So you want to be a nurse? Congratulations, you are entering into an incredibly honorable and rewarding career. Unfortunately, before we get to that point in our lives, we are subject to the torture that is formally known as nursing school. No matter where you go to school, nursing students experience the same things. Here are some things you know are true if you are a nursing student.
1. Every question has two right answers -- good luck picking the one that's most right.
It's not like the exam questions you're getting wrong are because you are completely off base --
instead, you pick the right answer that is also somehow wrong.
2. Speaking of, getting good grades isn't easy anymore.
You've been the top of your class for as long as you can remember. And suddenly with all of this two-right-answers nonsense, getting As is not as simple as it used to be. You're wrong a lot more than you have ever been in your life.
3. Your idea of failing is different than everyone else's.
In my school, failing is a 76.49. Some schools it's a 79. But never is it actually an F. So when you're crying because you got a 75 on a huge exam, and your friend tells you to cheer up because "that's not failing," IT IS. And it does seem like the end of the world, because you need that degree.
4. You've spent more hours studying than sleeping in the last two to four years.
That's pretty much all we do. Because when you have a test every other week on 15 chapters, there's nothing else you can do. And that's only one class. You're guaranteed to be taking at least a few more. You'll sleep when you pass.
5. In fact, studying is pretty much all you ever talk about.
I give a lot of credit to my friends and family because I'm sure one of the only phrases that has come out of my mouth in the past two years was, "I can't, I have to study."
6. Every time you leave an exam, people start bombarding you with questions as to what you put.
"What did you put for number 34?" First of all, how do you even remember what question 34 was? Second of all, it better have been B, because that's what I put.
7. You're used to waking up at the crack of dawn for clinical.
Four-thirty a.m. is the new 10 a.m. You have to beat the traffic for that 7 a.m. shift.
8. Your exercise routine/diet go out the window.
In between studying, class, and clinical, you shove whatever you can down your throat. Even though you stress to your patients that diet and exercise equates to good health, you don't always have the time to practice what you preach.
9. You become the go-to whenever one of your friends thinks they're sick.
I have had so many people come up to me and go, "You're a nurse, help me," followed by a list of random symptoms or personal details. Sometimes you try to impress them by giving them an answer, but most of the time you realize that you're still a student, and even when you graduate you can't diagnose medical conditions.
10. But sometimes your lectures make you feel like you have all the diseases too.
With all the symptoms you hear, you're bound to think you secretly have some disease too.
11. You no longer have any concept of what "dinner conversation" is.
Maybe it's not appropriate to talk about how you got peed on or give an in-depth description of how you had to obtain a stool sample while your non-nursing friends are eating.
12. But bodily fluids of any kind don't phase you.
Blood, vomit, poop -- we've seen it all. We deal with it all day long, it's no longer gross.
13. You spend hours working on a care plan that your instructor will take three minutes to grade.
It's 12 pages and took you five hours to do, and the only comment on it from the professor is "good." But because you're a nursing student, you're not going to cut any corners next time even though you know the same thing will happen again.
14. There's always that one person who thinks that they know everything there is to know.
We get it. You read the whole textbook. But a) you don't need to rub your better grades in my face, and b) everyone knows that patient and technical skills matter more than grades.
15. You look forward to pinning like it's your wedding day.
Since nursing school is torture, and all you can think about is the day you're getting out. Let's face it, you've probably had that countdown going for months, but it feels like an eternity before it finally arrives.
16. You're afraid that your first time without an instructor will be a disaster.
Sure you've done it a hundred times, but now you're on your own. There's no professor to jump in if you start to do it wrong. But relax, you know more than you think you do. You've got this.
17. In the end, it will all be worth it.
You're going to enter a career where you get to save lives. You're a real-life superhero. Nothing is more rewarding than that!
