140 - Brooke Peterson Pt 1: Are You a Nurse Now, Brooke?

Join hot-off-the-presses graduate and Meridian, Idaho and Oregon coast native Honored Guest Brooke Peterson as she talks about how she prepared for the NCLEX, her most helpful NCLEX resource, cramming, the importance of keeping busy post NCLEX, how being a NAC/CNA helped her nursing school journey, learning how much she could work during nursing school, and more!

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young podcast. I love the Oregon coast. I don't know that I've ever really talked about that and or at least not on the podcast. I talk about it often because my family and I, that is kind of our home away from home. So much so that I even have a tattoo that represents that. I'm showing my hometown and showing the town that we like to stay in, which is Seaside, Oregon. And a lot of people go over, they stay in Cannon Beach and anyone who's outside of the Pacific Northwest is going, who cares? What are you talking about? Look it up. It's gorgeous. It's absolutely, it's just a wonderful place to go, especially if you live on the West Coast. But the long story short is because we love doing that, my family, we love to try and go annually. It's been a year and a half, we're overdue and itching to go. ah But because we like to do that, I'm part of a few Facebook groups. uh... Oregon coast like you know people post their pictures and things of that nature just makes you uh... wistfully sigh and wish you can go on vacation again and uh... I don't know if that's good or a bad thing but the long story short is today's honored guest I met very uniquely we'll talk about that here shortly i don't want to keep flapping my guns before we introduce her so uh... everyone if I can introduce and welcome to studio the one the only Brooke Peterson RN Brooke how are you this morning Hey guys, I am good. I just passed my NCLEX so I am even better. And that's the reason for her emphasis of the RN in her intro and my emphasis of the RN here. She is brand spanking new, passed the NCLEX, and now part of the brother and sisterhood of nurses. It actually probably should be sisterhood and brotherhood, right? It's mostly sisters, But congratulations. There are, yes there are, uh more and more, but yes, it's still predominantly female dominant. In fact, out of curiosity, just being in a totally different, so no. See, I already wanna ask questions. I'm already going for it. So the question I wanna ask stems from this next question, which is, where did you attend school? So I attended my nursing. I attended nursing school at the Oregon Coast Community College. They have a campus in Newport and then one in Lincoln City. But I did all my prerequisites in Idaho, in Nampa, Idaho, at the College of Western Idaho. So yeah. So I'm gonna guess that maybe that was because you might've lived over there. Where's home for you? Where was home for you and where is home for you, Brooke? Okay, so home for me was Meridian, Idaho. I grew up there, um did all my prereqs there, and then me and my boyfriend came over here on spring break when I was getting ready to apply for nursing schools and we went to the Oregon coast and I was just like, my god, I love it here. And just for fun, I started looking up different uh colleges over here to see what I could find. And I found the Oregon Coast Community College and I had all of my prerequisites done for there. And I was like, you know what? I'm just going to apply and see what happens. And it was the only college I ever applied to for a nursing school. And I got in and I had like literally just met the deadline. So yeah. my goodness, that's incredible. So the special way that we quote unquote met everybody, like I said, so I'm part of these Facebook groups and I see this picture of a nurse, kind of graduation pictures, right, that you had done. yeah, and I'm just like, I love it. And so she's doing these nursing graduation or yeah, graduation photos, hadn't sat for the NCLEX yet. And I see these pictures and I'm like, shh, that would be amazing. Let's get her on the podcast. And so being who I am, I reached out to the photographer who was the one who posted the photos and I'm like, hi, I know I'm not a creeper. I'm happily married. This is how I like introduce myself to people who don't know me. I'm like, I'm not a creeper. I'm happily married, have five kids. I know this sounds weird. I saw the pictures you posted of this wonderful human being who just graduated nursing school. Any chance you're willing to reach out to her on my behalf? and if she wants to be on a podcast about nursing. And neither she nor Brooke decided I was a creeper and here we are. uh good. Yeah, we joked about that before we started. said, yeah, Brooke, because you're thinking I'm going