New Nurse Tips
Final exams should be over. If you’re in nursing school sometimes you might think that it will never end…but it does, many times sooner than we would want it. In case you missed it here are some articles we had on our blog.
Finals are over – http://www.nclexreviewonline.com/finals-are-over-how-to-stay-ahead-in-nursing-school/
The next issue will be on December 30th and we’ll be talking to you about Goals.
Today we’re going to talk about making your Winter break productive… we talked a little about that in a post and we had some folks that asked us some questions (and we love questions), and hopefully we’ve answered those questions here. BTW if you have any questions, please send us a note. We don’t claim to know all of the answers but we will be able to ask someone who does.
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Things to Do during the break
Here are the questions.
- How can I make sure that I study? The best way I’ve found is to make a schedule. Block out a couple of hours every day. When I was in school if I studied x amount of hours then I would reward myself with something that I wanted to do.
- So I have to study the whole break? Of course not. I think I’ve mentioned before even during school I took most of Sunday off. If you study two or three hours a day, take the weekends and the holidays off too.
- What should I focus on? I would review things I had trouble with last semester. Take some time and do some Math tests, those will help you find out if you need to work on a specific area. If you think you might have trouble next semester (me with OB) then read ahead and you can start studying now.
- What if I need help? Ask your friends, ask your teachers. Ask us!
If you have any tips, please don’t hesitate to post a comment.
More New nurse tips
If you passed nursing school in the spring, then you’re already working. I plan on having some thoughts for you, that will hopefully help you make work a more pleasurable experience. Being a nurse is hard. You will earn every penny that you’re getting paid. Some nights will be great, other nights you will wonder why you ever became a nurse in the first place. This time we’ll talk about finding a balance. I hope it helps you now (or when you become a nurse).
- As a new nurse. Some doctors will treat you like dirt. DON’T let it bother you (unless they’re being abusive then you need to tell your boss). I’ve talked quite a bit about my niece. She started work at the hospital here in the summer. She complained about one doctor who whenever he was getting ready for a procedure he would ask for a ‘real nurse’ to come in. I explained to her to just do what he asked her to do, and to show him that she was a real nurse. Ask questions when he did something in a procedure that she didn’t understand. I asked her a couple of weeks ago how it was going and she said that everything was OK now and sometimes he would ask her to help in with another nurses patient.
- The Good nights. You will have good nights when things go well, when you save a patient that you didn’t think you could save. When you get praise from a family member of a patient or the patient themselves. Remember those nights.
- The Bad nights. I remember nights when I would come home, sit down on my couch and cry. Me a big strong guy that guarded the border between East and West Germany. There is nothing wrong with that, I also have a wonderful wife who listened to me when the nights were bad. Find someone that you can talk to, it helps quite a bit.
- Some Do’s. Keep a journal. I know it sounds kind of dumb but writing down how you felt during a good shift, when you saved someone’s life, will help you when you have a bad night. You’ll want to jot down about the bad too. I learned more from the bad nights than I did from the good. Write down what you learned.
- Some Don’ts. Don’t dwell on things that you cannot change. Focus on things you can. Don’t get involved in office / floor politics. That is hard not to do sometimes, and maybe you are good at it, I wasn’t and stayed as far away as I could. I did my job to the best of my ability and came home.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas
