Life as A Student Nurse

A lot of people are asking me why I took nursing. Wanna know the reason why? Almost 5 years ago, nurses are in demand all over the world. Also, Philippines has a shortage of staff nurses. And since my mom’s working in a hospital, she wants me to be her workmate. (She’s not a nurse. She’s an x-ray technician). In short, she’s the one responsible why I take that course. I don’t want to be a nurse but I’ve written in my school yearbook that it’s always been my dream to become one. I just don’t know what to write at that time. But honestly, I want to be a civil engineer or an accountant. I’m pretty good in Mathematics especially Algebra and Beginner’s Calculus and to tell you the truth, I am a Math geek. Science is my worst enemy. One of the reasons why I don’t like nursing. I remember sleeping at 3am when I was still in my college years because I couldn’t understood Chemistry and Biochemistry. Thank God, I’ve passed those two subjects. Microbiology is pretty hard too. I have to remember the names of those not-so-good-looking parasites, worms, etc. They look awful. But again, I’ve passed that subject. Actually, I’ve never failed any subjects. Ooh, and I am not a grade conscious. I only study when I know that this particular subject is not my forte. The rest, I’d rather sleep or watch TV series or surf the internet than reviewing and reading my notes. Thanks to stock knowledge because I’ve passed all my subjects. But guys, Nursing is a pretty hard subject. And with my school, I tell you, it’s not easy studying there. We have to pass all the subjects plus comprehensive exams and revalida every semester.We also have this Nursing Aptitude Test way back in second year. We have to pass that test to enter 3rd year. I’ve got 95 although I don’t study at all. Again, thanks to stock knowledge. Not just that, but we have to pass the interview and our General Weighted Average should be at least 2.00 (B-) to become a junior student. It’s pretty tough. Really. But I’ve passed those exams because if not, maybe, I won’t be able to graduate.

The only thing I love about nursing is our hospital duties. And oh, community duties too. I’ve said before that I am not seeing myself working in a hospital. I like working in a hospital but it’s not the career meant for me. I hate my course but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying my hospital and community exposures. I love helping people especially if my service is for free. (Maybe, I’ll volunteer on medical missions instead of working in a hospital.) I love making Nursing Care Plans. It consists of the following: Subjective and Objective Data, Nursing Diagnosis, Interventions, Planning, Evaluation. We always do that. Each patient has at least 3 Nursing Care Plans. That means we have to at least make 3 Nursing Diagnoses. Acute Pain related to (certain etiology/cause) is the most used nursing diagnosis of all. I also love making Case Presentations especially if my patient’s case is rare. My group mates call me Ms. Pathophysiology. I’m always the one making the pathophysiology of the disease of our patient. I know, I’m not good in science but I love solving mysteries. And knowing the causes why that certain disease exists is like solving a mystery. Aside from those reasons, knowing that my patient is getting better because of my tender loving care gives me happiness no one can ever describe. I remember some of my patients are giving me thank you presents for taking care of them. But I have one incident that I can say the most memorable one while I have my hospital duty. There’s a patient having a heart attack. He needs CPR. He’s my classmate’s patient. Upon seeing the situation wherein the blue team is already there giving CPR, etc., I cry. I know I shouldn’t. But I can’t bear seeing him like that. It breaks my heart. I was crying the whole time and I just stayed at the rest room. My friends told me to just stay there because I was already shivering. Sadly, the patient didn’t make it. He’s dead after 1 hour and 20 minutes of trying to revive him. 😦 There’s also an incident wherein I’ve got shingles because of my patient. I was absent for one week because of that!

Community immersion/duty is one of most enjoyable moments of my students nurse’s life. We have to go to different house to conduct survey. I remember, I was once chased by a dog while conducting survey. Take note, there is only one house there and it takes us almost an hour before we arrive at that house. Good thing, the dog didn’t bite me. Thanks to my huge umbrella. We also make certain projects for a specific area. We’ll know their problems based on our survey. Some of our projects are the following: waste management, feeding program, dengue prevention, pneumonia and other lung diseases prevention and many more. It’s nice knowing you’re a part of a certain community’s health progression.

But my most unforgettable experience is when we have our duty in National Center for Mental Health. We spend 5 days there. We are assigned in the chronic female ward. The patients there are confined for more than 6 months. Most of them are already cured but they’ve decided to stay there because their family can’t accept them. Honestly, I don’t understand their family. Just because their mentally ill doesn’t mean they’ll hurt you. Remember, they’re already cured. What they need is love and acceptance. Sorry, I know the feeling of not being taken care of. Our group give our best to make those patient happy. We have different activities for them. And I am the one who cooked food for them. The patients, as well as my groupmates, like it! 🙂

It’s fun being a student nurse. There’s a lot of things you’ll experience. You’ll learn a lot from those experiences. I’ve graduated at the age of 19. Pretty young, right? Four years of hard work and I can say that I am proud being a nurse. As I’ve said, this job is not meant for me but still, I love being called a nurse. And I will always be proud of the nurses around the world.

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