to be like, hey, first of all, social. Yeah, social, some bank account information, just send me a deposit of $300 and you too can be on the podcast. Oh my goodness, well no, Brooke, I am just honored to meet you. I'm so excited to talk with you. I love talking with people from all over and you gotta work in Coast Vibes in you and I'm like, we've really gotta get back. So. I love it. Oh, it's so wonderful. It's and for those that are like, I mean, it's not like it's like California coast, you know what I mean? Like it's not these wonderful waters and warm and all that. It's in the summer, it gets warm, but there's just something magical about it, right, Brooke? Yeah. little places to look at. Whales, there's whales and lighthouses. I love it. I love the lighthouses, my gosh. ah Okay, so we're gonna spend the whole episode talking about the Oregon coast, just kidding. Let's finish wrapping up here with the normal opening questions. What are the three words, Brooke, that you chose to describe the nursing school that you just recently finished? stressful, rewarding, and transformative. Love it. And what are three of your favorite songs in life right now? Who We Are by Hozier, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, and Stubborn Love by The Lumineers. Good songs, all good songs. And so a couple things I didn't warn you about. First of all, we have an honored guest, a Feeding Our Young honored guest Spotify playlist. So those songs will be added to that and I'll send you the link. And then number two, the one thing I didn't, normally I've been good about warning my honored guests about this and I did not. So at this point, if you want to say no, say no. But I have, well, maybe you've heard, if you've heard any more recent episodes, we do what we call the patent not pending, unofficial Feeding Our Young personality test. where I ask you five kind of would you rather questions and we know exactly what type of person you are when we're done. Sorry to spring it on you right this second, but you willing and able to do it? I love it. Okay, then in no particular order, your five questions. Brooke, would you rather never have to wait in line or always have a parking spot? always have a parking spot. Isle seat or window seat? window seat. Would you rather never be able to go out during the day or never be able to go out during the night? never be able to go out during the night. This one's the tricky one and I almost regret adding it as I've asked people this one. Would you rather lose the ability to lie or believe everything you're told? that's a hard one. I don't like either of those answers. Right? That's why I'm not a fan. I won't be adding questions like that to people again. Would you rather lose the ability to lie? First one, okay. And the last one, would you rather have one wish granted today or 10 wishes granted 20 years from now? 10 wishes 20 years from now. Because my most recent wish just came true. I passed the NCLEX. I'm a nurse. I love it. Also, Brooke, are you a nurse? Guys, she's a nurse. We're gonna be mentioning that a few times here. This is as much of a celebratory episode as it is anything else. No, and I was just gonna say, there was no editing with that last question. She had that answer, boom, right there, ready to go, but then she gave the rationale, which is why. So congratulations, the results are in. You are outstanding. Yay. I just needed to confirm what you already knew. With that, enough with the shenanigans, let's dive right in. So there's a few things that I know I wanted to ask you about. There's a few things you definitely... And there's number one. uh No, this is what we talked about, right? Hi guys. So question number one. The first thing I'll ask you, this is not part of the intro questions, and that is, would you like to tell us more about your... family, whatever that looks like to you, including babies and or fur babies as the case may be. Okay, I have two fur babies. I have a border collie, Owen, and a lab, Bodie, and I love them, and they are both five. And I have a partner named Joe. He is also a nurse. He is a murse. uh My parents, got Kim and Dan in Boise, Idaho, and my sister, which is taking me to Canada in September, so I love her very much right now. Oh my goodness, at least through September, right? And then you can reevaluate. Oh, that's incredible. No, thank you for sharing that. So who was that that we got to the pleasure of hearing? Who wants to be famous? Oh, they both, they're like, hi, hey, hey guys, we're here. Maybe we'll have to retake, we'll have to try and retake a picture with you with both of them. Anyway, well, actually, so I... Brooke is likely going to be a two-parter. I've seen, I've read what she sent me. We're likely gonna be a two-part episode