… just thank your lucky stars we don’t have to wear these all the time.

We’re almost to the midway point of the third of four semesters of nursing school; can you believe it? Some days, it feels like the time is flying by. Other days, it feels as if it just can’t go by fast enough.

 When the days drag, your eyelids are drooping, your day job’s got you down, and you swear to GOD you can’t come up with another nursing diagnosis for your concept map, take a moment to breathe. Breathe, and then think about all the people who have made this journey a bit more tolerable—and, in some cases, more joyful. Make a mental note to appreciate them a little bit more.

Forget the occasional jaded nurse who sits behind the nurses’ station and never really gives you any input on the care you’re giving the patient. Think, instead, about that RN you’re always delighted to be assigned to—you know, the one who makes sure you’re included in report, makes sure you watch everything she does with the patient, and, in general, reassures you that someday, you, too, will be this comfortable and confident in a clinical setting.

Then, resolve to, as they say, “pay it forward.” When you, too, have finally earned the letters “RN” after your name (and that day will come sooner than you think), and an eager-but-nervous student nurse introduces him/herself and says “I’m assigned to your patient today,” take a moment to remember the nurses who helped you along the way. Then breathe and take that nervous student with you into the patient’s room.

And make the next person’s journey a little bit easier.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I drove home from our exam last night feeling pretty discouraged. We all have our own individual stressors–and then add the test, which (at least to me) felt a bit random and far harder than I’d imagined it would be. Self-doubt was definitely eating away at me in my 40-minute drive.

I dumped everything on the couch when I got home and sat down with a glass of wine (The number one cause of cirrhosis, it turns out, is nursing school!). I started leafing through this month’s issue of Nursing 2009, and I read a feature (“Listen to your patients’ stories”) that reminded me of one of the most important nursing skills–and it’s one all of us have and many of us are very proficient in: listening. It was filled with touching stories of nurses listening to patients’ stories. Here’s an excerpt:
There’s a growing interest in encouraging nurses to not only collect facts about patients but to listen to the stories patients are telling. Nurses are in a privileged place because, as trusted members of the healthcare team, we hear the stories of patients at their most vulnerable and have the opportunity to help them to learn, grow, or even experience a peaceful death. Listening to the stories of patients enables a deeper, richer understanding and more effective intervention.

It reminded me that while I still may be struggling with the academic concepts and the clinical skills, I came into nursing school with one of the most important. So when you’re having a bad day at clinical, or the Webstudy grade tab just isn’t your friend, try sitting down with your patient and listening to their stories.

P.S. I have a PDF of the article. If you’d like to read it, let me know and I can e-mail it to you, or you can find it on Ovid!

As all of you know, going to nursing school full-time, along with all juggling all the other responsibilities we have, feels at turns rewarding and mind-bogglingly overwhelming. With the test coming up, I’m sure many of us are leaning toward the “mind-bogglingly overwhelming” side of the continuum. I certainly am, especially as my day job demands the same level of performance it did six months ago — with half the staff. [You can insert your individual stressor here.]

Yesterday on the way to work, I popped All That You Can’t Leave Behind into my car CD player. I have more recent U2 CDs in my car, but this one just caught my eye. First track on the album: Beautiful Day, which is has great, bright piano music as an intro and simple lyrics–obviously the words “beautiful day” come up over and over. Listening to it took me back to the time when the album came out, in the fall of 2000. I was a newly single mom dealing with a verbally abusive ex and a lovable but completely immature folk singer boyfriend. On good days, I was great, but on low days, I felt as if I couldn’t crawl out of bed. And yet, I remember distinctly one morning listening to that very track: the morning several friends and I were preparing to run the Philadelphia Marathon. Despite the fact that it was still dark out and we were all facing our own individual struggles, the music revved us up and put a smile on our face.

I thought back to the obstacles I was facing then, and how they seemed insurmountable at the time, and yet I still found beautiful days of immeasurable happiness–and, moreover, I survived with the love and support of those around me.

So today, when you feel like nursing school is one big uphill slog, think about those moments that make each day beautiful, and think about the time you will look back at this struggle and smile, for you survived it surrounded by people who want to see you succeed!

Happy Friday, Angels!

Found this interesting story today about the latest round of medical shows, this time putting nurses center stage. Have you watched any of these? I’d love to hear what you think!

Now that I’ve slogged my way through the ERI nutrition test, I thought it best to talk about one of my favorite things: food. Actually, food is just a means to an end–the end being time with my family in this crazy world of nursing school (and a million other things).

I’ve realized that when it comes to my family, it’s not the quantity of time I spend with them (especially the teenagers, who sometimes do little more than spare me a grunt or two), but rather the quality and consistency, that counts. In other words: tradition (cue Fiddler on the Roof music here). Something you do regularly, that your family enjoys, and can count on. It doesn’t have to be a long something, but you do have to do it consistently.

Because I’m from the Midwest, my traditions have always centered around food (which you could probably surmise by looking at me). I’ve long since ceded dinnertimes to my husband (he’s better at it and he’s there more often), but my kids (big and little) have some definite breakfast favorites that are easy and tasty. All three of them can participate in the making of them in some way,  and they all freeze or refrigerate well. Best of all, the time we spend making and eating them is time spent together, and it often involves messes and laughter–welcome stress relief.

