07/26/2022
“I Finally Feel Comfortable In My Nurse Shoes”
Being a first year nursing student is nerve wracking enough, but being a first year at the start of a pandemic? That takes the cake. So much of my college experience has revolved around Covid restrictions and modified or simulated classes and clinical experiences that I felt like I hadn’t even broken the surface of what I needed to know to be a knowledgeable nurse! Starting the second year of my three year program and seeing real patients was amazing, but what really caught me up to speed was the UPMC Student Nurse Internship Program.
I was able to work with an outstanding preceptor for ten weeks, and because of her excellent teaching abilities I was able to experience so much in the ED! Week one and two were spent mostly with me watching and asking a million questions and my preceptor doing the skills and sharing her knowledge. By week four or five I had built enough confidence to be more hands on, and by week six and on I felt like I had really found my groove and could manage my tasks with much less assistance!
During one of my last weeks we had a patient who was very sick and needed to be transferred and that case really sealed the deal for my confidence in my abilities. I was able to make phone calls to find information for their family, offer emotional supports to them and the patient, and educate them on their loved one’s condition and treatments discussed with them by the provider.
What really made this situation stick with me was during an especially critical moment I felt so comfortable as to make quick judgement calls and delegate simple but vital POCT tasks to the PCT, who we were lucky to have working with us that day, while I remained with the patient and monitored them for any airway compromise and continued assessments.
I still feel like there’s a whole world of knowledge waiting for me to learn, but thanks to my time in the SNI program with a phenomenal preceptor and team I finally feel comfortable in my “nurse” shoes!
