Survival Guide to Nursing School Post #1

I never thought that nursing school would be as tough as it was. And I didn't just come out of high school and go into nursing. I have a good background to judge. Nursing was my second degree. My first was in Biology from which I graduated with honors. Getting my bachelor's in nursing was much tougher than my bachelor's in biology.
I survived nursing school!
And you will too! But not without a new best friend. It will come naturally, because you will be like a fish out of water with all the work and the questions and the clinicals and holding people's lives in your hands. You need someone to study with, to vent with and to ask all of your questions to. Your friends who are not in nursing school will never understand! They think they know what it's like to be in school, but they don't know what it's like to be in nursing school. I met my best friend in my first real nursing class. After that, we went through every single class together and now we work on the same floor in the same hospital! That was not planned, it just happened to work out that way. She works during the day because she has 2 kids and I work nights. So now at work when I come in early and she's working I always go to her and see if I can help her and I do the same when I'm leaving work and she's coming on. She does the same for me. And when we were both first starting out, there were times when the day nurse left me with 8 patients who were a mess and I had no idea what to do, she was there staying late to help. I owe her my sanity. She is an amazing nurse and mother and I am so thankful that she was there in my class needing a friend too. Don't worry, this all comes naturally with nursing students. I have seen it with everyone in my class, especially those who are getting a second degree. We all bonded together and helped each other through everything. We made sure everyone got through it, we would not leave anyone behind. That's just what nurses do and that's why we became nurses!

A little about me...

I’d like to begin by telling everyone a little about myself. I only started my nursing career a year and two months ago. I have always been able to tell people exactly how many months I have been a nurse for because I was just waiting to hit that year mark so I could get out of the med-surg nursing and move to a specialty. Without giving away too much information, I work on a cardiac medical surgical floor, where the nurses have 7-8 patients who in any other hospital would be considered step down or ICU. That’s right, that means there are days where it’s like taking care of 8 step down patients who are all on drips and can be just one day out of open heart surgery. This means that the stress is through the roof. In just the year that I have worked on my floor I have seen more nurses come and go than most people see in their career. But the nurses I work with are some of the most amazing, most caring people that I have ever come across in my life. It is heartbreaking every time one of them leaves. I do work nights, but I have also worked days, when my floor was short, so I have perspective from both day and night shifts. I still am constantly asking questions, because there is always more to learn. But we have many new nurses who come to me for help and advice and I absolutely love being able to help them. I would also love to learn about anyone who happens to read this post. What type of nurse are you?