I am a semi-new nurse, because I’ve been on the floor for about two years. I blog about knitting (which keeps me sane), about psych, and about nursing in general. Sometimes I talk about the financial details of care in a long term care facility/MDS/MMQ stuff. Sometimes I write on the whatever wordpress posts as the daily prompt. Whatever.

Sometimes it is easier to define what nurses don’t do, than what they do.

RN doesn’t stand for Refreshments and Narcotics. Going through nursing school doesn’t automatically grant you demi-god status (oh, you’re a RN – what is this rash over here?), but you start to get pretty good at assessments. Something is going on (or not) because your spidey (nursey?) sense is tingling (or not). The absence of something can be just as important as the presence of something.

Listening is easily the most important skill a nurse has.

Giving injections is part of the job, and you get used to it. As one clinical instructor told me, “Just do it!”

I went to Wellesley, and Georgia Tech (B.S. Biochemistry), and graduated from Mount Wachusett Community College in May 2014 with an R.N. My science background makes me look at the details of the drugs I’m passing, makes me think more seriously about infection control issues, and dig into the scientific literature on the subject. Learning is crucial, no matter what job you have, and it is even more important than that when lives are on the line.

I hope you like my blog; I love feedback.