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What did you tell yourself to get you through tough times in nursing school?

I'll be starting nursing school (hopefully) in about a year from now. I've heard it's incredibly rough and will challenge me in ways I never have been challenged before. During times when you felt hopeless or like you would never make it out alive, what did you do/tell yourself? How did you keep yourself sane? Just trying to get some ideas to prepare myself for what's to come. Thank you! #nursing #nurse

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Richard W’s Answer

WOW! What a great question. This reminds of when I started nursing school, and we were assigned to some pretty difficult patients. I even remember fellow students who dropped out because they couldn't handle it. And that was sad, and still saddens me to this day because they very well could have become great nurses. The reality is that most of what I found difficult in the beginning seems very easy now. And that is what education is all about, it's about making things easier by understanding them better. Going in to nursing school/training, you have to understand that failure is part of learning, and without a degree of failure early on you might fail in a bigger way later on. If your education were a breeze you would really have to ask yourself if you were missing something, right. I know that I would be very uncomfortable if I mastered something early on, because I can tell you with certainty that you only get comfortable with your knowledge as time goes on. I remember looking back at the one year mark in my career in nursing and being blown away with how much I had learned on the job. That occurred every year, and I remember at 5 years being blown away with how far I had come. You will be challenged, but look around and see if you want to become someone who has not been challenged, probably not. Feelings of hopelessness? Well, remember the adage "This too shall pass." Hopelessness is a human experience that builds character, you should pay attention to it but remember how you got out of it the last time. An example is being an emergency department nurse. Sometimes you get a very difficult patient or scenario, and the dread sets in. For me, when this happened, I would just remind myself that the average length of stay for the patient's visit is relatively short, and then smile at the clock because time was my best friend. How do you keep yourself sane in nursing? By debriefing, by having a sense of humor (and knowing when not to use it), and by understanding that truth is stranger than fiction.
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