Do you remember your first week in nursing?

21 January, 2013 | By Kathryn Godfrey

It’s freshers’ week and all over the country student nurses will be starting out on a training  that will contain experiences and challenges that will be with them for the rest of their life. Nurse training changes your life – not just in career terms but also personally.

I feel excited that they are at the beginning of a journey where they will learn the skills of how to look after patients with fundamental care at its heart.  I think many of us will remember the difficulties and the challenges of learning procedures, the anxiety about if you are doing it right. The first time you gave an injection, flushed an IV line, changed a dressing or helped someone walk to the toilet.  And remember the enjoyment of being able to care and support patients at a time when they need care.

But I think the way that nurse training changes you in a personal way is the experience of meeting patients. However many years ago that is was that you trained, I imagine you will still remember some of the patients you met during your training, especially in the early days.

The conversations that you had with them about their condition and about their life. The opportunity that nursing gave you to meet people from all ages and from all backgrounds. And the trust they placed in you to help them get better or at least to be made comfortable.

So I feel quite excited on the new student’s behalf – wishing I could turn the clock back and go through again some, if not all, of the variety, challenges and real life experience that nurse training offers.

And don’t forget that student nurses can be supported by the resources for freshers’ week at studentnursingtimes.net  which will help with tips on essay writing and the first placement and much more.

And a student subscription is only 70p a week.