The scrub wardrobe of Philadelphia nurse and elite marathoner Samantha Roecker, RN is undergoing an unprecedented stress test this month. One might even say that her scrubs are moonlighting, but it’s for a good cause.
Our Nurse of the Week is running through the Philadelphia streets in her scrubs as she prepares to achieve the “fastest marathon run in a nurse’s uniform” at the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2022.
While some fellow distance runners cheerfully concern-troll her about potential chafing, Roecker’s unusual athletic apparel has been fine so far, and at the marathon will be worn in honor of her profession – and of the sponsors behind her fundraising run to support the American Nurses Foundation’s mental health and wellness programs. (The American Nurses Foundation and Moxie Scrubs are backing her effort).
“I was trying to think of what I could do to make running not a selfish thing, but a meaningful thing.”
Her inspiration for the fund-raiser was her fellow nurses – and her own experience. Roecker observed, “It seems like every day there’s a new story about nurse burnout or health-care workers struggling.” And, when she picked up first-hand frontline experience earlier this year, she became keenly aware of nurses’ urgent need for more robust mental/emotional support systems.
“On top of really tough diagnoses like cancer or brain fluid leaks or whatever we deal with on a ‘normal’ daily basis,” Roecker said, “Pandemic worries about who’s going to accompany somebody to the hospital during their chemotherapy treatment or how they would get a test prior to treatment — all of those unknown stressors and barriers added up.”
Apparently, the inspiration struck while she was showering one day: “I was trying to think of what I could do to make running not a selfish thing, but a meaningful thing,” she told Runner’s World.
Like many nurses, the Philly RN always has a lot going on. Roecker is currently working 25 hours a week as an RN at an otolaryngology clinic while pursuing an FNP degree at Penn Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and puts in 20 clinical hours a week at Cooper University Hospital. On top of that, she manages to run 90 to 100 miles every week.
Nurses supporting nurses
She is a passionate and competitive runner, and her marathon project combines her love of the sport with her dedication to nursing and helping others. As Roecker puts it on her American Nurse’s Foundation fundraising page, “Over the last two years, I have witnessed and personally experienced the effect that the COVID pandemic has had on healthcare workers’ mental health and wellbeing. This April, I am combining my two passions and attempting to break the World Record for ‘fastest marathon run in a nurse’s uniform’ at the Boston Marathon.”
The funds that Sam will raise will go towards the American Nurses Foundation’s Well-Being Initiative programs supporting the mental health and wellness of RNs. The initiative offers RNs access to free therapy resources, expressive writing programs, financial consulting, podcasts and mobile apps dedicated to mental health and well-being, and content dedicated to grief and bereavement.
A spinal injury that resulted from surgical malpractice changed the course of Sabrina Jamal-Eddine’s life. It first drew her to the nursing field, then drove her desire to make the profession more accessible to disabled students and practitioners.
Jamal-Eddine, RN, is a third-year student in the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of NursingPhD program. She was a sophomore in high school when she underwent posterior spinal fusion surgery to correct a spinal curvature. But the surgery was a failure, and rather than repairing the problem, it created a host of new ones.
“The minute I got out of surgery, it started to hurt to breathe,” Jamal-Eddine recalls. “Every time I inhaled, it felt like someone was cutting me with a knife. That pain didn’t go away.”
Two years later, she had a revision surgery, which successfully corrected the mistakes of the first with the insertion of new, properly-contoured hardware. But two major back surgeries left her with trauma to her spine and a permanent, non-apparent physical disability, entailing lifting limitations, protruding screws, and pain with certain types of movement.
Her experiences with nurses following those two surgeries solidified her desire to be a nurse. She recalls nurses who showed empathy, positivity and caring – as well as those who didn’t. She was determined to be like the former.
“I’ve always been a caretaker and knew that taking care of people and alleviating pain was something that would bring me joy,” she says.
Breaking down barriers for disabled students
But when she entered her undergraduate nursing program as a disabled student, she faced barriers.
Her course syllabus posted a ‘disability statement,’ asking students to come forward if they have a disability. She later learned through research that nearly all nursing programs have “technical standards,” physical requirements to complete the program. Jamal-Eddine knew she would struggle with one of those requirements – lifting a patient in bed – but felt that shouldn’t sideline her entire nursing career.
Nursing is inherently a flexible profession, she says, offering opportunities for nurses with a wide range of abilities and disabilities, including careers in telehealth, administration, informatics and as a nurse practitioner.
