Reflective Essay on Starting Nursing School: Mixed Feelings and New Experiences

Introduction

Before joining and starting nursing school, I had a mixture of feelings. I felt nervous, apprehensive, and excited altogether. This was brought about by the fact that I was in a new, unfamiliar environment which was completely different from high school. I was in college, whereby I was to meet new people and also live far away from my home. This was a stressful experience, but the fact that I knew what I expected in nursing school gave me some comfort (Levett-Jones et al. 304). As I continued with pursuing my nursing career, I learned a lot of things that could help in making my career better. However, I have not yet learned all things, and I expect to learn them as I continue with my course.

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There are several things I have learned so far. In nursing, there are clinical rotations that help one know how a patient is treated (Vance 2015.). These clinical rotations have helped me learn how to conduct a thorough assessment of the patient. I have also learned how to identify any vital signs in a patient. The clinical rotations have helped me gain knowledge on how to help a patient eat and bathe. This kind of patient care learning is an exciting experience for me. However, I can't wait to graduate and use that knowledge to take care of patients.

I have learned that it is essential to take and enjoy a break whenever it is available. Taking a break could be spent in various ways, such as taking a bath, spending time with family, friends, or God, and also sleeping (Adams 2016). This kind of breaks helps in relaxing the mind before continuing with learning. A fresh mind gives an individual higher chances of acquiring more knowledge. Some breaks are opportunities that can never be recovered or could help in changing one's life. Life is too short and therefore take advantage of breaks.

Being in nursing school requires hard work. One has to read intensively to achieve better results. Hard work cannot be substituted. Days that people could study a day before the test and attain an A are gone. In nursing school, memorization of information will not help achieve good grades (Garrison 2015). One has to have full knowledge of the ideas. To achieve this, thorough reading and studying are required for application of the concepts in the hospital. There is no shortcut to succeeding in a nursing school.

I also hope to learn a few things. I hope to learn how to unmask the positive sources of people such as faith and a family that give them reasons to live. I will help them visualize the positive sources during their moments of despondency and despair (NT Contributors 2015). I am learning how to do it and hope to continue learning how to do it for achieving better career goals. I hope that I will be able to listen, watch, and analyze people's experiences to enhance my capacity in supporting their recovery.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have learned a lot of things in my nursing career, and I hope to continue learning more. Some of the things I learned are about myself, others about nursing, while others are about life. I have learned how to handle a patient, the importance of taking breaks, and also how to succeed in nursing school through intensive studying. However, there are lots of things that I hope to continue learning such as how to boost my capacity in supporting a patient's recovery and also how to help people visualize good things in times of despair.

Works Cited

Adams, Kinzie. What I have learned in nursing school. Accessed 31 May 2016. Retrieved from www.theodysseyonline-com.cdn.amproject.org/v/s/www.theodysseyonline.com/learned-nursing-school.amp?

Garrison, Mitchell. 8 things I learned in nursing school. Accessed 26 October 2015. Retrieved from www.theodysseyonline-com.cdn.amproject.org/v/s/www.theodysseyonline.com/9-things-that-nursing-school-actually-taught.amp?

Levett-Jones, Tracy, et al. "What are the primary concerns of nursing students as they prepare for and contemplate their first clinical placement experience?" Nurse education in practice 15.4(2015): 304-309.

NT Contributors. What do you hope to achieve during your three-year journey? Accessed 11 September 2015. Retrieved from www.nursingtimes.net/students/what-do-you-hope-to-achieve-during-your-three-year-journey-11-09-2015/

Robyn Vance. Nursing school: what to expect in your first year. Accessed 4 August 2015. Retrieved from www.gapmedia.com/blog/2015/08/04/nursing-school-what-to-expect-in-your-first-year/