As a nursing student, every day you may struggle to read endless tomes of clinical information, prepare for clinicals, and cope with levels of stress they never thought possible. Exhaustion is a constant companion and feeling overwhelmed becomes a familiar state of being. And yet, the majority of nursing students wouldn’t choose another career because becoming a nurse has been their singular dream for many years.
One way to cope with stress is to laugh about the circumstances causing it. Here are some humorous reflections on, “You know you’re a nursing student when…”
1. You pay $500 for 4 textbooks and think, “Well, that was cheap.”
2. You attend the lecture, write notes about the lecture, print the notes out, color code them, put them on 3 x 5 card, reread them, study with a friend, talk out the notes, just to study for one exam.
3. NCLEX becomes much more than an acronym, it becomes a wall to scale.
4. Buying a sleep mask and room darkening shades mean you are preparing to work the night shift for the first time.
5. Making flash cards and using a coloring book means you are studying anatomy, not returning to elementary school.
6. SAME DAVE isn’t a boring date – it’s a mnemonic for neuro A & P:
- S = Sensory
- A = Afferent
- M = Motor
- E = Efferent
- D = Dorsal
- A = Afferent
- V = Ventral
- E = Efferent
7. Eating chocolate is a strategic move as part of your NCLEX® studying.
8. People are suggesting beta-blockers (and any number of other drugs) to help reduce anxiety during NCLEX® test taking.
9. You know these truths to be self-evident:
- “While that’s correct… it’s not the most correct.”
- “TGIF means nothing because I work weekends.”
- “Crazy patient? Check. Code blue? Got it.”
10. You are worried that your patient hasn’t peed in 8 hours, and then suddenly realize you haven’t peed in 12.
11. Adding “loads of experience dealing with ignorant people” to your resume seems like a good idea.
12. The nine circles of hell have nothing on nursing school.
13. You want to talk about your day at the dinner table, but the family gets grossed out. Now you are no longer allowed to talk about your work while eating.
14. You can’t watch Nurse Jackie because now you know all the things they fudge. It’s not entertainment because it’s not real.
Finally, you know you are a nursing student when stress, pressure, exhaustion, and uncertainty don’t dissuade you from your chosen path and you know, without a doubt, that you have chosen the right path. You are a nursing student if even in your most sleep-deprived, precarious moments you know that someday you will be an excellent nurse, caring for people and saving lives.
Check out our other fun filled post on You know you’re in Medical School when….