As I reminisce on my first three semesters of nursing school I recall feeling unsure of what to expect; nervous, excited, overwhelmed, and eager to learn and begin my journey of one day becoming a great future nurse. I have had the pleasure to have some great nursing instructors who have had a positive impact on my life both personally and professionally. One instructor in particular gave me some of the best advice I have ever received. She told me to stay away from negativity, to surround myself around positive people and to have a strong support system. She told me that at times I would feel stressed and overwhelmed and when that would happen to reflect back on why I wanted to become a nurse. She also told me that if I ever needed someone to talk to that she would be there. True to her word she has been there for me on many occasions not only has she helped me …show more content…
As nurses we are advocates for our patients and I was able to do the same for my mentee. I was able to provide her with information, knowledge, advice, guidance, and support. I was able to demonstrate exceptional communication skills; effectively speak, and more importantly listen to her. I was able to show adaptability, compassion, and understanding and also empowered her to develop strengths and personal attributes.
Becoming a student mentor has not only helped my mentee, but it has also impacted my life as well. By being invested and committed in the student mentor process it has helped me grow both personally and professionally. I was able to provide guidance, support, advice and knowledge to another nursing student like my instructor had previously done for me. This process has helped me to become a better future nurse by allowing me to work on my student learner outcomes and employability skills. As nurses we must be willing to continuously grow, learn and
I presume the role transition from academic nursing student to Graduate Nurse will be challenging and rewarding. In their findings, the researchers Doody, Tuohy & Deasy (2012) stated that for a successful transition NGNs need to be competent in a range of domains: interpersonal skills, managing workloads, providing health information, communication, and prioritising care delivery. Although I believe I am competent in the above specified areas, I am still not confident that I would get sufficient support in the hospital environment in terms of knowledge sharing, moral support and being given constructive feedback. Constructive criticism increases confidence in the work role and reduces stress in an individual (Doody, Tuohy & Deasy, 2012). In my previous professional placements I have been able to demonstrate my competency to work in the healthcare environment. I have received positive feedback from placement educators, buddy nurses and patients. Despite being competent in a range of the above areas NGNs may still face transition shock.
As new nursing graduates begin the process of transition into the nursing practice. There are many challenges and issues which are associated throughout the transition. New graduates may embark their journey through a graduate program or seek employment solo. The transition period may consist of challenges, that students will encounter during their journey. This essay will identify, discuss and critically reflect nursing key challenges that student nurses may face, throughout the process of the transition phase. The nursing key challenges chosen for this essay include professionalism, preparation, personal factors, competency factors, patient- centered care and job satisfaction. These nursing challenges will be thoroughly discussed and supported by current evidenced based research and nursing literature.
When I first thought that I wanted to be a nurse I heard a lot of positive words of encouragement and advice but I also heard, “Nursing school is going to be the hardest thing you ever do” or “Are you sure you can do nursing school? I heard it was really hard.”. I still hear even from family, classmates, my friends; “I can’t believe you are in nursing school, care for your patient, and have a child. I don’t know how you do it.” My response is always the same, I am in nursing school because this is my passion, it has been since I was a senior in high school, 10 years ago. I love to help and care for others, seeing their smiles just brings me so much joy. Nursing school is hard and
I notice that newer nurses feel a great amount of pressure to do things perfectly, which anyone who has been in nursing for a while can tell you that nursing is an imperfect profession. We are humans, caring for other humans and we are all just doing the best that we can and what is in the best interest of our patients. Maintaining a positive attitude is important, and challenging at times. Even though the environment that many of us work in is controlled, good or bad, many of the things that occur are beyond our control. Learning to go with the flow and ask for help when needed can make nursing a little bit less overwhelming.
Pellatt, G. (2006). Nursing mentors. The role of mentors in supporting pre-registration nursing students. British Journal Of Nursing, 15(6), 336-340.
A caregiver needs to have patience. The nurses that provide home care to others need to be patient to succeed at what they are doing. To be patient it means that the person understands that there could be changes in plans, things may not go as quickly as planned, and there may be a little hesitation at times on the part of the person receiving care. Secondly, a teacher, a teacher is a very important role in nursing. A great teacher is a skilled leader. Different from administrative leaders, effective teachers focus on shared decision-making and teamwork, as well as on community building. This great teacher conveys this sense of leadership to students by providing opportunities for each of them to assume leadership roles. “Teaching is planned to strengthen a patient’s knowledge regarding making decisions about treatment options, and it is an essential nursing intervention. In many ways, the nurse as teacher is also an interpreter of information, and this leads us to the next role for discussion.” (JoAnn Zerwekh & Ashley Zerwekh Garneau 2014) The other characteristics are advocate, manager, colleague, and expert. Those are the characteristics of professional nursing
The transition from student to a qualified nurse can be a stressful and overwhelming ex-perience for many newly qualified nurses. This opinion is widely upheld throughout the literature with Higgins et al (2010) maintaining that many of the problems experienced are due to lack of support during this initial transition and a period of preceptorship would be invaluable.
