Looking back over the past three years, I go through so many emotions.

Before I began
nursing school, I was anxious to start so that I could begin my career. I took a medical assistant
class in high school so I was positive that nursing was for me. My first semester of clinical at St.
Mary’s Hospital was nerve-wracking in the beginning, but then over time I was able to get
comfortable interacting with my patients. It is comical to look back and remember how nervous
me and my classmates would be to go into a patient’s room so we preferred to go in pairs. As the
weeks went on, I got more comfortable interacting with the patients and was able to perform a
couple of skills that we had learned. The first time I placed a foley catheter, I remember being a
nervous wreck beforehand, which turned into being ecstatic and proud of myself. After I
completed this clinical, I was able to search for jobs as a patient care technician and after
interviews were completed, I accepted a job at St. Francis Medical Center. I could tell a
difference in clinicals after that. I was more comfortable and was exposed to different scenarios.

During the first semester of my senior year, I had the opportunity to visit Grundy,
Virginia for a RAM trip through school. Before our trip, the whole group collectively raised
money to donate to Mountain Mission School and we stayed there throughout the duration of our
trip. This school is a place where children who do not have parents or do not have parents who
are able to care for them come to live and go to school. We did activities with the children while
we were there. Then, we helped to set up a local school as the site for the RAM clinic to take
place. During the day of the clinic, we chaperoned the children from Mountain Mission School
there, and helped in various ways throughout the day from triaging patients to helping the dental
area. During my second semester, I completed my immersion on the progressive care unit as St.
Francis. I was able to interact with many different patients with a variety of diagnoses.
Throughout my days of immersion, I had the opportunity to get more comfortable in the nursing
role. I was able to perform assessments on patients, chart on them, pass medication, among many
other tasks throughout the course of the day. I found it to be very beneficial working alongside a
nurse and helping to take care of all of their patients.

Over the past three years, I am most proud of passing all of my classes and being able to
work my way through school. It was challenging to say the least, but rewarding to know that I
was able to make it through. The hardest part of school has been how time consuming it has
been. If I wasn’t in class, at clinicals, or working, I was usually at home working on school work
or studying. Even making the time to work was a challenge, let alone family and friends.
However, being able to tackle that challenge and manage my time effectively, has really taught
me a lot and is something that I can take with me forward in my career. I feel as though nursing
school has taught me many skills, not only nursing skills, that I can use in both my personal life
and professional career.

Looking back, I do not remember exactly what I thought being a nurse would be like. I
just know that I had no idea that it would be so involved, not to mention a rewarding job. We are
versatile and play many different roles in a patient’s life. Not only that but working in a hospital,
I have been able to see more of the real life nursing rather than the textbook version we learn in
school. Although I know that I have learned an immense amount of information over the past
three years, I know that I still have so much to learn as I start my first nursing job. I have enjoyed
my journey with Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing; it has instilled me with the values to
become a great nurse. I know that this next year, my first year as a new graduate nurse, will be
another challenging year. I will gain knowledge and experience to add on to this base knowledge
that I have.