6 Things I Learned From My 1st Semester of Nursing School

1. Throw perfectionism out the door. Then throw it out the window and far, far away. There is nothing perfect about it, except your Medication Calculations test score (hopefully!). Set your goals high and work hard towards them; however, don't let fear of failure or a looming  grade-point average take precedence over simply doing your best. Your best is always good enough.
2. Check things twice. Always check.This could apply to a lot of things: your test answers, your medication math, your patient's chart, your sterile field, or your scrubs when utilizing the hand sanitizer dispenser goes awry.
3. Don't be afraid to ask. Ask for that test review, even if you didn't score below their recommendation. You'll smile when you see the same questions and answer choices on the final. Ask for help if you need it. Ask for guidance if you seek it. Ask for clarification or grade correction if two of your grades, equivalent to 7 hours of course work, get entered as a lower grade than you rightly earned. Don't have a heart attack over it, although it is tempting.
4. Avoid putting things off. Never put off until tomorrow what you could do today. If they give you tons and tons of online assignments due throughout the semester, go ahead and get them nailed out by early October. You'll definitely thank yourself when you're up to your ears in studying materials in December. It will lead to less heart palpitations when you get an email saying that your "Canvas quiz has been graded." Stay one step ahead of your professors, and three steps ahead of the busy work.
5. Don't compare yourself to others -- others' test scores, others' clinical experiences, others' progress. You may all be taking the same courses day in and day out, but you're all uniquely different. One subject area or even an entire class that you're good at might cause another to struggle. Reversely, you might encounter trouble in some subject matter that those around you easily excel at. We're not all made for and geared toward the same kind of nursing specialty so take what you're good at and use that experience to grow into your role as a nurse and help those around you. Your GPA and HESI scores won't follow you for the rest of your life. Your contribution to nursing and your kindness to others will. 
6. It comes at a price. A coveted and highly pursued profession in the medical field with seemingly adequate compensation, so who wouldn't want to be a nurse? Except it's not as easy as putting on a pair of comfortable shoes and donning the Littmann that you chose months ago around your neck. It's real life, with real people's health problems before you and their dependence on you. What is of high value comes at a high price. It may drain your time, your amount of sleep, your energy, and every last brain cell that you think you possess. But it will be so worth it in the end. If you want to meet your end-goal, you have to commit to the pursuit.
   
   
   All in all, I learned a lot. More than I can put into words, but merely a tip of the iceberg in reality. A substantial amount of what I learned cannot be found in any textbook, but instead in the forms of attitude, confidence, and service.