My first day as a ”REAL” nurse

2024-02-13

My first job out of nursing school was in the Neuro ICU at a very large hospital in downtown Dallas. In this particular hospital, new ICU nurses complete a 13 week internship partnered with an experienced nurse (called a preceptor). My preceptors name was Vanessa, she was the typical ICU nurse type - a hardcore, type A nurse. She trained me well . . . but . . . those 13 weeks came to an end and it was time for me to be all on my own - no safety net to fall back on, no babysitter to make sure I did everything by the book - it was just ME.

My first job out of nursing school was in the Neuro ICU at a very large hospital in downtown Dallas.

In this particular hospital, new ICU nurses complete a 13 week internship partnered with an experienced nurse (called a preceptor). My preceptors name was Vanessa, she was the typical ICU nurse type - a hardcore, type A nurse.

She trained me well . . . but . . . those 13 weeks came to an end and it was time for me to be all on my own - no safety net to fall back on, no babysitter to make sure I did everything by the book - it was just ME.

To be honest . . . I was terrified.

I wish I'd had a tool like NURSING.com

You CAN do this

Happy Nursing!

-Jon

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