Hard to believe I’ve been gainfully employed as a Registered Nurse for 90 days! Here are a few things I have learned:
Kinda cool: It’s a little thrilling to do some of those things that nursing students aren’t allowed to do for the first time: dispense certain medications, countersign high-risk meds, sign a nursing note with RN at the end of your name.
Happy Feet: Those shoes that got you through 8 hour shifts in nursing school may well be very inadequate for 12 hour shifts in real life. Keep in mind that a nurse very likely puts on 10,000 steps a day, minimum. She (ok, sometimes he) also spends a lot of time standing. Get good shoes. Also, consider upgrading your socks.
Time Keeps On Slippin’: Good time management skills are absolutely critical to doing all the things you need to do over the course of your shift.
The Little Things: There are a lot of nursing skills that require some serious fine motor skills. A nurse learns to do a lot of things one handed, with the other hand on the patient in some way. Oh, and some medications are just ridiculously hard to get out of their individually wrapped containers while wearing exam gloves.
A Spoonful of Sugar: A little old fashioned Dale Carnegie interaction with patients (and even coworkers) goes a long way at work.
On Uniforms: I kind of like wearing a uniform to work. I like being able to look around my facility and know exactly who does what.
That’s My Line!: Many people don’t understand the difference between a nurse and a CNA.