here. We're just calling that out of the shoot, so maybe there's a picture of you. I love it. And maybe there's a picture of you and the two of them that can be the tile picture for your second episode. Something to think about. Okay, but in the meantime, let's just go right off of what you recently, your most recent experience, which is you guys, seriously. She had the NCLEX scheduled for this last, was it Monday? July 11th. I thought it was so cool. I mean July 7th, which rhymes with 11th. Seven, seven, and then we were recording July 11th. So she wrote me, she's like, hopefully I have good news for when we have our session. This could have been an entirely different episode. uh have been okay. and that would have been okay, 100%. So, let's just go to Monday and let's talk about that dreaded beast that everyone knows is the one thing that stands between them and becoming a nurse. I'm going to stop flapping my gums now that I've talked consistently for these first 10, 11 minutes, and I'm gonna turn the mic over to you. But if you don't mind sharing the process, how did you prepare for it? How did the day of the NCLEX go? And then, you know what I mean, like waiting. to hear how you pass, you know, to hear if you pass. Just take us through that whole journey. I studied with Kaplan, uh UWorld, and Mark K Lectures. Kaplan, uh we, my school actually had like a three-day Kaplan NCLEX bootcamp, so I thought that was very helpful. And then I just did a bunch of practice exams and practice questions. went through all of my notes I've ever had in nursing school because it's fair game and I had no idea what was going to be on it. The day of the NCLEX, I got there at like 7 15 because my time was 8 a.m. ah When they get, when I got there, they hand you out little numbers one by one when you walk in the door and the number you get is the number they call you to come up and check in. And then once you get called, you put your things in a locker, they take your hand and put it on some magic, hand reading magic thing. Um, yeah, I don't even know what it did, because it's not like it was like one of those fingerprint things. Like we knew we had to go to the fortress and lock our stuff up. it's very, you guys, they're serious about this. Yeah, and for those that are not nurses that are listening to this podcast, this is what every single nurse has gone through to a certain extent. I mean, if you go back decades, it's a different process. But currently, I mean, like you feel like... You know what mean? you're like, I appreciate it. Cause I know that every nurse that's taken care of me or my family has like legitimately passed the boards. Yeah. Yeah. You're not allowed to have food or drinks at the desk, which made me sad, but it's okay because you can put it in a locker and take little breaks and get your water. They gave me earplugs and they gave me ear muffs for like noise canceling. And then you get a whiteboard with dry erase markers, but you can't erase it. I don't understand. You just raise your hand to get a second sheet if you need it. So yeah. Then the following two days, following 48 hours was like the worst 48 hours of my life because I was so anxious. I got 85 questions, but I, and everybody's like, oh, if you get 85 questions, you pass. And I don't trust that. I mean, I could have done really, really bad and I just don't know it, which I convinced myself I did really really bad. I failed it. Life is not going to be the same ever again, but it's okay because I passed. It was all fine. I was just being dramatic. I am a nurse. Yay. the title of this episode. We've just figured this out. Are you a nurse now, Brooke? Oh my goodness. No, and I have to add, so that day of, like you said, you've talked yourself into, I failed. I got 85 questions and I failed. I also had the minimum. also, 100%, and I was gonna say. I don't imagine it took you a lot of talking yourself into the fact that you failed. You probably just genuinely felt that way, right? Yeah. so I took it with two other people that I went to school with and me and this girl met in the parking lot, me and Allie, shout out to Allie, we're talking about the questions we got and as we're talking about these I'm like, my God, I answered all of these questions wrong. I know I did, I know I did. And then I start Googling things, I'm like. Can you take MAOIs with Carvedopa, Levodopa? No, you cannot, and I know I got that question wrong, so I failed. I failed it. I know I failed it. Yep. I have a couple questions for you about the end class, because this is something that, uh two things that I call them theories, they're mostly, I feel like they're proven over the course of my own experience and then everybody that I've talked to. But number one, do you feel like were there drugs mentioned