I did not always plan on becoming a nurse. I read a journal article about nursing for a class during my sophomore year at Vanderbilt, and said to myself, "Wow, nurses do great things, I wish I could be a nurse."
A few minutes later it dawned on me that I could! My best friend advised me to "sleep on it." She suggested that I wait and see if I felt the same way about becoming a nurse the next day. I woke up and began planning out my path to becoming a nurse practitioner.
I found that the more I thought about the profession, the more excited I became. I quickly discovered that I would be eligible to apply to Vanderbilt's nursing school during my junior year, and begin during my senior year. This would put me on track to have a Master's of Science in Nursing (MSN) and obtain my license as an NP by age 23.
Only a few weeks ago I started the , which will allow me to become a registered nurse in 2017 and an NP the following year. The first few days of orientation were overwhelming. I have never been in a class with people who are married, or who have children of their own. The wide variety in types of people who I met was remarkable. Students from California, Kansas, New York, Georgia, Tennessee; students who -- like me -- are a year shy of receiving their bachelor's degree, as well as some who already hold a master's or substantial work experience.
I sat in the lecture hall listening to faculty members discuss schedules, grades, scrubs, HIPAA regulations, and patients. Patients. This was the topic that excited me the most. I am motivated to succeed in nursing school so that I can effectively help the lives of my future patients.
On the final day of orientation we engaged in a "Stethoscope Ceremony," congratulating one another, and exchanging feelings of anxiousness, nervousness, and excitement. Each student stood up at the microphone and introduced him or herself (only 14% of the students in the class are men).
I like to think of myself as a relatively responsible individual, but I admit that I can be forgetful. It was not until the final day of orientation week (a Friday) that I realized I had received the wrong CPR training, and would not be allowed to begin class on Monday without the proper one. After hours of frantic phone calls, I found a woman who could have me certified by Saturday morning.
Then, on Sunday, as I began unpacking the boxes of books that I needed for class, I discovered that I had purchased duplicates of four of the heaviest textbooks. After two trips to the bookstore, I was able to return the unnecessary items. As I organized myself for the next day, I realized that these obstacles would probably be minimal compared to the ones I would face in class and in clinical for the next couple of years.
On Tuesday of the first week, lecture was set to begin at 9:00 a.m. As I slowly sat up and looked at my phone that morning, I quickly felt a rush of anxiety and discontent when I saw that it was 9:25, and realized I had set my alarm for 8:00 p.m. Thankfully real classes had not started, and I was able to make it to school by 9:40. I survived and made it out with a smile, but realized I had to turn up the intensity pretty quickly because of the work that was on its way.
The first day that we had to wear our scrubs was a very exciting one. I laid out my navy blue (the designated color for students) scrubs the night before, and slipped them on in the morning before I left my apartment. On my way downstairs in the elevator, I smiled at the lady who entered on the third floor. I assumed she was impressed by my ensemble, and figured she did not realize it was the first time I had ever even worn scrubs. As we walked outside, she kindly pointed out a sticker reading "Super Soft" on my left leg. Oops. I guess it was pretty obvious that this was my scrubs debut.
On that day we took a tour of the hospital. I noticed the way I felt wearing the proper professional attire. I felt proud, excited, nervous, and confident all at the same time.
On Friday, the final day of the introduction week, we worked in the simulation labs, where we practiced making beds, making occupied beds, and performing bed baths. We also learned how to take each other's blood pressure. I was startled that this skill did not come naturally to me. Every time healthcare professionals have taken my blood pressure in the past they have made it seem so easy, but when I first attempted to master it, I could barely hear anything coming through my stethoscope. I know that one day taking blood pressure will become second nature to me, but it is still a bit hard to imagine that day right now!
Gloria Rothenberg, a native of Livingston, N.J., recently completed a summer internship with ľֱ and is now a nursing student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Her accounts of the program and her experiences will appear in this space from time to time.