First Day on the Job as a Registered Nurse

The first day of starting my new job as a Registered Nurse was a lot like my first day of nursing school. I hardly slept the night before, could barely swallow my breakfast, and showed up nearly an hour early just because I was afraid I would be late. As it turned out, I was not the only one. Many of the other new graduate nurses were early and voiced many of the same feelings. We all felt as though we were not really hired and that it was all some big mean joke.

The majority of the new graduate nurses in the residency program actually did clinical rotations within the hospital, but there were a few of us that were from out of state. Those of us that were the outsiders joined together and discussed our feelings of nervousness about not being familiar with the hospital. It was nice to be surrounded by other nurses who could relate to what I was going through and give me encouragement and validation.

Next week I will start working on my new unit with a nurse preceptor. Along with this will come more feelings of insecurity, but I know that soon I will have the self confidence to be on my own and taking care of my own patients. I am so excited for this opportunity and to begin the first leg of my new career.

I would love to hear some stories from experienced nurses on starting their first nursing job. I would also love to hear from other nursing students and new graduates about their concerns and thoughts.

My Nursing Dream Job, Finally a Reality!

The day before I left to take the NCLEX-RN exam I received exciting news. A nurse recruiter from my dream job (which I was previously told I did not get) called and informed me that they would like to offer me the job after all! I was so excited. It turns out that the person they originally picked for the position was unable to take the job. They told me that I was their alternate pick but that they did not want to tell me that because most of the time no one turns down the position.

I immediately wanted to tell them that I accepted the position, but I thought I should talk to my husband first as we had already started to make other plans. The second I got off the phone my husband said, “You took it, right?” I explained to him that I wanted to talk with him first and he immediately told me to call them back and accept. He said, “It’s your dream job! You have to take it.” So I called them back right away and accepted. It feels so surreal to be offered this job. Even after I accepted it I kept feeling that they were going to call me and tell me it was all a joke and that they really didn’t mean to offer it to me. So far, luckily, that has not happened.

It has been a whirlwind since I accepted the position. My husband and I had to pack up all of our belongings, find a new place to live, and move several states away from our friends and family. My husband quit his job and was more than willing to leave everything behind for me and my dreams. It is so wonderful to have someone who is so supportive.

It is the night before I start my new job and I am full of nerves once again. I thought that once I passed boards I wouldn’t feel this way again – but starting a new job brings about a lot of the same feelings and concerns. I am hoping that after I get my first day out of the way each day from then on will keep getting easier. Everyone at this hospital has been so friendly and supportive and I can’t wait to join their team and actually put into practice everything that I have learned in nursing school.

I welcome you to share your experiences and career news with me and the NurseZone community.

A Nursing School Loss

Recently I was made aware that a freshman student at the nursing school I just graduated from committed suicide. I happened to be present at the university the day the student’s class was informed and it was such a sad environment to be in. The professors and president of the school decided to wait until the end of the day to break it to the remaining freshman class and I can just imagine the grief, sorrow, and confusion that followed.

I remember my first semester of nursing school and all of the stress and fear that was involved. I was constantly questioning myself and whether I wanted to follow the path of becoming a nurse. There were long hours of studying and working and luckily I had an amazing support system to back me up. How do students go through this process with no support, or with excessive pressure from self or loved ones?

When I left the school that day I had so many questions. What could bring someone to do this? Why didn’t they just drop out of school? Wasn’t there an alternative to taking one’s own life? Having lost two close friends to suicide I know that asking questions only makes the process more unbearable and I can only imagine the turmoil the young student’s classmates and family are going through.

If you think someone is showing signs of being suicidal or you are having suicidal thoughts yourself - please seek help. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has lots of wonderful and helpful information on suicide and even resources that specifically apply to nurses and college students. Please take this matter seriously so we can prevent another tragic loss.

I am a Registered Nurse!

I passed! I am a Registered Nurse. The day after I took the exam I repeatedly checked my state’s board of nursing website for my license. In the afternoon my license went from “pending exam” to “active.” I was VERY excited to say the least.

It was a very interesting and exciting experience. As mentioned in my last blog, I drove to the testing site by myself. In hindsight I think that I would have preferred having someone with me. It would have been nice to have someone share the load of driving, directions, and getting a hotel so that I could focus on relaxing and preparing for the next day. However, I made it to the town safely and found the testing site the night before so it was easy to find the next day. The morning of the test I convinced myself to eat breakfast and drink some water even though my stomach was full of nerves. I also sat down at the hotel desk and practiced fifteen exam questions to get my brain working.

