Taking it to the Next Level!

 Wednesday morning I took my last exam as a level 1 nursing student. Although I'm pretty sure every single one of us left that exam wondering what in the heck had just happened to us. It was the hardest finals I've ever had. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one that thought that was the case! The exam was at 7am in the morning (100 questions and worth 200 points) and we all finished around 10ish...and then the LONG...LONG...LONG...LONG wait began. Thankfully we have a pretty amazing instructors and the grades were posted before 6pm.

It was so exciting to see my grade posted on blackboard and to see that I made a B...however...my victory was short lived when the texts, phone calls, and facebook posts came in about friends that didn't make it. I've learned this semester that we nursing students grow, celebrate, mourn, and thrive together...and when one of us falls we help that person get back up. But when we can't pick them up anymore and we have to keep moving on it's one of the hardest things to do. We're taught that nursing isn't a competition; it's not about who gets the better grades or who got to do the most in their clinical rotation...rather, it's about the success of the whole clinical group! I'm sad to see some of my friends that didn't make it and I'll miss them as the rest of us continue on, but I'm certain they're gonna make it and become some amazing nurses!

I was thinking about an old show that I used to watch, I'm sure some of you know it...ER! And I was reminded of something that one of the nurses said (I think it was nurse Haleh)...It went something like this, "I've been doin' this job for 17 years, honey. Doctors come and go, but nurses make this place run. We don't get much credit or pay. We see a lot of misery, a lot of dyin', but we come back every day. I've given up bein' appreciated, but I sure as hell won't let any of us be taken for granted."

Every single nurse and nursing student is a fighter! And we're going to fight to the end until we reach our goals! I can't wait to see what this next level has in store for me and my friends! I'm ready to climb this next mountain. So I'm going to take it easy these next 2 weeks (and try and find something productive to do) as I prepare myself for the best and the hard times that are about to come my way..because ladies and gentlemen..I'm taking it to the next level!