Hey, You.
Congratulations on finishing your BSN! I completely know the excitement and pride you feel at this moment. It makes me smile when I think about it – about you – your hope to be a great nurse, your desire to work in women’s health, your pressing toward graduate school. It’s all so exciting. And that’s amazing.
Stay encouraged. You are, indeed, embarking on an incredible journey. In transparency, it’s going to be more than you ever imagined, but it’s also going to get bad – really bad – before it gets good. It may sound difficult to believe, but you’ll actually want to quit nursing, and you’ll think about it quite seriously. How? Why? Well, unfortunately, you have to live it and learn it for yourself. As painful as it may be, it will shape you for the better, and you will know when it happens. You will feel the paradigm shift. Remember when you thought saying “never” would come back to bite you? It does. Go with the flow. Things and areas of nursing work you thought you’d never do – well, they actually become your passions in many ways.
Stay focused. The thoughts of graduate school that are rolling in your head now…keep feeding them. Again – difficult times but incredible results. You’ll wonder how you’ll ever make it amidst everything else that life brings. But you’ll make it. And then some. Remember what’s important. Always.
Stay open. Remember why you went into nursing. That reason will keep you going long after everything else fades. What you think is permanent is just a flash, a temporary moment. Always be open to new experiences, new friends, new lessons, new opportunities. You’re going to do things and experience moments that, if I told you now, you really wouldn’t believe. It’s quite amazing, and you’ll have to experience it yourself to understand and fully appreciate it. Just. Wait!
Stay you. Above all, “to thine own self be true.” Some around you will want to conform you to the cookie-cutter expectations. Some will help you break the mold and continue to help you find and enhance who you really are. Let go of the conformist-generators and hold fast to the enhancers. Some people will naturally leave you, and others you will have to cut out and really work to stay away from. It’s worth every painful moment. I promise.
That pin…that piece of paper…those credentials – congratulations of everything they represent. You’ve earned it. Enjoy it. Now, go pack for your move to a new city, a new home, and a new job. And try to squeeze in some NCLEX studying as well as some rest. Yes, take a nap every single day. Considering you have yet to meet the amazing little people God gives you, sleep as much as you can. One day you will wonder what you did with all your free time.
I am so proud of you. Take care of you.
With Much Anticipation,
Joni Watson, MBA, MSN, RN, OCN®
Carol Cannon
December 15, 2013 10:36 amJoni, I love this so so much. It does get worse before it gets better, and I bet it will get worse again. But as long as the passion is still there, we can get through it! Right??? 🙂
Nursetopia
December 15, 2013 6:35 pmTrue, true, true!
Rachael-Lynn
January 18, 2014 2:03 pmI am going to print this out and hang it up where I can see it every day! As a fairly new nurse (graduated almost 3 years ago and in my current position (a medical oncology unit) for almost 2 years, there are days I want to quit. Between the stress of the job, healthcare changes/requirements, and my hospital’s recent affiliation with a health system, it all seems too much! The rare glimpses of making a difference often seem far between. All of the negative reminders and tasks added to our plate seem overwhelming. But I will plug on. And I will join my BSN classmates in grad school. I do make a difference and there was a reason I went back to school for nursing. Even if I am unable to see it now. Thank You!
Nursetopia
January 19, 2014 9:01 amWhat’s so interesting, Rachael-Lynn, is that many of us in nursing have either all gone through the same feelings of leaving the profession or are in the process right now. Nursing is an extremely demanding profession, and I agree with you that those “special moments” of why we do what we do seem to come too infrequent at times.
I’m glad my letter to myself struck a cord with you. I hope you’re able to persevere within the profession, and yes…go get that graduate nursing degree!!