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How To Deal With Death & Dying as a Nursing Student
Ok, we aren’t all me (alright, that was a dumb statement). We didn’t all get into nursing to work in palliative care. But regardless of what area you end up working in as a nurse, you will encounter death and dying. So how can you handle it as a student? Not everyone is as comfortable with death as I am. Actually, the vast majority of people probably are not as comfortable with death as I am. Let’s say you are part of the 99.9% of society that has a hard time talking about, thinking about or emotionally dealing with death: how do you deal when it is a very real…
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How To Pray Before Starting a Clinical Day
Folks, I am so excited to announce that I am going to be working for a local University in the fall as a clinical educator! I am also going to be working in the simulation lab for an intensive palliative care course. I can’t wait to get back to being with students, which has to be my favourite part of nursing. So, in light of this, I was thinking back to my student nurse days and how I used to prepare for the start of my clinical day. This almost always included prayer. Here are a few prayers you can pray before you start your clinical day: The Lord’s Prayer…
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How To Succeed At Preceptorship (without even trying).
….guys. I’m kidding. You have to try. But I may have just tricked you into becoming a better nurse and that’s basically the WHOLE POINT of this blog to begin with. So let me lay this out for you. I have had a lot of students. A lot. And there are a few things that sets good students apart from mediocre ones. I can usually tell within the first few hours or so who is going to impress me and who I am going to have to work with a bit more to be successful. So let’s get at ‘er. Be professional. I cannot stress this enough. Don’t talk about my patients behind…
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The Nervous Nurse: Anxiety and the Clinical Environment
I remember being in my third year of Nursing School and wanting nothing more than to puke (and then take a nap). I was in a peds medicine rotation and clinical was awful. I had a brutal instructor who had a big chip on her shoulder about not having a degree but educating those of us who were working towards one. I remember being so terrified of making a mistake that I was pretty much guaranteed I would. I was an A-student and always had been. But then this rotation. My instructor threatened to put me on what my university called a “learning contract” which is basically the last ditch…