“I could do everything that was required in my nursing program besides lifting a patient up in bed,” she says. “That was the only thing I thought I might need help with. I never had any intentions of doing bedside nursing. It was silly that this generic program requirement was posing barriers for future nurses who might never need that skill.”
Despite the deterrent, Jamal-Eddine stayed in the program. She faced resistance from some clinical instructors, who questioned her ability to complete the program, while others showed empathy and support. An instructor on a progressive care unit – which required heavy lifting – was particularly understanding.
Jamal-Eddine recalls the instructor saying: “’Nursing is a team profession. Nurses are always relying on each other. Any time you need to lift a patient up in bed, we have seven other people in this clinical rotation who can help you.’”
Jamal-Eddine is now taking those experiences into her PhD program at UIC to study how she can educate nursing students, instructors and practitioners about ableism – discrimination against disabled people – and disability justice.
For Jamal-Eddine, one of the most powerful ways to do this is through spoken word poetry. She used the format in a 2019 TedX talk about her experiences with Islamophobia and xenophobia.
She sees an important intersection between humanities and nursing and will be exploring this as the first nursing student ever chosen for a prestigious Humanities Without Walls Predoctoral Career Diversity Summer Workshop , hosted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Humanities.
“Even though I have the inherent experiences as a marginalized person, the humanities provide me with the language I need to articulate these inequities, and they help me advocate to progress beyond those,” she says. “We talk about nursing as art and science, but art isn’t given the space it deserves in nursing curricula. I believe humanities helps us humanize people and often work toward belongingness.”
Whether it’s nature or nurture, nursing is often a calling that runs in families and creates a special, additional family bond between parents and their offspring.
“I remember performing some Christmas programs and ballet recitals for the residents in the center,” says Rindels, now the Society’s vice president of nursing and clinical services.
Her mom, Nancy Van Dam, RN, spent nearly 40 years as a nurse at Luther Manor, and Rindels says “I grew up personally with Good Sam. We would eat lunch on the weekends that she worked. I volunteered in the center several times.”
Van Dam retired in 2017. If she would’ve waited a few years, her daughter would have been her boss.
“I think Good Sam is in good hands. I think she’s very innovative and wants to learn and really enjoys trying to get everybody up to the best standard of care,” Van Dam says.
“Fell in love” with nursing
Nancy Van Dam, RN tears up as she recalls singing with a patient as they passed on.
Van Dam and Rindels both started out as certified nursing assistants.
“Fell in love with it. I would find myself listening to the nurses giving reports and thought, I could do that. It was so interesting. So, then I went to nurses training. In fact, I graduated from Sioux Valley Hospital School of Nursing,” Van Dam says.
A calling to work in long-term care brought her to the skilled nursing facility in 1978. She never left.
“I love the wisdom of the elderly. The chance that you get to make relationships that last,” Van Dam says about serving in a nursing home as opposed to working in a hospital.
Raised in a Christian home, she appreciates the faith-based mission of the Society.
“It’s not about profits and it’s not about names or fame or anything like that. It’s about caring for people and trying to do God’s will for them,” Van Dam says.
Getting to know residents and their families was her favorite part. Even when times were tough, Van Dam believed she was fulfilling a calling. One of her most vivid memories is caring for a resident who was nearing the end.
“We got her settled in bed and the other staff left. I just sat there with her and held her hand. I started singing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ to her. It always makes me tear up,” Van Dam says as she wipes her eyes. “She started singing with me and she was so short of breath. But that was something she remembered and it comforted her. She died later that day but I thought, I made a difference,” Van Dam says.
“Continuing this from one generation to the next”
Always proud of her mother’s efforts, Rindels didn’t know if nursing would be in her future.
“I think in high school, I don’t know that I thought much about being a nurse,” Rindels says.
Along with a passion for learning and science, her interest in the human body and how it works drew her closer to the profession. Being around the Society her whole life also helped inspire her to pursue a career in care.
“The meaning of family and the inclusion of family at the Society,” Rindels says played a big role in her career choice.
Seeing firsthand the impact a nurse can make, she went from a CNA to a licensed practical nurse at a long-term care location. Since then, she’s advanced through progressive nursing degrees.
“It’s almost like a legacy maybe, or tradition almost, that we’re continuing this from one generation to the next and able to build on very strong history and nursing practice that I was raised in,” Rindels says.
