As I prepare to graduate from nursing school in May, I am experiencing mixed emotions about the next steps. All my life, the next step was going up a level in school. Now that I am graduating, I only have to think about school if I want to pursue another profession or upgrade my licensure to something more advanced. I am excited to see what the future brings, whatever it may be. I am keeping an open mind and want to try out new things. I am anxious about disliking a specialty but making a commitment, or making a medication error or some other critical error. Although, I know what to do to prevent these things and understand that I am human and make mistakes.
I have learned that nursing school can be a lot. It is well-known, so I do not like to complain about it, as I am the one who signed up for it. I have found that organizing my time has made it easiest to get things done in a timely matter. I have a daily planner where I can plan out my day and the things that need to be done in order to be successful. I also have a whiteboard with important dates by the front door of my apartment and a personal calendar on my phone to help keep track of my jobs. I like checklists, so I find implementing checklists on my daily planner helps to motivate me.
I do not have any specific rewards system for my victories or progress toward my goal. In my mindset, successfully completing a goal is my reward at the end of hard work well done. For example, my work towards my nursing is in the working phase. Actually shaking my professors’ hands while receiving my degree on paper is the reward for the work finished.
I know that I have a lot of things that I need to work on. We were asked to complete the Nurse Logic 2.0 Modules with the advanced practice tests. It was a humbling experience, as I am a little rusty in some areas that was not anticipating. So, I am hoping to sit down this week and figure out some topics that need some work and spend some time this semester making them stronger.
Jo, I have to say I do recognize myself in you – being intrinsically motivated, and that the sense of pride in accomplishing the hard work and doing a good job is all the reward I need. I get that, and I feel like that is something we will carry with us & put into action our whole lives – but don’t forget to treat yourself sometimes!!