Dear Future Nurse,
I know you are so very excited, nervous, anxious, and hopeful to start your journey into the world of nursing. You may have already started on your way. You’ve fantasized about the things you will learn, the scrubs, the stethoscope, the idealization of what nursing will look like for you. But, there may be one thing that you haven’t yet considered. And although it is only one thing, it’s heavy. If you don’t realize it yet, please know that everything is about to change.
No one who enters nursing school is immune to the changes that are going to take place within and around you. Ask any nurse and they will tell you; you don’t graduate nursing school as the same person you were when you began nursing school. First day nursing student and graduate nursing student are not the same.
Your immediate reaction to the word “change” may not be a positive one. Most people don’t like change, but if you learn to embrace it, respect it, you will grow in ways you never imagined. Not all change is bad. In nursing school, your way of thinking is challenged. This can lead to more empathetic care and respect for those who are different from you. You are exposed to things you have never seen before, taught skills you never knew before, given more group work than you may care for, and forced to prioritize and organize your life, your family, your job, and your friends. You may not realize it, but this is EXACTLY what you will do in your career. It’s a constant balancing act. You will wear many “hats”…and over time, you will learn when and how to remove certain hats before putting on others.
Your friendships and relationships will change. If they don’t, something is wrong. Now, I don’t mean that you will automatically lose friends (that MAY happen, too.) But, those relationships will change, because YOU will change. One of my greatest friendships felt the strain of nursing school, but in the most unconventional way. She was the student. I was the instructor. Talk about WEIRD. In an effort to remain professional and fair, we didn’t talk about our friendship at school. We stopped hanging out and going out to eat. We even limited talking on the phone. And it forever changed our friendship…BUT it didn’t ruin it. This is growth. I think now, more than ever, we look at each other with more respect and admiration than we did before. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. You have to want better for the people you love, even at the cost of being with them less.
Are you willing to change to be better for yourself and those you love? Better question: Are you willing to BE changed for yourself and those you love? Nursing school is a GUARANTEE for this. Are you willing and ready? If so, you’ve got this!
Change and grow, friends. Change and grow.
Peace,
A.G.
