What "ONE" thing do you know now that you WISH you had known then...

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either before starting nursing school or entering the profession. It seems like that I can look back at my life at every stage and find at least ONE thing (unfortunately usually more) that I wish I had known, done differently or acted upon at the time. For instance, now that my parents are both gone how I WISH, I had spent more time with them rather than chasing girls or hanging out with friends. Are there any insites that you've gained that might benefit new students or nurses that would be of some benefit?

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Gosh Roland - at 45 there are lots of things I wished I had done or said or conversely not done or not said - lol. The one thing I wished that I had done was to go straight for the BSN and skip the ADN part. Now - at 45 I'm back at school for a BSN (I graduate in May) and then onto an MSN>)

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I learned that I will learn more in hospital training than school would ever have given me, and that the biggest favor I could do for myself is to work in a hospital while in school.

Personally, I wish I had met my husband 10 years before I did. It would have saved us both considerable heartache over the years. However, at that age, neither one of us was "in that place" and we both took a little longer to mature and mellow.

There is a reason for the path I find myself on now, at this moment. Living in the moment can also be a great anxiety reducer. JMHO.

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Honestly, that stay and go down with the ship mentality gets you no where fast. I know it says "2 legit 2 quit" under my name but that is about the profession in general. It is not necessary in this business to start in a job and stay there till you retire. Just remember to keep one eye on your retirement fund.

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

Hindsight is ALWAYS better than foresight, so to regret what has already taken place would be to regret the lessons and the wisdom gained from each experience. :o

On the personal side of my life.......In hindsight, if I could return to those days gone by with my present day wisdom intact, I would NOT have married as young as I did the first time, nor would I have ever married the guy in the first place, and I would not have turned around and remarried long before I was emotionally ready to do so again, nor would I have married the guy I'm getting divorced from now. Now.......the BEST gifts that I gained from marriage number one are my three children and 12 grandchildren that we share. The BEST gifts that I gained from marriage number two was knowing I was smart enough not to give him any children for he fails to care for the three he already has (he could have more for all I know, but....) :rolleyes:

On the professional side of my life........I have no regrets for the route I took to become an RN because becoming an Associate Degree Graduate made me one hell of a great nurse! I had every intention of continuing my nursing education until I obtained my PhD, however....due to azzholes that up and leave their families to pursue "greener grass", many many women end up putting their own lives on hold for the sake of their children in order to focus on raising them as best they can without a mate. I did not want to neglect my children the way their father had, therefore, I had to put my education and my desires on hold to finish raising my three children as a single mother (until marriage number two came along and helped out).

Now that my children are living satisfying lives (as they see it), I have no reason not to pursue more education, and anything else I want to set my sights on. At age 52, my life can now be free to be adventurous any way I see fit!

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Buy an NCLEX review book before any other text book. Read the chapter in the review book before you read your assigned chapters. (make sure you do read the assignments)

This way you do not get lost in words and see what the most important information is about the topic.

I bought my review book when I graduated and almost died that the instructors took the questions from the Mosby review, word for word.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

I wish I could get it through my thick head that the DON is not necessarily pro-nursing dept, but administrator and doctor pleaser. (I know that this is not true of all of them, and I didn't want it to be true of ours either.)

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As earlier said, I wish I had gone for the BSN in the beginning. After being out 12+ years, I still haven't "gone back to school" like I said I would. (But it's not over yet).

On a personal note, I wish, while standing at the back of the church on my 1st wedding day, thinking to myself "this is not the right thing to do" I would have run like hell instead of worrying about all the guests and the "shame". It sure would have saved a lot of unhappiness, heartache and money.

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Specializes in Oncology, Cardiology, ER, L/D.
Originally posted by BarbPick

Buy an NCLEX review book before any other text book. Read the chapter in the review book before you read your assigned chapters. (make sure you do read the assignments)

This way you do not get lost in words and see what the most important information is about the topic.

I bought my review book when I graduated and almost died that the instructors took the questions from the Mosby review, word for word.

Barb, thank you, thank you, thank you for that tip! Especially coming from an instructor......

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

Briefly put, listen to you gut!

On the personal side, I wish I had listened to my gut telling me "marrying this guy is not the best thing for you," and not married the guy. The marriage was hell, the divorce was horrible and it was years before I could even date again!

On the professional side, I wish I had listened to my gut telling me "this job is not the best fit for you," and not taken the damned job. I had other offers I could have taken instead. Instead, I took that job, got cancer and couldn't quit because I needed my health insurance. (At the same time I was divorcing the above asshole!) I used to cry on my way to work because I dreaded going in so much, and cried on the way home because my shift had been so awful. I stuck it out for two years before I found a job I really wanted where the health insurance would start the very same day I started the job and no worries about the cancer being a pre-existing condition! (This was in the early 80s, when you had to worry about these things.) I wish I had listned to the little voice telling me "This patient is in trouble" a time or two as well -- finally got that one down!

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

I would have gone for my BSN since I know it would have only been about 12 more hours if I had gone to the university instead of the Junior College (of course most of those ADN credits didn't transfer to the BSN program).

I would have listened to my dentist when he said eating candy was not good for my teeth (yeah, yeah, I know, big revelation). I'm about to complete my 15th crown (3 were root canals). I don't even so mind the pain of the dental work like I mind the pain in my wallet.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

i would have listened to the warning signs next to the tanning bed saying "may cause permanent eye injury", maybe i would still have night vision.

I WOULD HAVE LISTENED TO MY MOTHER and gone one more lousy year to be an RN.

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