Student Nurse Teacher

A few days ago a new grad reached out to me with the question: "Do you have any tips on how to survive/thrive on night shift?" I sure do! I have worked over 2,300 hours of night shift, including time in home health and hospital nursing. There are things I love about night shift and things I...don't love. But, through those hours, I learned what worked for me. I hope these tips are helpful! 1. Recognize that night shift isn't for everyone. Night shift is a great place for new grads to start out. The pace is typically slower than during the days (though night shift nurses work incredibly hard, and some nights will be c.r.a.z.y). However, you don't have as many discharges and admissions, and your patients do not have physical therapy, occupational therapy, multiple doctors rounding on them, etc. There is time for you to sit down, look through the patient's chart, ask questions, get feedback, and LEARN. Take advantage of that! Ask the other nurses questions, ...

Throughout the past several months, we have met nurses in various specialties, including the PICU , public health , telemetry , and more. Today's interview is with a former classmate of mine, Heather. Heather currently works in uro-vascular nursing, and she is in school to be a nurse practitioner. Yeah, she's cool 😊 What type of nursing do you do? I work on a med-surg floor that specializes in Urology and Vascular patients. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and why you chose that specialty? I have wanted to be a nurse since I was 14 years old. When I was 15, my neighbor was diagnosed with cancer and so I would sit with her every day until she passed away. That experience really reinforced my love for nursing because I saw how much of an impact a nurse could make on a situation that wasn’t ideal. I thought I wanted to do Hospice nursing when I got out of college, but I was able to get a day shift position on the unit I’m currently working on right out o...