on this test that you have never heard of before in your life and you swear are like only given to people on Mars? Um, personally, I had one and I can't even remember what it was because I don't know what it was and it started with an L, but I don't know what it was and I honestly just used different process of elimination tactics that I learned throughout studying. But yes, that is very real. I know another girl that got some, um, the natural one. yeah, yeah. And I, cause I'll tell you, and I'm telling you guys right now, any nursing student listening to this, yes, the NCLEX is something, the NCLEX is something definitely to be quote unquote feared. But I use that term as like a respect term. You know, it is definitely a formidable thing. But if you have attended any sort of nursing school that is worth its weight in gold, Any of those school, any community college, any four year university, and you're sitting for the Sinclair's know that you have been prepared to the best of their ability, to the best of your ability and go into it with as much confidence as you can muster because it's scary. It is very, very scary. And it's not a handout. Not everybody passes. I had peers of mine that never became a nurse, never became an RN uh because they couldn't pass or didn't pass on multiple attempts. I don't know the full story there. I'm not going to rumor monger or anything like that. But there are people who don't pass it. And it's devastating uh if you don't. That being said, most people do. And if you take the time to study to practice, and I guess I want to double back on that too, Brooke. Any of those references that you referred to in the beginning there, as far as what you used to study and practice and all the things, anything stood out for obviously. Do all three, man. Like anything that works best for you, but did anything stand out to you as being the most helpful? Mark K. Oh yeah, I really liked his podcast. Very good. It was like music to my ears. I was like, thank you, Mark. I love you. I could hear his voice while I was taking the exam. He got me. Love it. Huge shout out to Mark K. Because I wish we had that resource back in the day. Mark K. did not have anything out there for us to partake in. So that is awesome. And then you finish taking the exam. I'm rabbit trailing already. So the second thing that I want to posit and that I genuinely believe is that the NCLEX is the one test, the one test that you have prepped for so, so much and you still walk away from feeling like you've wasted years of your life. Was that similar for you, Brooke? Yes, I felt, I truly feel like no matter how much you prepare, you're not going to feel prepared when you go in and sit down at that desk. So just trust yourself and you are prepared. So just take it. You got this. And if you do fail, it is not the end of the world. I am a CNA now. I know nurses that have failed. multiple times and they are still the most amazing nurses I have ever met and that's okay. Some people just aren't the best test takers. Yes, and that's a part of it right there. Let me ask you there, are you prone to test anxiety at all, as like a severe, like crippling, like my gosh. Do you have any tips for anyone who's going, my gosh, Brooke, like I'm so anxious about just my nursing school tests, let alone the NCLEX. Before every nursing school test, I jammed out with my best friends. We got together, we would listen to our song and just play it until we felt better. Deep breathing. Deep breathing. Let me, I'm picturing, do you watch The Office at all? Have you seen The Office? So, I'm picturing like Dwight in his car, right? Like with Motley Crue, by the way, the song that Dwight rocks out to his Motley Crue, I had to find that out because it's an amazing running song. But when he's in his car and like Jim's like, oh, you still do the thing, right? And Dwight's like, leave me alone, Jim. And then he just rocks out in the car. Like that's what I'm picturing with you and your friends. I love it! Yes. Yes. that's amazing. So then, how did, yeah. do not stay up the night before until three in the morning studying because that's just gonna make you tired and you're not gonna know any more than you did before. So get a good night's sleep. That's how I feel. very true. Um, was that from experience or...? No, just from seeing what people do around me. Because I am not a night person. I go to bed at eight o'clock if I can. Gotcha. And I feel like that advice is very applicable to all testing. You know what mean? Not just the NCLEX, but of course, the cramming thing. That doesn't, I mean, maybe it works for you. If it works for you, by all means, we're not going to take that away from you. But, but gosh, yeah, sleep is so huge and we get so caught up in, but if I can