Welcome to Stef's Templates!

So you have decided to attend nursing school or are already in school...awesome! You're halfway there! Here are a few things I wish I had known before becoming a nurse. 

• Patients and visitors are not at their finest moments when in the hospital. Try to keep that in mind. There are things patients and families say to you that are totally inappropriate or just downright mean. There are a lot of things you will need to just let go of. 
• Other patients don't care if you just saved the patient in the next room's life. You skipped lunch, haven't gone to the bathroom for 12 hours, and stayed in their room titrating 4 different vasopressors, 3 antibiotics, and 4 sedation medications. Patients will step in front of you as you're running to get the Belmont or a vent and ask for a blanket, pillow, or ginger ale. 
• Nursing is a profession you need to keep up with the latest advancements and treatments. Don't think you are done learning when you graduate from nursing school! Take it upon yourself to listen to podcasts, read journals, and keep up with your hospital's yearly education. 
• Forget anything you have seen on ANY medical TV show. CPR is brutal, you are not going to marry a doctor and patients lose their manners when they walk into the hospital.
• Nursing is a profession you need to keep up with the latest advancements and treatments. Don't think you are done learning when you graduate from nursing school! Take it upon yourself to listen to podcasts, read journals, and keep up with your hospital's yearly education. 
• Finally, and I think most importantly, humans do HORRIFIC things to other humans. I was not prepared to see beatings with a baseball bat, and seeing brains coming out of ears, noses, and mouths. After 15 years of being a nurse, the violence still gets to me. 

Hopefully, this helps you and doesn't scare you away. You hear how wonderful it is to be a nurse, but there are definitely some negatives that go along with the career! I wish someone told me these things to prepare me for the reality of working in a hospital.