I survived

I SURVIVED! I survived prerequisites, nursing school, the NCLEX, and applying for jobs. It was not easy and it did not come without its sacrifices. But just the thought of starting my first nurse job in a few weeks makes it all worth it.

I decided I wanted to change careers and become a nurse. With much support from my parents, I moved back home after a 2 year career in the business world. I completed an EMT course, signed up for prerequisites and nannied when I was not in school. I did two years of prerequisites and was accepted in an ABSN program. I blew through most of my savings just on applying to nursing schools. By the time I applied to programs, I was a student at 7 schools to get prerequisites! Yep, 7! Transcripts are not cheap people and all schools have application fees. After being out of school for two years it was difficult to get back into school mode. But I studied and cut myself off from a life and was accepted!

Nursing school was amazing on so many levels. I knew each day I was heading in the right direction. As hard as every single day was, it was an amazing feeling knowing that I was heading toward my dream. With hard work and sacrifices I was selected to be the Cohort Representative and kept up a very good GPA that made me proud of myself. Weekly breakdowns were a normal thing. And each semester felt harder then the last but in very different ways. I went through a bad breakup where I had to move out of my boyfriend's house and find a new place to live after living with him for over a year while I was in the program. Thank goodness for nursing school friends! My dog and cat went to live with my mom and dad and I moved in with two amazing girls from my cohort. I believe I sacrificed my relationship to survive nursing school. I missed my best friend's bachelorette party and another good friends wedding for clinicals. Yep, weekend clinicals. I learned more then I could have imagined and found a strength in myself that I did not know was possible.

I started to apply for jobs before graduation. I interviewed for my dream position in the Emergency Department and got the job! First interview! I gave myself a little over 2 weeks to study for the NCLEX. I spent half of Christmas day studying for the NCLEX. I took the NCLEX and had to wait weeks to find out if I passed. The waiting anticipation is probably worse then the anticipation of taking the test. My results just were not coming quick enough for my job offer. The BRN is very busy and my transcripts were needing to be processed. So I hand delivered transcripts to the BRN one day. Flew up to Sacramento from Southern CA on a 6am ish flight and was back before noon that same day. What an expensive few hours, but for the job of my dreams- it was worth it. I was so happy that something was working out for me. I was so worried I would actually loose the job because of delays at the BRN.

The good news is, is it's possible. Nursing school is pure survival mode to be honest. Studying for the NCLEX is hard. The test is hard. But doing the best I could and giving it my all paid off for me. I have a job that I am so excited to start. Thank goodness for an amazing family and friends. They supported me through it all and made the past few years possible for me. So this blog is going to be about my next journey, my dream career in the Emergency Department.