just cram a little more in, no, guess what? By eight, nine o'clock the night before your exam or the NCLEX. You either are ready or you're not. There's not a lot that's gonna happen from nine to three in the morning that's gonna make you, like just put you over the edge, typically. I agree. So before we move off this topic of the NCLEX and everything else, are you, do you, is there anything else you wanted to share about that? Any other advice, any other helpful hints? I think it is important to do something the following days after you take the NCLEX. Keep yourself busy. Do not... I mean, unless that's your way of coping, is crying in bed, then that's okay. But I personally needed to keep my mind uh occupied. I worked the following two days. I did that on purpose because I was just... I didn't want to be so obsessed and I knew I would just keep on thinking that I failed and I mean, I did that anyways. But it wasn't as bad because I was so distracted at work. Yeah. yes. Well, I'm so glad you said that because that is actually the direction we're going now. one of the other things you wanted to talk about was your experience as a CNA. uh And so I would love for you to unpack that. Take as much time as you need. How long have you been? So interchangeably, we call them CNAs or NACs. I'm used to saying NACs, so that's gonna probably be what comes out of my mouth. But ah I'm gonna turn the mic over to you as far as that goes, because I'm curious if your role as a NAC helped informed your decision to become a nurse or you did the NAC-ing, for lack of a better term, because you wanted to become a nurse. Explain that for me and then just let us know like how long have you been a NAC? How did you become one and how did that help you with nursing school? Okay. So I graduated high school in 2017 and I didn't know what to do with life, to be honest. So I didn't go to college for a couple of years. I stayed at the job I worked in high school and became a manager of a Subway restaurant, which was fun, but not what I wanted to do forever. thought i wanted to do nursing but i didn't really know. i didn't want to take a bunch of time out of my life ah before going into something without really knowing anything about it. so that's why i became a cna. also just family, know, seeing people that are sick in family kind of inspire that sounds... yeah. so i became a cna. um, through my community college in Idaho. And I started working in long-term cares, which really taught me a lot about time management, um, with nursing. I really liked working in long-term care because you kind of get a relationship with those residents and it was nice. Um, but I wanted to try something new. after a few years, after a couple of years, I started working in hospice. I really, really, really enjoyed hospice, but it does get to be a lot of people pass and it's sad and it's okay. It's okay. Cause that's the circle of life, but it is, I did realize I needed to take a step back from it. ah But while I was doing hospice, I also did home health and was kind of like a private caregiver. So I would help with ADLs, uh shopping. a lot of bathing, just getting out of bed, getting back into bed, cooking and cleaning. But yeah. Yeah. And then I started working at an oncology floor after that in Boise. um So yeah, did that for nine months before I figured out I was gonna come to nursing school over here on the coast. And then I went back to long-term care when I came back to the coast. So it sounds like there was a lot of overlap with working as a CNA while you're in nursing school, is that correct? yes. So when I was in like actual nursing school, I worked at a long term care in Newport, um, which was. Good. It's good. learning how to manage your time is pretty, that's a learning curve. um But before that, I did a lot of CNA, like while I was doing my prerequisites, and that's when I noticed I needed to take a step back with how much I was doing. um I had failed in my anatomy class. I hate anatomy, but I failed my anatomy class. And I was like, yeah, I need to stop working as much as I am. I have bitten off more than I can chew. So that's why I kind of uh redirected from the home health and hospice to uh going back to the hospital and working on the oncology floor. It was easier to manage my time doing 12s rather than doing like three, three or four hours here and there whenever. someone needed me, you know what I mean? and not being able to plan for your study times and that sort of thing. Yeah. Wow. I would you, because this becomes a discussion too in academic circles. Like, do you feel like it was more of a distraction to work while trying to become a nurse? Or did you find that it actually strengthened it because you were forced to do time management? So I think that when