When I arrived at the testing site that morning I met many other testers full of nerves and excited energy. We entered the testing room individually after checking in with a Kaplan representative. I held the line up for at least fifteen minutes as they were having a difficult time scanning my fingerprints. That made my heart start racing! Once I finally sat down I made myself take some slow deep breaths for awhile until I felt calm. Then I made sure to read through the tutorial and take the practice questions to get into the flow of test taking. Then I took every question as they came and made sure to read it thoroughly and use the pathways I was taught to answer the questions.

When I finished testing I got into my car and felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I was done! I knew I had passed although I felt that the questions were more difficult than I was expecting. It was such a great relief to find out the next day that I did pass and that I was in fact a Registered Nurse.

Please share your experiences with test day jitters and waiting for results! How did you stay calm, focused and collected?

NCLEX-RN Exam Jitters

Tomorrow morning I am driving by myself to the nearest city to take the NCLEX-RN exam. I opted not to take this trip with friends or family members, because I knew that I would need to focus and internalize my thoughts to the big test ahead. The whole nursing school journey I have made to this point has all been due to my own hard work and ambition. It seems fitting that I will once again be taking a long road by myself with an unknown fate lying at the end of the road.

This past month since I have graduated I have been busy focusing on finding a job and tying up all of the loose ends related to nursing school. I’ve also been taking a much-needed vacation and resting while I can before I start a career that will last my lifetime. Although I have been studying, the closer I get to taking the NCLEX exam the more I wished that I had studied more while I could.

The past few days of studying have been the hardest on me. I keep thinking “how do I study for everything I have learned in the past four and a half years?” Simply taking lots of practice tests and answering questions are all that I seem to be able to do anymore. I think my brain is past absorbing any more new information so answering questions is a great way for me to keep it active and alert for the big day. On some days, I have also found myself to be too stressed out to study. I will sit in a chair and stare at questions and then get so restless I have to stand up and walk around for awhile. I am grateful that short breaks are allowed while taking the NCLEX because I have a feeling I may get so stressed out I need to walk it off before calming down again.

All of my classmates and friends that have taken this exam have all told me that they were convinced they failed it when they walked out of the room. They all passed. I keep reminding myself of this as I have a feeling my journey back home after the exam may be a struggle. But, I know I can do this.

The number one piece of advice that I have received about taking this exam is: “Just breathe.” I hope any of you that are taking this test shortly follow the same advice.

The next time that I write a blog I will either be a Registered Nurse or a very sad Graduate Nurse. I will keep you all posted.

Thoughts on Mandatory iPhone or iPod Touch for Nursing Students

Recently in the news I read that nursing students at Ball State University in Indiana are now required to purchase either an iPhone or an iPod Touch for nursing school. The purpose of this is to have current and easy access to medication information and medical terminology without the need to carry books around.

At my nursing school we were strongly encouraged to purchase a PDA with a drug program installed, for easy searching of medications, but I opted to lug around my books instead of buying an outdated PDA. But, I definitely would have been more apt to purchase an iPhone or iPod Touch because of its versatility and usefulness not only as a resource for nursing school, but in pretty much every aspect of my personal life.

Sure there are pros to using mobile devices in our profession, but what about the cons? Along with using this technology in a productive way, I can also see that having these tools could become an immense distraction. Students could fall prey to the many applications these tools are known for and miss out on learning opportunities in the classroom or clinical setting.

Overall, however, I believe that the implementation of these tools is a great idea. Especially for the younger generation who are already implementing many of this new technology, we might as well harness its power and use it for further education.

What are your thoughts on mandatory iPhone or iPod Touch for nursing school? Do you think it’s a good or bad idea? What other technology might be useful for nursing schools to implement?

Facing Rejection as a New Nurse

As humans we all face some sort of rejection in our life. Those of us in the nursing profession, I believe, experience rejection a little more frequently. Some of you may have been disappointed when your number one nursing school choice did not accept you into the program, or you did not get your number one choice for your senior preceptorship. As students we may have experienced rejection from other nurses who refuse to respect us, or even the patients we try so hard to be compassionate and caring for. Let alone our personal lives.

Recently I was rejected by my number one job choice. This job was perfect for me and I was perfect for it. I felt completely confident when walking into the interview and really felt like I had connected with each one of the interviewers. I also felt as though I responded very well to their questions and even provided some intelligent questions about the position and hospital. But, sadly, about two weeks later I was given the sad news that although I was a “great candidate” I was not being offered the job.

It was very crushing to experience my first real rejection in the tough world of unemployment. But, as they say, “when one door closes another one opens” and I’ve definitely seen that happen. New opportunities have arisen almost immediately and I am very excited to see what doors I will actually end up walking through. I will be updating this site regularly as to my progress in that area.

I would love to hear some examples of how nursing students overcame their disappointment in not getting into their number one school/preceptorship/job/residency, etc. I’m sure many nurses will be able to relate to your experiences.