Technology improving future care
While she’s been at the Society for four years, Rindels has been a part of Sanford Health for 13. She thinks the integrated health system will provide many new opportunities in the future.
“We’ll be able to strengthen our nursing practice through new wound technology, the telehealth piece, being able to have a provider’s eyes on a resident immediately, especially in the rural setting that we’re in,” Rindels says.
Van Dam says connecting doctors with residents from the comfort of their own home was just starting when she retired.
“Saves a whole trip out. Your person isn’t feeling good. Why do you want to put them in something and travel them somewhere?” Van Dam says.
She adds another advantage will be seamless communication between long-term care nurses and the residents’ healthcare providers.
“You’re going to have the same people talking to each other at the same time. It will be a wonderful thing,” Van Dam says.
Rindels says advancements in virtual doctor visits, “will only strengthen our service and care in the future.”
“Build on that foundation”
As the Society approaches 100 years, technology and talented clinical care teams are enhancing the level of care that can be done right at the building.
Through the Great Plains Medicare Advantage plan, Rindels says some locations in the midwest are beginning to see nurse practitioners.
“We are adding in the mid-level nurse practitioners into the buildings five days a week or at least weekly. Visiting residents, providing care, giving that additional level of complexity and support to the nurses at the locations,” Rindels says.
Constantly learning and improving care for residents. Van Dam and now Rindels believe the Society’s past is rich and the future is bright.
Rindel’s personal goals are “to build on that foundation for the next 30 years.”
Nursing school involves both theoretical and practical learning. You have to know how to care for patients in a variety of contexts before you can earn your license and work as a registered nurse. Your nursing school clinical rotations will be an important tool in putting your knowledge to the test and learning practical applications.
Most nursing students are excited to start their first clinical rotations, but the experience can also be a little scary. When you’ve never worked in a clinical setting before, it can be very intimidating to work with real patients.
Not sure what to expect? Here’s what you need to know before your first clinical assignment.
What are nursing school clinicals and how do they work?
Nursing school clinicals bring students out of the classroom and into a healthcare setting so they can work with actual patients. These rotations are designed so that students can apply what they have learned in the classroom.
In addition to creating a controlled learning environment for practicing skills and asking questions, nursing students can get a feel for clinical work and identify any gaps they may need to work on. Students will have the guidance of a designated, experienced nurse (sometimes known as a preceptor) to provide support when they need it and to help ensure high-quality patient care.
Practicing in clinical settings allows nurses to gain skills and confidence while they still have access to a dedicated mentor. It is also important for evaluating a nursing student’s readiness for unsupervised work in a clinical setting.
Steps to prepare for your clinicals
Once you’ve got your clinical rotation set up, you should take some time to prepare so you’re not scrambling to get ready on your first morning. Get a good night’s sleep so you can think clearly and arrive with a positive attitude.
Get all of your supplies together the night before. Prepare a healthy snack or lunch in advance so you don’t get too hungry during your shift. Also, make sure to eat breakfast in the morning—you want to be fueled for the day ahead. It’s a good idea to write down any key information before your first rotation, such as what you should know about a patient before providing care. Plan to arrive early so you’re not worrying about being late!
What do I need to be successful?
You’ll need some basic supplies for your clinicals. Your school should tell you what kinds of scrubs you’ll need. It’s important to wear comfortable shoes as you’ll be on your feet all day, and consider compression socks to prevent blood clots and other issues.
There are various medical supplies you’ll need as a nurse, including a high-quality stethoscope and possibly a blood pressure cuff. You should also bring small items like scissors, hemostats, and a small flashlight.
You will also want to have a watch with a second hand, a small notebook and pen, a clipboard, a calculator, and a clip or holder for your ID badge. You might also want to bring in reference materials in case you need them. Don’t forget your water bottle to stay hydrated!
During your nursing school clinicals, the most important thing you can bring to the table is a good attitude. You will make mistakes, but try to look at them as learning experiences and maintain a positive, helpful attitude. Don’t forget to ask questions!
What will my daily routine be like?
Your routine will evolve as you go through your clinical experience. On your first day, some of the pressure will be off as you’re likely to start by doing more observation than direct patient care. Absorb as much as you can and be as helpful as possible.
Once you’ve gained some experience and confidence, you’ll be assigned patients to care for. Your daily routine will depend on your patients’ needs and the requirements of the facility. Remember, each clinical setting is a little bit different, so expect that you’ll need a little time to get used to the routine.
