Until I officially started nursing school I had NO IDEA what I would have to sacrifice. I remember going to our mandatory orientation and they passed out schedules and said Welcome class of 2016...now, starting today, say goodbye to your friends, your social life and even your family. Your week will look like this, and they handed us a calendar. If you have children, sit them down today and tell them that the next 2 years they will barely see you. Say goodbye to it all. I remember leaving that meeting, sitting in my car, calling Jamie and crying telling him I cant do this. I cant put my kids second. My kids dont EVER come second. Nursing school is the best-worst decision I have ever made in my life. Being a previous accounting major, i had been through college before and spent many nights crunching numbers and staying up late doing homework, BUT I also hung out with friends, partied on the weekends and that homework that I turned in, WAS FOR A GRADE! Nursing students spend their one day off in the hospital, collecting patient information to prepare ourselves to take care of our patient on thurs/fridays for 6 hours each day. We look up EVERY medication, its side effect, dose, safe dose, what they are taking it for, what it does and what we will teach our patients about it. EACH and EVERY med. and when i say every, i mean EVERY! So far my minimum has been on 16 meds (thats a good day) but have had as many as 32! Anywhere from 4-8 hours worth of research...for NO GRADE. Its a requirement. We have no choice. If we dont do it, we are sent home and miss a clinical day where we then can be failed out of nursing school. THEN on the weekends we finish preparing all our patient info. Their data, main diagnosis, their secondary (usually a list of them), their history, the definition of EVERY dx, the pathophysiology, side effects, tests, dr. Orders, meds to treat, etc. Care plans, Assessment booklets (28 pages) and write papers. We do journal entries and prepare for check-offs...All for NO GRADE, its a requirement! Our grades come from our exams that take place about every 3 weeks, that we have to study for during ANY down time we have. So with ALL this being said. I am sorry I have zero time. I squeeze whatever tiny bit I may find, for my kids and husband. They have spent numerous dinners making ramen noodles and ordering pizza and having me constantly say I cant right now. Not this week. Or, Please ask me in December when I am on break. We are all sacrificing. So if I reach out to you and ask for some time, know I need that for my kids. I cant make time to plan and I cant make time to visit, I WISH I could, but I cant. I do my best, but there just isnt time for ANYTHING with this schedule. Nobody, unless you are in it or have done it, will ever FULLY understand the demands of the MTC Nursing program...BUT...there is a reason they have a 96% FIRST TIME passing rate for their graduates on the NCLEX (Nursing State boards) and I plan on being one of them! So for the next 18 months I will continue to sacrifice and struggle because I can see the prize at the end of the tunnel and I cant wait to see who will be standing there with me!
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 15:20:16 +0000
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