My name is Megan and I am a first year nursing student in the Accelerated Master's Program at Regis College. I will be writing about my experience in nursing school to try to give a glimpse into the way life is as a graduate student, but first I will give everyone a little background information about myself.
I am 26 years old and I have a BS in Biology from Providence College. I enjoyed a fast paced college life playing division 1 field hockey, working and trying to keep up with a demanding academic schedule. I knew I wanted to pursue a medical career, but upon graduation from college I needed some time to relax and have some fun. I spent a few years waitressing, working as a nanny and traveling. 2 years after graduation I finally got my act together and decided to apply to nursing school. I obtained a job at a hospital in Newburyport, MA where I worked as a certified nursing assistant. From the first information session I knew Regis is where I wanted to be, the staff was informative and welcoming and the program included all the aspects I was looking for. I was thrilled to be accepted and have now completed my first semester (I tell my friends and family I am 1/4 nurse).
My first semester was a whirlwind of class, work and clinical. Before classes started I was lucky enough to find a teeny tiny log cabin about 3 miles from school to rent. The commute from the cabin was wonderful compared to a traffic filled morning from the North Shore. A log cabin in Weston very strange I know, but it is a great little oasis in the woods and a perfect environment for lots of studying.
Although I was used to a pretty packed schedule it took a little while to get back in the groove of studying, taking exams and writing papers. L I took Professional Nursing, Health Assessment and Pharmacology and did my first clinical at Brigham and Women's hospital on an Oncology unit. Professional Nursing and Health Assessment were the real hands on nursing classes, we worked on skills in lab, practiced taking vital signs, listening to heart and lung sounds and eventually even giving medications and injections. It was very fast paced, but exciting. Although I had some patient care experience my clinical was a completely new experience for me. Talking to and caring for patients with Cancer was a whole new nursing technique I had to learn. I was thrilled and proud to finish out the semester with good grades, but even prouder of all I learned about being a nurse. I could give patients their medications, talk with them about how they were feeling, teach them about their conditions and give them quality care with compassion.
After a nice long Christmas break filled with ski trips and lots of quality time with my friends, family and NEW PUPPY :) I am getting into my second semester of classes and clinical and feeling excited and a little anxious about my newly packed schedule, but I know the hard work will all pay off! There will be more to come about my first year here at Regis College and my journey to becoming a Nurse Practitioner!
Thanks for reading!
Megan
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