I’ve included two recipes here, as well as a link to another that I love. But maybe food’s not your thing, and that’s OK. Just find your own tradition–and enjoy those precious moments, Angels!

Pumpkin pancakes

Found this recipe on allrecipes.com when I was trying to use up leftover pumpkin from a pie. They taste like fall and Thanksgiving. Mmmm.

Sausage swirls

My youngest can’t say “sausage swirls”; instead he says “snausage squirrels,” but however you say it, they’re yummy. Got this out of a Christmas cookbook from a famous cook who lives in Savannah.

1 pound sausage (bulk stuff – like Bob Evans)
2 regular cans Crescent roll dough

Cut sausage into 8 pieces. Separate dough into rectangles (you’ll get four from each can, eight total); seal rectangles with fingers. Spread one piece of sausage on each rectangle. Roll up from short end. Chill rollups for half hour or so. Cut each rollup into 4 pieces (you’ll have 32 total).

Bake at 375 for 18 – 20 minutes on a well-sprayed/greased cookie sheet.

My mom’s bran muffins

Yeah, I hear ya already. “Ewwww, bran muffins.” Really, they’re good. Even the three-year-old likes them. Best of all, it makes a HUGE batch that keeps in the freezer for up to five weeks, which means you can make only as many as you need at a time. Nothing beats hot muffins on a cold morning!

7 cups raisin bran cereal
5 cups flour
3 cups sugar
5 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt

Miax dry ingredients in a large bowl (leave room; it’ll expand as it sits). To this mixture, add:

1 cup vegetable oil
4 well-beaten eggs
1 quart buttermilk

Mix well. Store covered in fridge. Do not restir. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes in greased muffin tins.

Saw this quote today, and thought of our first day of clinical last weekend. Even now, that first step is the hardest, and the most rewarding: Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us through them.

We made it through the first weekend! One more courageous step closer to May 18th!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve been struggling a lot with my fear over the upcoming school year and, honestly, my career as a nurse (whatever form it takes). Two things have happened recently that haven’t taken my fear away, but made it infinitely more bearable.

 One was Wednesday night’s class. Wow. I can’t remember that last time I laughed that hard at myself. Mary’s impression of first-year nursing students was so dead on, and I had this flashback to all those moments last year when I was so unsure about myself. I realized, suddenly, that the key to survival will be to laugh at myself whenever I’m freaked out, because chances are good I look pretty funny. And the fact that she knew us so well says to me a lot of nurses have been where we are before, and lo-and-behold, they survived, didn’t they?

The second was some advice from a college friend, who, like me, was a theatre major in our first undergrad career (25-odd years ago). We had lost touch, but reconnected recently on Facebook, where I discovered she is now an oncology nurse. I sent her a message the other day, just asking her how she got through that “terrified” part, and this is a snippet of her advice:

Your feelings will change day to day. When you have a success you will feel competent. When you forget something, you won’t. Just keep moving forward. Unless you have done patient care in a hospital before, there is a large learning curve. You will feel better after you have been working for six to 12 months and are off orientation. Even after many years of practice it can be scary going from one kind of nursing to another. This will happen. Perhaps when you make peace with the feelings of “terrified” they won’t seem so daunting—just keep your eyes on the prize—focus on where you are going rather than how you are feeling. As long as you focus on helping folks the best you can you won’t have time to dwell on the negative feelings. They will hold less power over you.

Try to enjoy the ride

 I love it. So this weekend, as we roll through sim lab (again) and orientation (again), I’m going to focus on where we are going—and on the people we’re going to help!

 Enjoy the ride, Angels.

So, I was feeling a little overwhelmed coming into our first “real” lecture on Wednesday night. Then Mary Gelbach got up, this tiny little thing who looked like she couldn’t fight her way out of a paper bag, and started talking about being a psych nurse. By the end of the night, more than one of us would have followed her into a psych ward, gladly!

And yesterday, just as I was feeling terribly low about my day job, which until  recently, I really loved (after all, it involves writing, and I obviously love writing), I got a phone call from a recently laid-off colleague who worked up in Hartford. Patty is about the bubbliest person ever. Ever. So, she’s been laid off (or “impacted,” as my company likes to call it) for two months, but just got called back to fill a sales training position. Here’s a person who had every reason to be bitter, unhappy, and pessimistic about our company future. But she spent 20 minutes telling me why she thinks the company will not only survive, but thrive. I hung up the phone feeling positively ebullient.

I got to thinking about the common thread: Passion. Mary’s and Patty’s passion for what they do is contagious and pervasive, and has a huge positive impact on everyone around them.

So when school is giving you fits, remember why you got into this profession. Rediscover your passion, or surround yourself with those who have it.

And think of this quote that found its way to my e-mail inbox today: Your dream is not big enough if it doesn’t scare you.

Have a good weekend, Angels.

I’m sure that a lot of you, like me, have just packed (or will shortly be packing) your kids of varying ages off to school. Shiny new clothes, eager (or nervous) smiles, brand-new notebooks…a brand-new start. And really, isn’t that one of the best parts of a new school year–yes, even one that promises to be as tough as the year ahead of us–a fresh start? The proverbial clean slate.

Forget intimidating clinical instructors from last year. That one test that was way harder than you thought it was going to be. The less-than-patient patient. That was last year. This is this year. We can do it! One day at a time, Angels!