What will I learn?
Initially, you’ll learn by watching an experienced nurse. It isn’t in patients’ best interests to be cared for by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing! However, you will get hands-on experience during your clinicals and you will learn from both observation and direct practice.
You will learn how to gather information on a patient, take vital signs, and provide miscellaneous care tasks, including giving medication and helping with general hygiene and comfort tasks. You will typically get a chance to work in several different clinical rotations to learn how a nurse functions in each department.
You will also learn about proper patient interactions. A big part of nursing is connecting with patients and helping to keep them calm so they can heal. You will get a chance to practice your bedside manner with patients and their families during your clinicals. Be a sponge during your clinical rotation. This is your chance to see what a nurse’s daily rounds look like. Ask questions and take in all that you can.
How will I be graded and evaluated?
The good news about clinical rotations is that you will have a lot of prior knowledge to draw on from your coursework and studying should be minimal. Generally, you will be evaluated and graded on criteria such as attendance, preparedness, and participation. You may also have some homework, but it is likely to relate to the work you’re doing, such as creating care plans.
If you go into your rotation with a positive, receptive attitude, you should do just fine. Be on time, do your homework, and make sure you’re as prepared as possible for each day. If you do that, you should have no trouble passing your clinicals.
What happens next?
Clinical rotations are a core part of your nursing education. You will get the opportunity to spend many hours observing patient care and providing it yourself. Once you’ve satisfied the requirements for clinical hours and passed your classes, you can graduate.
Then, you will need to take the licensure exam so you can become an RN. There are many steps to becoming a nurse because safe patient care requires in-depth knowledge and practice. Take advantage of your clinicals to prepare you for your licensure exams and your first job as a registered nurse!
There are some deliveries that are far beyond the abilities of USPS orPostmates.
Everyone knows that the old saw “any port in a storm” is a truism when a pregnant woman is in labor and trying to reach a hospital – but luckily, nurses are accustomed to serving at stormy ports.
On February 9, though, our Nurse of the Week, Public Health nurse Evelyn Davis RN, was still a little nonplussed when the grandmother of an expecting – imminently expecting – mom realized her daughter couldn’t wait a moment longer and swung into the parking lot at the Adamsville Regional Health Center in Fulton County, Georgia.
As the grandma imploringly flagged her down, Davis thought, “So this is a health center. You usually don’t show up here to deliver your baby!” However, although the Adamsville Regional HC is not in any way prepared for midwifery or deliveries, and Davis now specializes in caring for HIV/AIDS patients, the RN is a veteran nurse who delivered hundreds of babies on Hopi and Navaho reservations in Arizona earlier in her career.
Davis’ experience bringing all of those brand-new Hopi and Navaho infants into the world was fortuitous. The mother-to-be and grandmother were well into the “oh my gosh – it’s happening!! Help!” stage of a pending delivery, and soothing words from an experienced nurse were exactly what the mom needed.
“Lord! What are we gonna do?”
The ambiance of a parking lot at a downtown public health clinic bears little resemblance to a hospital labor and delivery unit. As Davis says, the situation was “chaotic.” She recalled that “There were people screaming, ‘She’s going to have the baby! Help her! Oh, Lord! What are we gonna do? This is not a hospital. She should not be here!’ So, I just asked everyone to calm down and got the mother to calm down.”
As the poor mother was frantic, Davis continued, “I introduced myself… because she was hysterical, understandably, and I calmed her down and let her know that we were here to help her. She was screaming trying to prevent the baby from coming and I told her not to do that because you’re gonna get a very strong contraction and that baby’s gonna fly out.” (Delightful as it might sound to a harried mom in labor, in general flight is not an optimal mode of exit from the womb).
Davis points to the ARHC’s new “ad hoc Delivery Entrance.”
As the mother began to understand that grandma had made the right call in pulling over into this particular parking lot, Nurse Davis pulled on gloves, and staffers inside the Center ran for supplies because this baby couldn’t wait. “I checked her,” Davis says, “and the baby was right there, and I knew it was a matter of one or two or three pushes and everything would happen.”
“Come on, baby! Breathe, breathe, breathe.”
