ramen during school but there's supposed to be a life during the first year on the job. I think if new grads expected to go home to sleep, eat, exercise a little and continue focused job relevant study on days off for the first year there wouldn't be such a huge shock to the system when they encounter the rough transition.