The hardest thing I've ever done in my life was survive nursing school 30 years ago. Yesterday I got relive the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat again as this current cohort took their final exam for their first semester. If you've been, or have kids in nursing school, then you know it all comes down to exam scores, with the biggest score coming at the end when they take the NCLEX board exam.
There's a bunch of ways for entry in nursing practice, a hospital-based diploma program, a two year associates degree program, a four year bachelors degree program, and a one year accelerated BSN program, where you have another bachelors degree and in 13 months have your BSN, or bachelors of science in nursing. If you, your kids, or your buds aren't happy with that shitty liberal arts degree that cost $200,000 and need a career change have them look into heading over to nursing.
The reason I chose to return to Essex County College as a nursing Professor is because it's where I started. It's Essex. It's Newark. A place where I lived, or lived and worked, for 20 years. And the students at Essex aren't your usual live-in-their-parents-basement type of community college student. These are workers, have families, have issues with housing, transportation, and even immigration. Some have been in the United States for less than three years, and more only a few years longer. When we had Cultural Day last week one student told me she could't make it because she was getting sworn in as a United States citizen that day. And there's babies that come and family members that pass and everything in between. So with a class of 106 there's a lot of traumas and dramas that come up. Every. Single. Day.
Nursing students work hard. If you've been or have one in the family then you know. It's a 24 hour a day thing when you're in it. It's a combination of lecture, lab, on campus, and clinical at a healthcare setting. It takes a village to be successful, with bosses, spouses, kids, and even their religious community, all part of the team that needs to support the student going through it. When all of it comes down to exam scores, with the biggest one, for some, being the final exam, it can be a live or die kinda day.
Proctoring exams isn't an easy task. Exam integrity needs to be maintained. If you ADHD then you better take your meds because sitting there staring at the screen and the students can test your frontal lobe. And then there's the anxiety as the first wave of students nears completion, and then the scores, and the reactions, give way to knowing if the student was successful and will move onto the next class, or not. Nursing school is nasty like that.
Off the 106 students that were still in the game heading into yesterday's final 76 will move on to my class in the spring. NRS 114 is a combination of mental health and medical- surgical nursing. It's 15 weeks long, or short. It's a lot of content. A lot of exams. And the pace is quick, almost running. It's hard for me to show too much emotion and happiness for those that were successful while balancing empathy for those that weren't. There are a bunch of good future nurses who will have to come up with a new plan in order to meet their individual goals. As a Professor you root for just about everyone of them, with less umph for those that aren't putting their best foot forward and working as hard, and getting it done, as the others.
So there are tears, shed for victory and defeat, all across the halls of nursing schools this week. For those smiling it means one step closer in entering one of the most challenging professions out there. Just getting in and having the pleasure of caring for other people is just the start, as gaining experience and continuing one's education is needed to be competent and ready to care for the sick and injured.
There are no participation trophies in nursing school. We have seen that phenomenon ruin so many things in this country since the 1990's. It started with kids in school and in sports. Everyone gets a trophy. Do you want that person who may have been pushed through or barely passed taking care of you or your loved one in the hospital or long term care facility? This isn't show up and win. Nursing isn't a game of memorization and recall, it's critical thinking and situational awareness. Not everyone has those skills, but they can be learned.
While I think the best nurses are females, I don't care what the sex, color, creed, preference, etc., a person is when they enter the room, it comes down to performance. Males make up about 12% of the nursing profession and there has been a little uptick in that since I entered the game, and I am so glad I did. Fist as a side hustle around my fire department and EMS jobs and now my full-time gig. I tell everyone I know to consider a career in the health sciences, such as nursing, radiology, vision care, and physical therapy. If you're into computers over blood and guts there's a place for you. Don't like kids but like the old folks there's a place for you. Want to deliver babies, work in shock trauma, psych, peds, and even in forensics, then there's a place for you. And the money isn't bad either. New nursing graduates are commanding starting salaries up to $100,000, which is about $50 an hour. Not bad for two years of dedication and hard work. But you'll pay a price as nursing calls for leaving a bit of yourself every time you go to work. And that doesn't matter if you're at the bedside or at the chalkboard, well whiteboard these days.
So now it's a break until NRS 114 orientation. I'll spend it decompressing but busy at the computer making sure the syllabus and all the schedules are tight. Chaos, even though I like it, can interfere with the learning process so I have to do my best so they can do their best. I'm even thinking there might a year end trip down to the beach. I don't care if I catch, I could just use a mental health day down showing flies into the salty water.