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The first semester was probably the hardest. Everything was new and learning the skills in lab was more stressful than I thought it would be because of the testing method. I am told that 4th semester is hard too as the teachers don’t give you a lot of support and expect you to know what to do or to figure it out. But, I am not going to go in with any preconceptions. Clinicals have always been my strongest area anyway. We have about a month and 1/2 of clinicals, then we begin our transition clinicals where we are assigned to a preceptor (a real working nurse). We have to work alongside the preceptor in the work setting for 56-60 hours. Once that is done, clinicals are over, so I could conceivably be done with clinics by the end of March. Then, we have a 2-credit leadership course that is mostly done online. That will be a piece of cake for me as I worked in corporate settings for almost 20 years and at times managed teams of people.

Tell your sister and son to persevere because it gets hard at times. And, you don’t have much of a family and personal life during the semester. But, it will all be worth it in the end when you get pinned. And, tell that son that just graduated congratulations! Because he has really achieved something.

We have lost a few from our original class. Some didn’t make the grade in lecture but excelled in clinicals. I feel really bad for the ones who had the attitude and desire, and worked hard but still didn’t make it. The ones who didn’t take it seriously enough to sacrifice the time and didn’t make the necessary committment, I don’t really feel sorry for. I wouldn’t want to work with them anyway. Through clinicals, I have already seen differences between nurses. And, as a result, I have learned how to conduct myself from the good role models, and seen what not to do/say from the poor ones.

I will probably continue on to my BSN but have to pass NCLEX and get an internship too.