Describe your typical workday.
For a typical day shift, I leave at 5:30 am. I take the T or a blue bike, depending on the weather. I report to work at 6:30 am. For my first 6 months as a new nurse I am orienting 1:1 with a preceptor. A preceptor is an experienced Registered Nurse in charge of supervising my orientation to the unit. We read up on the patient, listen to the report from the night shift nurse, and take some notes.
I spend my 12-hour day caring for my patients. This may include preparing and administering medication, drawing blood work for labs, documenting care, and communicating with the team and family about the plan for the day. I work in a cardiac surgical ICU, so we see a lot of heart and lung transplants, bypass, grafts, and valve repairs and replacements.
I take lunch around 12:30 pm and usually have a small snack in the morning and afternoon. It's a long day of being on my feet, grabbing supplies, and running to and from the medication room. I personally steer away from caffeine, but it absolutely is a true statement that nurses run on coffee! At the end of the shift, we give a report to the oncoming night shift nurse. I leave around 7:30 pm and make it home by 8 pm I do a few things to relax and decompress, and then do it all again the next day. Full time for me is three 12-hour shifts a week, days and nights rotating. I also work weekends and holidays.
What made you decide to major in nursing at Simmons?
I was looking for a smaller school where professors knew their students' names. I also wanted to take on a leadership role. The Simmons School of Nursing has a superb reputation for nursing, especially in Boston, and Simmons has a great relationship with the hospitals in the area. The Fenway location has a close proximity to Longwood, which is ideal. Simmons also recognized the work I did in high school and offered me the best financial aid package.
What do you learn from clinical experience at Simmons and how did that carry into your career?
Clinicals were the best part of nursing school and were always the highlight of my week. Being able to interact with patients is my favorite part of nursing.
For clinicals, we would rotate around hospitals and units, including medical, surgical, postpartum, psychiatric, and more. As students, we work on our assessment skills and knowledge of medication in small groups. Beyond the facts and concrete knowledge of medicine, I feel that clinicals helped me develop the soft skills of nursing. Now I have increased confidence, I know how to interact with patients, and I carry myself as a nurse. Everything I learned from my clinical experiences have carried into my career.
What is rewarding about the work you do?
It's wonderful going home every day knowing that you helped someone. I know that I make a difference in peoples' lives, especially when they are at their most vulnerable. In the ICU, many of my patients are not even aware that I am there, and I am by their side for the entirety of my shift. I am basically the eyes and ears of my patients when they are sedated, or intubated. I get to know their families, social situations, and medical history. I answer calls at all hours to update loved ones on the patient's condition. I get to be my patient's strongest advocate, which is the best feeling in the world.
What advice would you give for future students pursuing a career in nursing?
You should try it out before you get totally immersed. Shadowing a nurse can be a great opportunity for high school students curious about nursing. For undergrad nursing students, I highly recommend working as a nursing assistant in order to gain hands-on experience, practice going through the job application process, and to begin networking. You can opt to pay for a course through the Red Cross in order to become licensed as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or wait until after your first semester of clinical experience at Simmons, when nursing students can get signed off as CNA certified as a result of their clinical hours. The job title varies from hospital to hospital but most commonly I see Patient Care Associate (PCA) and Clinical Care Technician (CCT). It's not required to work during school, but I personally found the experience invaluable and it helped me better understand what I was working towards.