In fact, more happened than any of the players had bargained for. As the newborn entered the world in front of the Adamsville Regional Health Center, there was a slight hiccup (of course the mother probably would not choose that phrase). Davis said that the actual birth came after a few pushes, but the baby girl who emerged had gray skin, and “She still wasn’t breathing, so we had her wrapped up. I started rubbing on her chest and I was like, ‘Come on, baby, breathe, breathe, breathe. Come on, take a breath, take a breath, baby.’ And I just rubbed the baby’s chest, and then she let out a scream.”
The mother and baby girl were taken to a nearby hospital for an examination and might not have realized just how fortunate they were. “I’m just glad we were all here to help,” Davis said, but observed, “Ten minutes later, this place would have been closed and no one would’ve been here…”
You can see a video interview with Evelyn Davis, RN here.
Even if you don’t plan to accumulate as many nursing credentials and degrees as Sandra Lindsay, becoming an RN involves intensive training and education. But what skills should you have? What kind of training and education does an RN need? Are there different RN “flavors” to choose from?
The options can seem pretty daunting if you don’t have a guide, but DailyNurse is here to help! We consulted with an expert on RN education—none other than Adriana Glenn, Ph.D., MA, MN, RN, FNP-BC (see above re credentials and degrees). Dr. Glenn was a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) for three decades and has been an educator for over 10 years. And, as Director of the RN-BSN Program Track at the George Washington University School of Nursing, she is the go-to person for nursing students who… need to find out what they need to know. Below, Dr. Glenn answers the questions she often gets from her GWU nursing students, along with a few that they should ask.
What are the most useful skillsets for an RN education?
Focus on developing strong study skills. Here are six important skill sets that will serve you well as a student and as an RN throughout your career:
Effective note-taking – explore the different methods of note-taking. There are some formats that work better for some courses than others in terms of recording and recalling information.
Reading skills – engaging in active learning strategies when reading the text by developing questions from readings for your study group or to ask in class. Read with intent and focus on mastery of key concepts emphasized in your course objectives and lectures.
Listening – really listen to the instructor/professor’s voice inflection as well as verbal indicators of important content.
Recall and memory – review class notes and concepts that are challenging daily, think about making flashcards (hard copy or electronic), and take advantage of learning the various acronyms and mnemonic available online (via images, YouTube videos, etc.).
Critical thinking – Develop intellectual curiosity; make it routine to be curious, creative, and think critically!
Time management – it is critical to learn how to use your study time in an efficient and productive way. Nursing school requires mastery of vast amounts of content that must be balanced with your life obligations. There are many great approaches you should explore that can help ranging from the use of a day planner to spaced learning review, prioritizing tasks, or assessing for “time wasters” in your life.
What are the key points I should consider when selecting my RN career path?
Of course, all prospective nursing students should consider the general aspects of a nursing program, like accreditation, NCLEX-RN® pass rates, location, education delivery format (i.e., in-person vs online), class schedules, and pacing. However, as an individual potential nursing student, you really need to reflect on:
The type of learner you are (auditory, visual)
Your proficiency and comfort with technology
Your financial resources/financial plan
The amount of time you have available to pursue a nursing degree.
If finances are an issue, you may enter the nursing profession in stages. For example, a person may elect to attain their Licensed Practical Nurse or Licensed Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN) credentials and then move on to an ADN which allows them to work as a nurse while moving through the coursework needed to become an RN. This is a path, but it is not a necessary or required path. Attaining the LPN is not a guaranteed path to attaining your RN; while both tracks provide the end result of a license, the licenses are different and the nursing responsibilities are different as are the level and types of knowledge required.
What are the different RN pathways, and what kinds of career options do they prepare you for?
Regardless of the path you choose, you will have to pass the NCLEX-RN® exam, but you can approach the test from four different pathways. From the least common to the most common, you can select the RN path that best fits your goals, interests, finances, and life situation:
This is a hospital-based apprenticeship-type program and is how “professional” nursing started if you will. Less than 100 of these programs still exist mostly in the East and Midwest with the vast majority in PA and NJ. These nurses will only be able to work in hospitals/acute care settings.
RN-Diploma programs are fairly rare, and I will not go into detail as they do not lead to a degree. However, one thing they have in common with the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) path is that they are generally the fastest way to becoming an RN. The programs are generally 3 years in length, require a high school diploma/GED for admission, and these programs are affiliated with hospitals. There are less than 100 of these programs nationwide. The diploma pathway prepares the RN to practice exclusively in the hospital as that is how the program was designed on an apprenticeship type model.
