According to the Guinness Book of World Records, a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing is the toughest degree to receive, and with good reason. The program is full of impossibly hard exams, countless clinical hours, and being covered in things that must not be named. The changes from freshman year to senior year are exponential, but the memories you make are worth every hard-earned moment.
Waiting for the acceptance letter that will change your life forever.
Finally getting accepted.
Ten minutes later, you get bombarded with deadlines of things to do.
Background check, immunizations, TB test, CPR...What did I get myself into?
Once classes begin, you want to practice you new skills on your roommates.
They live in constant fear.
The first time you put on your scrubs.
The 1000th time you put on your scrubs.
When you leave your first nursing exam.
Or, really any of them.
When you start clinical and have to give your first catheter and it's like...
When your instructor warns the patient that it's your first time giving a shot.
And therefore, they scream when you poke them to scare you. And it works.
The first time you're splattered with blood.
The first time you're splattered with...other body fluids.
Giving report to the intimidating doctor. Ugh, SBAR.
Getting home from your first (actually, every) 12-hour shift.
When you realize that sundowners are real and terrifying.
Giving your first, and second, and fifteenth IV.
Finally giving a successful IV.
Oh, the flash. That beautiful flash.
Your first experience in the ER.
Filled with heart attacks, belly pain, and the occasional man with a bottle rocket sticking in his thigh that he tries to convince you "is fine". No, sir, you are not fine.
You can tell there's a full moon without looking at the sky based on how your patients are behaving.
Jello. Just jello.
Code Browns.
If you didn't know what it was before, you definitely won't forget now.
Seeing a delivery, which is simultaneously the most beautiful and horrifying moment of your life.
Being halfway through your assessment when the family drama starts in the room.
Having to subsist on hospital food.
You have a special bond with your fellow nursing students that nobody else can understand.
You finally graduate and realize that all the hard work, impossible exams, and bed baths were worth it.
Wait...now I actually have to be a nurse?