I got my CNA, um it was very helpful and prepared me for like nursing clinicals and nursing school itself. um It was just like, of course I relearned all of the things like CNA things, you know, but it was nice to have that kind of background. While in actual nursing school, um I only were very part time so it wasn't like I was working full time but I do know people that have done that and they did manage it but for me I don't think I could have done it full time. I think that would have just been too much for me emotionally. Well, and knowing that as a, I don't wanna call it a limitation, that's a negative connotation, but just knowing that about yourself, like, no thank you. Yeah, yeah, that's huge, huge. I'm gonna tell you right now, I will never forget when, you know, mean, Day one in community college, stepping in and I mean, I'm as green as green can be. I had a nine year background in medical records, but that's as close as I became to, you know what mean? And no hands on patient experience, nothing. And so in that first quarter in particular, right? You've got people who were CNAs who are just flying through and they're like, this is amazing. Like, I love this. And I'm going, I wish I had your experience almost sort of. And you know what I mean? Like that whole thing. And so I do genuinely feel like uh that lends well to providing a good foundation for nursing, yes. I do not think it is needed. think that no matter what, you're gonna be amazing. But I think it did help me, especially like even talking with patients, you know, it can be so awkward going in and having never talked to a patient before. I would have been like so much more nervous than I already was. It's a complete stranger. Someone you've never met and you've got to come in and now like you're doing intimate things, even just vital signs. huh. so I am very grateful for my experience. That's awesome. That is awesome. and on top of that everyone, just so you know, because we live in a healthcare system that has, you know, RNs, LPNs, NACs, that sort of thing, CNAs, as the case may be, there is no nurse out there, any nursing student that's out there, whether you've been a CNA or not, whether you've worked with a CNA or not, when you become a nurse, never, ever, ever should the words come out of your mouth, well, that's not something I do. Because that is Eric, period. there were no CNAs. was, you nursing was, you go back to Florence Nightingale, what was she doing? She's doing all the quote unquote, knack work. If you're going to go get ice for somebody, if you're turning somebody, if you're cleaning somebody, if you're bathing somebody, all of that is nursing, all of it. That's why just now we have people that are certified nurse assistants who do that part of it and nurses who do other things. So never, ever, ever say that. I feel like you are feeling pretty passionate about that. Did you have any experience with that yourself? Well, no, I just agree very, very much. We're a team, and we're here for the patients. It's not a competition of, I have a better license than you, so I'm not going to do that. Yeah. never too good to do anything for your patient. I'm sorry. think that it will be one of my learning curves is knowing when to delegate and when not to. Once I start my new graduate position pretty soon on the 28th, if you're wondering. Yes. yeah, so in fact, with that, I think this is a good springboard off into said second episode, ah because we've kind of covered, unless there's anything else I'm missing as far as like your CNA life, your experience with the NCLEX, these are all your most, I feel like we've kind of got a nice division point here, that now it's like pre RN Brooke, and now we're gonna go. Well, not really post-RN Brooke because we also got to talk about nursing school. So, nevermind. Blonde brain not coming up with a nice clean cut. It's okay. I feel like I was all jumbled in my CNA life. And I feel like healthcare just lends itself to that, uh I don't know. Again, I'm not making fun of anybody with ADHD in any way, shape, or form. My daughter's diagnosed. All the things. genuinely, like, my co-workers are like, oh no, yeah, Eric's got undiagnosed. Like, don't tell, like, my new hires and stuff that I'm training. Nope, Eric's got undiagnosed ADHD, can't you tell? And so... me too. It's a superpower. It's a superpower. One of my honored guests said it's a superpower. Garrett, you guys can go back and listen to his episodes. He's like, I'm gonna convince you that ADHDs a superpower. And I heard him say that and I told my daughter that and she's like, yeah, I don't know. All right, well then with that, Brooke, since we're gonna just jump into a second episode, you ready to rock and roll? All right, we'll see you on the flip side then.