It is crucial to have a nurse report sheet that is tailored to your specific needs and preferences. A poorly designed nurse report sheet can lead to confusion, delays, and errors, and can ultimately compromise patient safety.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Nursing School as Kym At 29 years old, when my son was four months, I decided to quit the job that I had been at for fi...
After graduating from nursing school, I began looking for jobs… applying for all of my dream positions. I got the position I worked hard for and was so happy to be able to be given the opportunity! They were looking for more night shift help, so I took on the opportunity! But wait… I had ONLY been on day shifts for nursing school clinicals and classes. I get asked how hard the transition was or how to better prepare for going from days and nights. So, after much time preparing a list, I wanted to share just a few straightforward tools to help you get designed for taking on the night shift or at least what has helped me!
Lessons I Learned in Nursing School
Being a mom who was nearing my thirties, I thought I had life figured out by the time I got to nursing school. Spoiler Alert: no one has it all figured out. Through motherhood and being an adult learner, I have grown and learned more about myself in the last 3 ½ years than any other span of that timeframe throughout my life. And with each passing day, I am learning more and more about myself, what is important, and what never mattered.
One of the greatest lessons I have learned: stop comparing yourself to others. Don’t compare yourself to other people your age, other mothers, students, or anyone. The only person you should compete with is who you were the day before. Everyone’s strengths are unique to them, as are their struggles and circumstances. Comparison is the thief of joy, and the quicker you realize that the grass is greener where you water it, the happier you will become. If you allow outside distractors to influence your peace, it can stunt your progress, and the only person you should focus on throughout your journey is you.
Nurse Self-Care Series: Nutrition
Hey friends! My name is Kat; you may recognize me from my IG @thepedsnursekat. I am super excited to be writing this Nurse Self-Care blog series for RekMed. March is National Nutrition Month, which will be my focus for the blog this month. Whether we work 8-hour, 12-hour, or double shifts, nutrition is a BIG part of taking care of yourself. Taking breaks and finding the time to eat can be extremely hard when you are a nurse… breaks get pushed… admissions come early or late… codes are called… charting… vitals… meds… anyways, you get the picture.
#1 Take pauses to drink your water. I am so guilty of not doing this, and sometimes I go a whole shift with maybe just drinking a sip or two of water. This is obviously not enough! Did you know we should be drinking 2.5-3 liters of water a day? Keeping yourself adequately hydrated improves your brain function and overall energy on shift! Making tabs for yourself with a water drinking goal to hit by certain times can be helpful.
5 Healthcare Related Jobs for Nursing Students:
One of the most beneficial things you can do as a nursing student to build your resume is to work in the healthcare field. This allows you to build your skills and experience and increases your confidence in communicating with both patients and co-workers. You can improve your time management skills and professional identity and gain connections for post-graduation. Another positive to working is to help you save money or help pay off school! Many of these jobs are seasonal to give you time to work on homework/studying since that is the reason you are in university/college. I have collected a list of multiple types of jobs you can work as a nursing student to help improve all of these skills.
Whichever route you take, you’ll still be successful!
When I decided that the medical field was what I wanted to seek a career in, I was presented with many options. A registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse, respiratory therapy, radiology, scrub technician, and many other routes. I wanted flexibility. I wanted to see different things in the hospital. That’s when I decided nursing was for me. I decided to get my vocational/practical nursing license. In 12 short months, I could be an entry-level nurse, getting my foot in the door and gaining experience while possibly pursuing higher education. That’s when I started receiving backlash for the route that I chose. Comments such as: “LVN/LPN’s are getting phased out.” “You will only work in LTC.” “You’re not a real nurse.” It hindered my decision until I did more research. So here’s what I found out about the career and everything it has to offer.
When they say, you can’t… Remember you can
Whether you’ve just applied to your dream program, are in the middle of finals, or just finished the most tiring semester you’ve had yet, you might still be questioning your ability to make it in nursing. We’ve all done it; we wondered if we have what it takes or whether we’ll be able to support ourselves financially through school. Some have families and kids to take care of, while others lack confidence and let that imposter syndrome creep in. Nursing school involves hours upon hours of schoolwork every week, long clinical hours, and high-stakes exams like HESI and ATI. We wonder if we’ll have the time to do it all and still pass. This made it more difficult when you add it to having a job. I can’t tell you how many times our faculty have lectured us on why we may want to reconsider working while in nursing school (if only it were that easy). If any of this applies to you, chances are you need a little motivation and inspiration to keep on pushing through. And since it is the season of giving, I’m here to share some.
Asking For Help: Is A Strength, NOT A Weakness
So many times in nursing, we hear all of the individual tasks we must do on any given day as nurses. YOU hand out these meds; YOU take this patient here or there, YOU bathe the patient, YOU have an admission. I often hear so many new or even experienced nurses talk about the "weight" they feel having for 12 hours straight, 3-5 days a week. We feel overwhelmed, scared, angry, and most of all, alone. I am slowly learning as a new grad; we do not have to feel this way! There are SO many tools, resources, and most of all, our peers to assist us daily in the numerous tasks and skills we must perform.
Now, this is something I struggled with, especially as a student! I felt like I was burdening the nurse, asking too much of them, distracting them from what they needed to do. But one thing I was told by a very knowledgeable nurse, "If you do not ask, you will never learn if you do not know how to ask!
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint. How to Handle Failure in Nursing School
Nursing school is a long process. Whether you are in a two-year or a four-year program…there are bound to be failures or areas where you fall short of your expectations. Coming into nursing school, I was used to failure. It was all I knew because I failed out of college two times before beginning again in 2018. I had to meet with advisors, appeal my academic suspension, provide letters of recommendation, and re-take the classes I failed. Being back from that and getting accepted to nursing school, and maintaining a 3.90 GPA has been one of my most significant accomplishments. Not only am I in a position that I never thought would happen, but I am doing it, and I am doing it well. So, how do you handle failures while in nursing school and come back stronger?
While I have been doing well in nursing school, I have failed. Quizzes, medication calculation exams, skills check-offs, it happens. More important is how you handle it and what you do to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
The Weekly Preparation: Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan
I think we can all agree that there is so much prep every week in nursing school. Papers to be written, chapters to be read, notes to review… it can become very overwhelming! The anxiety of thinking about everything on that extensive to-do list we have written in a notebook keeps piling up. But managing this list and working through that list in a productive, positive way is beyond important! Here are some helpful tips to consider:
