What is a Nurse? And Who Should be a Nurse?

I am going to preface this post with a warning. I know I am going to sound judgy, but for some reason, I feel like I need to say this. Okay...so there's your caution label! 

What is nursing? I really like this answer from Wikipedia (not a trusted source, but whatev!)

"Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life."

Okay, so before I get to my main point, let me share something with you. I don't like people. Meaning, I don't like everyone I meet. I just do not connect with everyone. (But when I do connect with someone, we're besties for life!) Sometimes, I just pretend that I like people and other times, I am not very subtle about my real feelings. It's just who I am.  But for the most part, I try to be a polite person and follow the golden rule.

When I had my aha moment and decided to go to nursing school, I knew I wanted to help people. I knew I wanted to educate people. I also knew that I had to make the conscious choice to not let my people dislike get in the way. I knew I had to let the polite part of me shine through. Well, at least while I am in my nurse role. Unfortunately, I have met quite a few student nurses who...how do I say this? To put it nicely, lack politeness and common courtesy. And these are students who are further up in the program.
Can I give an example? Seeing someone carrying an armload of stuff, walking past them, opening the door, going through it, and allowing the door the close. Or rather than speaking calmly about a situation, they get angry and defensive and others around them become embarrassed. And honestly, it's sad. I think these people are good people, at least from what I have gathered. But are they the type of person who should be a nurse?

When one decides to become a nurse, I am sure they take the salary part into consideration. Along with typically only working 3 to 4 days per week. Being an RN has its benefits! But when deciding to become a nurse - a patient advocate, the person a patient should trust - there needs to be some self-reflection involved. You need to look at why you would be a good nurse, who you are in real life, if you can check parts of your personality at the door.  Now I am not saying you should be Mary Effing Sunshine, but you should know what you are really capable of. 

Do You Want to Know What is Crazy?!

THE END OF A SEMESTER!!!

Holy moly! I have had so much stuff due in the recent weeks. And everything is getting clumped together before finals begin on May 6.

Here's what I have been up to:

• Medication check-offs
• Head to Toe Assessment check-off
• Math Tests (yep, math is very important in nursing!)
• Skills test
• Fundamentals test 
• Care Plans and Concept Maps
• Teaching Plans
• Clinical 
• SNA (student nursing association) Events

So yeah. Busy, busy, busy!

But have no fear, I will have an interesting topic for next time! I should have a new post up on Thursday. 

Good Lord! I have been one busy student nurse!

Life has been hectic, to say the least. I have several assignments that are coming due, tons of reading, on top of practicing my assessment skills. Woo! I am tired!

But I promise I will have a new blog post soon. I have several topic in mind. I just have to find the time to write them.

Check me out on Pinterest!

Check me out on Pinterest.

You can find me HERE!

Applying to Nursing School? Here are some important things to remember.

I don't know what your choice nursing school is like, but with mine, it's getting close to the application period. There are some things you should start working on. You do not want to wait until the last minute to get this stuff done. Believe me...

1. Get your immunizations done NOW! If you need them, of course. You probably have already started your Hep B series, but you'll more than likely need a flu vaccine, varicella, MMR, and a tetanus shot. You might also want to get your titers if you need them. If your titers are too low, you may need another immunization series and some of them can take a few months.

2. If you haven't had a TB test in the past year, you will more than likely need a 2-step TB test. Let me explain a 2-step TB test. You get a Mantoux test done, go back 48-72 hours later to get it read. Then a week to 21 days later, you have to go back and get a second test done and get that one read in 48-72 hours later. I didn't know this and barely made it in time before clinical started.

3. Learn Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Erikson's Psychosocial stages. You will use them in patient prep, care plans, etc. Commit them to memory! And I'll be nice and include them here!

4. And finally, start saving some money for books, uniforms, etc. Expect to spend over a $1000 in books alone for the 1st Semester. But from what I hear, they last you through the whole 2 years of nursing school. And check out amazon.com. You can really save on your care plan book, drug guide, medical encyclopedia, and lab and diagnostic book. I bought most of my books through Amazon and I am very happy with the savings! Also, they have Amazon Prime for Students. You get 6 months for free and then it's $49 a year vs. the $79 for regular prime.

What Nursing School is like...In Pictures. Dun, dun, dun!

One More Post...

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. If you can, please LIGHT IT UP BLUE and show your support. You can buy blue light bulbs at Home Depot and the proceeds go to Autism Speaks...or you can just buy a regular ol' blue light bulb at Wal-Mart, Target, or wherever.

My family and I are Lighting It Up Blue for the whole month of April to show support for my little boy. 


And one last thing... this is an absolutely amazing blog post. Please take the time to read if you can!