Direct Entry Master’s in Nursing (MSN):
Sometimes referred to as a generalist entry master’s, this path is at the opposite end of the educational spectrum from a diploma program (if you dream of a Sandra Lindsay level nursing career, at some point you’ll need not the direct entry master’s, but an advanced practice nursing MSN).
This MSN degree is designed for students with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree who want to become RNs. It is what’s known as a generalist master’s degree in nursing, and is offered by a number of colleges/universities. The aim is to provide a non-ADN/non-BSN graduate with a nursing education that will allow them to be eligible to take the NCLEX. It is an alternative to the accelerated BSN and may help with regards to obtaining aid packages since it is not another bachelor’s degree. It usually takes up to 24 months to complete a direct-entry MSN program. This degree should NOT be confused with the MSN needed (currently) to become an APRN.
One benefit from this pathway is that in addition to making you eligible to take the NCLEX-RN exam, you will also be eligible for certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL). A CNL is a nurse who is prepared to be a leader at the bedside and at the organizational level particularly in health care facilities like hospitals. It is notable, many share clinical experiences in this pathway are limited. The point I want to emphasize here is this: nurses with a generalist entry master’s are not advanced practice nurses (APRNs), and this type of master’s degree does not guarantee automatic admission into a program that yields a master’s as an APRN.
Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN):
An ADN RN can be employed in a variety of settings, but they tend to work in acute care and long-term care settings (i.e., hospitals). The ADN pathway is one of the faster ways to attain the RN (barring the long waitlists for many to get accepted or get the needed classes).
ADN programs are mainly located on community college campuses. They prepare great “bedside” nurses which is what we need in the hospitals, and ADN-prepared nurses can also work in other settings like rehabilitation centers or in the community. This is a common path for people who have financial considerations or those looking to change careers.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN):
A BSN from a college/university is the recommended entry-level education for the nursing profession. The best-rounded (and best paid) RN nursing professionals have a BSN. A good program will prepare you for a nursing career in a variety of traditional and non-traditional settings, as the curriculum includes required courses like leadership, nursing research/evidence-based practice, and community/public health. A BSN education will help you acquire a broader knowledge base than an associate degree or diploma program and BSN/RNs are rewarded with greater pay and income potential.
Of course as a nursing professor, I want everyone to take the BSN pathway which aligns with what professional nursing organizations have advocated for as the entry-level degree for many years. The BSN offers the most comprehensive classes and supports greater employment opportunities as an entry-level nurse.
However, I am keenly aware the ability to obtain the BSN at the start is not a practical reality whether is stems from the amount of time, finances, or even on the university/college end the inability to accept applicants due to a faculty shortage and the fact clinical courses must maintain low student, instructor ratios for safety reasons and in accordance with state laws. In general, the long-term earnings and career opportunities are far greater with the attainment of the BSN.
In addition to the traditional BSN track, other options at this education level include RN to BSN programs (for those who have an associate degree) and accelerated BSN tracks.
Does one path better prepare students for the NCLEX-RN exam better than others?
All pathways prepare nurses to provide safe, patient care meeting the minimum standards recommended by the profession and in alignment with our code of ethics. Passing the NCLEX-RN exam reflects an individual meeting the minimum standards. So, in terms of the exam, all pathways will prepare the individual for the NCLEX-RN.
What is your best advice for students considering becoming an RN?
Embrace all learning opportunities. Many students have their heart set on a specific area or specialty in nursing which is great. However, you can and will learn from every clinical rotation and you should embrace the opportunities offered to you fully.
Ask questions! Ask questions in class, connect with your faculty in and out of the classroom, explore your interests with faculty and get their perspective as well as ask for clarification of challenging course content. Faculty are people too and we worked (and some still work) as nurses! Also, connect with cohorts of nursing students ahead of you. Many nursing students are very happy to share their trials and errors in learning the material and managing clinicals
Develop your intellectual curiosity: this is done by asking questions but also by seeking knowledge outside of what is required for exams and quizzes. Try to connect concepts between the courses. Everything you learn in nursing school will apply to what you do as a nurse in some way. Also, engage in reflective practice (which is what we nurses do) how can something be done better or differently in a situation that may present again in the future.
Her inspiration for the fund-raiser was her fellow nurses – and her own experience. Roecker observed, “It seems like every day there’s a new story about nurse burnout or health-care workers struggling.” And, when she picked up first-hand frontline experience earlier this year, she became keenly aware of nurses’ urgent need for more robust mental/emotional support systems.