With Emily graduating from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, I knew I would be getting useful and excellent advice from her. The first most important question I asked was, “What was the hardest part about nursing school?” Emily commented that the “clinical preparation worksheet were time consuming given you had to start on the worksheets a day before the clinical, then go to clinicals early to look up information, then after spend several hours looking up different medications and lab values.” With this being said I am definitely not surprised because I know that the nursing program is very time consuming as a whole, and it is a very competitive program. However, I am so excited and driven for this challenge because in the end of all the schooling, I will have achieved one of my biggest goals. The next question asked, “Do you have any advice to someone like me that is going into the nursing field?” Emily confidently answered with, “Keep an open mind about all the different specialties. Especially during school, be willing to try different areas and working with different populations.” I am really glad that Emily gave me this advice because I am so interested in pediatrics, but I also need to keep in mind that I need to experience working with different
Coaching and mentoring are vital tools in developing the workforce, most especially in enhancing quality practices at the point of care, and also innovating these practices. According to Abiddin (2006), mentoring and coaching are factors which are vital in developing people in their professions. As such, these two are related with career and self development and professional growth (Abiddin, 2006). In line with this assertion, this paper will discuss about the current relevance of mentoring and coaching in nursing in today's healthcare; how it influences both healthcare and nursing; how it is integrated into clinical practice; and how it is used in the clinical setting.
My sophomore year we were given the option to mentor at one of our schools during a study hall period that we had. I decided that this was a good opportunity to help out a teacher and learn a lot through the experience. My sophomore year I mentored for fourth and fifth grade special education. I absolutely loved helping the kids out with their school work but also aiding in someone that they could talk to that wasn’t an adult and be comfortable with. By the end of the year I had some great relationships with some of the students that I had worked with and it was an overall life-changing experience.
Being a student mentor comes with many benefits. Such as, encouraging students to better their behavior, helping students build a better self-esteem for their self, and help decrease high school dropout rate. Mentoring is a powerful personal development and empowerment tool. It is an effective way of helping people to progress in their careers .Mentoring teenagers isn't always as hard as it seems but at the same time, not everyone is up for it and it takes serious dedication. Year round mentoring progress should be used in schools because it help encourages students to better their behavior, help students better their self-esteem, and it help decrease high school dropout rate.
As I come to the fork in the road of my journey to become a nurse educator, the time to reflect on my professional growth is bitter-sweet. There have been exciting times on this master’s journey and not so happy times as deadlines loom, life calls, and no one seems to care about the torch you carry to finish your dreams. Whoever said this journey was easy, never attempted it with the passion, dedication, and determination to excel as I have. Trying to thinking back to the not so happy times is not easy to do anymore. I remember, years ago, when I was as a new mother sobbing uncontrollably because I hadn’t slept in days. I remember the nurse telling me that life never gets easier, but as moments in life become memories,
My Socialization into nursing after coming out of school was not a pleasant one. I can remember on my second night out of orientation, I was given 2 blood transfusions and a new admit coming. I was so upset I didn’t know what to do. That is the first time I heard the phase “nurses eat their young.” I went to the charge nurse to see if she was available to help. Of course she said that she had a lot of paper work and was not able to help me at that time. The other nurses on the floor had their patient load that they needed to get situated. I just broke down and cried like a baby. Some of the older nurses did come to help me as the night went on. I was very grateful and I learned what team work was that night. This certain charge nurse would always ignore me when I asked her a question. She always made me feel like I was stupid and didn’t belong in nursing. I started to question is nursing for me. I had to evaluate the whole situation I was in. I didn’t want to let my family down or feel like a failure so, I decided to stay with nursing and do the best I could. As time went on this nurse finally started to treat me like I belonged there and I stayed on that same unit for six years. My experience with this socialization have thought me to help every new nurse out to the best of my ability. It also thought me the value of teamwork. Most importantly, it thought me how to not give a nurse without much experience a heavy patient load starting out.
There are many ups and downs that a nursing student will endure while going through a nursing program. No one will ever understand the frustrations that one will endure while going through such a rigorous program more than your fellow nursing friends that have gone through the program with you or one’s that have already gone through a similar nursing program. The connections that are made with patients, teachers, fellow colleagues, or even fellow nurses will never be forgotten and will forever be remembered. It’s hard to believe that the end is near and so many memories, good and bad have been made. The tears that have been shed were all worth it and will make all that have gone through a nursing program a better, stronger, wiser person.
Orientation for Nursing Faculty As the paradigm shifts from teacher-centered classrooms to learner-centered education, online nursing programs continue to grow at a rate that has exceeded the general higher education market. These programs are appealing to students of all ages due to their flexibility, the ability for students to work on their own time, and they can be cost-saving (Karaman, 2011). Additionally the recommendations by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for 80 percent of registered nurses (RN) to be prepared at the baccalaureate level by the year 2020 has also spurred an increased enrollment into online nursing programs. To support this surge in online education more competent faculty will be needed to facilitate these courses,