“Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was anyone’s nursing career,” Donna Wilk Cardillo, RN, MA, writes in her Daybook for Beginning Nurses (2010), a yearlong book for self-reflection. With new nurses emerging at the end of each semester and taking positions in hospitals, this can be helpful advice to keep in mind.

Corey Ramser

It can be tough to be a new nurse in a field of seasoned professionals; the information can be overwhelming and the work daunting. Four nurses who are fairly new to the profession remember challenges they faced after graduation and offer their perspectives, as well as advice, to nurses just starting their careers. While more experienced nurses may have worked decades in the same hospital, these four viewpoints offer a glimpse into what it means to step into the shoes of a new nurse.

Corey Ramser, RN, BSN, PCCN, has been a nurse for five years. A 2005 graduate of The Ohio State University, Ramser worked as a staff nurse at inpatient hospitals before being promoted to assistant nurse manager of the Heart Failure Unit at Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando, Florida. Laura Gettelfinger, RN, BSN, a May 2010 graduate of Indiana University School of Nursing, works in the oncology unit at Bloomington Hospital in Bloomington, Indiana. Chris Alumbaugh, RN, BSN, BA, graduated in 2002 from Baker University School of Nursing, 33 years after finishing high school. She has found herself “living the dream” of being a nurse in Topeka, Kansas, and is fortunate that her passion has become a career. Erin Heavin graduated from Purdue University in 2005 and works in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.

These nurses work at four hospitals in three states, but each brings her own perspective on what it means to be a nurse.

The rewards
Arriving at the hospital can be just another day for a nurse, but a patient doesn’t always expect to be at the hospital that day. “When I first meet a patient, their stress levels are often pretty high,”

Laura Gettelfinger

Gettelfinger finds satisfaction in reaping the benefits of her education. “Putting all your knowledge together and using it to take care of people is just really rewarding,” she says. Simple “thank yous” from patients make her hard work in nursing school worthwhile.

For Alumbaugh, the reward of helping her patients, which is paramount, is enhanced when her patients come to understand their condition and prescribed treatment. “Patient education can be as simple as defining medical terms in words they understand, or as complex as explaining how our body’s organs work, where the breakdowns can take place, and why.” Believing that patients deserve to know as much as they want, Alumbaugh will go out of her way to make this happen. “Each day I do everything in my power to give that extra measure, even if it means running late or using my own time to complete patient care.”

Heavin enjoys helping people get through the tough times that often accompany a visit to the NICU. “People don’t expect to have their baby spend time in the NICU, and if I can take a little bit of stress or worry off, I know I’m doing my job.” Heavin also feels proud when she sees her patients, years later, living a healthy life. “I like to think that, if it weren’t for my help, they might not be where they are today.” Heavin and her mother, Debbie McClay, also a nurse, were featured in a 2009 Nursing Quarterly article.

The stressors
Ramser’s job description as an assistant nurse manager includes answering complaints. When patients or family members are upset, she finds that being empathetic keeps her from becoming discouraged. “I find it helpful to imagine myself in the patient’s shoes or think of how I would feel if this was my family member that was upset at the hospital.” Ramser says. “They’re out of their usual environment, they can’t control what’s going on and, on top of that, they don’t feel well.” Ramser is gratified when the patient begins to trust her. “It’s rewarding to begin the day as strangers and, by the end of it, to have built this positive relationship. You can’t beat that feeling of accomplishment.”

Gettelfinger also recognizes the stressors of nursing. “Nursing is stressful,” she says. Despite long hours, she finds it challenging to balance assigned tasks with making a personal connection with patients. “It’s hard to do everything that you want to do in addition to everything you have to do.” In between getting medical passes, changing dressings and getting consents signed, Gettelfinger sometimes finds it difficult to “just spend time and get to know [patients], and touch them in a positive way.”

Erin Heavin

Alumbaugh also finds it difficult to achieve that balance. “Unfortunately, with the emphasis more and more on monetary aspects of medical care, I find I have to choose between giving a patient the time and attention they need and deserve, and keeping on schedule and up to quota.”

“Nursing is very emotional,” says Heavin. To really commit to your patients, she notes, you must leave your own emotional baggage at the door, as it can interfere with your critical thinking and judgment skills. “It is very hard to do.”

The advice
Ramser cheers on those who are still in nursing school. “Hang in there!” she says. She also encourages nursing students to take advantage of their clinicals, seek out opportunities and get involved.

During high school and college, Gettelfinger was a “candy striper,” an aide to a person with special needs. Those experiences opened her eyes to what nursing could be. “Try to get your feet wet before you start nursing school,” she advises. “It’s always a good idea to be a tech or do something along the lines of nursing, just so you know what it’s like.”

Chris Alumbaugh

Alumbaugh, who speaks three languages, in addition to English, suggests learning a foreign language, because that skill helps nurses connect with more patients. “No matter where you live or work as a nurse, you’ll be confronted with global and cultural issues, so take the time to acquire or use foreign language skills,” she says. “Your patients will respond better—and remember you with gratitude.”

“Ask questions,” Heavin advises aspiring nurses. She says the best advice she ever received was the result of questions she asked. “When you stop asking questions and feel like you know everything, that is when you stop being a strong nurse.”

Nursing: The art of science
All of these nurses agree that nursing is not just science and not just art; it’s a blend of both. The science, says Ramser, is in the evidence-based practice, and the art is in applying the research to your patient. “Being able to humanize the science truly is an art,” Ramser explains.

“You’re studying the body systems and all the dysfunctions and disorders, but you have to figure out how to heal this person,” Gettelfinger says. “The art is the personality you put into nursing. The good nurses are the ones who make each patient feel like he or she is the nurse’s only patient—even on a busy day.”

Ramser, Gettelfinger, Alumbaugh and Heavin are passionate about helping others and providing care that promotes healing. Few professions combine scientific data and the art of human emotion like nursing, and becoming a nurse is only the beginning of a wonderful journey. Toward the end of her recently published daybook, Cardillo advises: “Be patient with yourself and the process of learning. Some things can’t be rushed. Each day that you ‘practice’ nursing, you will be one step closer to being the kind of nurse you long to be.” RNL

Erin Pesut served an editorial internship in the publications department at the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. She will graduate in December from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.

Reference:
Cardillo, D. (2010).

A daybook for beginning nurses. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.