I have such mixed feelings about ending the semester and being done nursing school. I’ve been in college since fall of 2016 so I’m super excited to be done but I’m very nervous about entering the nursing field. I think what I’m most worried about is entering into healthcare during these times during the pandemic. You hear so much on social media, TV, among peers, etc. Even though our healthcare system isn’t the same as it was when I decided to go into it, I am looking forward to practicing on patients. So, I very much have mixed feelings about graduating in May. After graduation my plan is to take some time off from everything and study for a month. I’d like to take my NCLEX no later than mid/end of June. I think once I get closer and see how much I really know with practice exams I’ll determine then when I should take my NCLEX.

            Even though May seems far away, I know it will come up very fast. I know I need to prepare myself to take my NCLEX as well as starting my job as a nurse. My biggest struggle is medications. This semester I’ve set a goal to go over at least 3 medications every week thoroughly. I would hate to get to my NCLEX and miss questions on small mistakes over medications. I plan on writing these drugs down on my iPad. I really enjoy drawing, so I hope to not only make this a good way to learn but I wanted to make it fun. I know I won’t have time to draw every medication so if I write down the content about it, I will be satisfied. I can go back and add anything I want later. With this my hope is by May I will have thoroughly gone through around 45 drugs. I plan on grouping types of drugs (BB, ACE, ARBS, statins, etc) so in reality it will be more. 

            Lastly for the Nurse Logic 2.0 Modules I learned a few things form them. It was nice to get a brush up on discharge procedures, specifically the education that went along with it. It reinforces that I need to be thinking about patient education with everything. It was also nice to brush up on patient priority. I know it’s so important to prioritize as a nurse. Lastly, these exams really engrained how much I need to study my medications. They are so important, and I can’t go into a situation and not know what I’m giving. I hope that with these ATI tests, what I’m learning in my courses, and practice NCLEX questions I’ll be prepared to take the exam and move into the nursing field.