141 - Brooke Peterson Pt 2: Everybody has Their Own Journey

Continue with hot-off-the-presses graduate and Meridian, Idaho and Oregon coast native Honored Guest Brooke Peterson as she talks about books, her favorite parts of nursing school, not being the best student in high school, her practical study tips, the joy of capstone/practicum, failing anatomy and physiology, dealing with bad news along the journey, and more!

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Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome back to the second episode of the Brooke Peterson RN experience. uh I loved the intro. That was fantastic. Okay, so. uh Not creeper me, let's not, we're not gonna go down that road again. Go back to the first episode if you somehow skipped it and find out what the heck we're talking about, how we know each, quote unquote, know each other. Gosh Brooke, we go way back. We're now, what, an hour and a half or so deep into knowing each other. Yeah, it's rock solid here people. uh me some uplifting NCLEX text. That was very nice. Well, so when you said, when you said, I'm taking the test on the seventh and hopefully I'll have good news when we record on the 11th, I was like, okay. And this was like weeks before and I'm going, I have to remember seven, seven, I gotta send that encouraging text. Well, I love like, I don't know, with this little Feeding Our Young thing, like to me, I'm like, it's... I don't feel like we've been around enough that it's like a community. I don't feel like it's this large burgeoning community or anything like that. But to me, the personal, it feels like a community. If I see that one of my honored guests is having a birthday, man, I'm texting, hey. to have a birthday. yeah. And it was the same thing. I'm like, well, I don't know, Brooke, and Brooke doesn't know me, but obviously she trusts me, so now I'm gonna treat her like I will anyone else. uh Okay, so enough about that. Let's find out more about Brooke. So let's, I like to open the second one with some nice lighthearted, let's get to know a little bit more about you. But a couple of the icebreaker questions that you chose to answer. What is your superpower? My nursing superpower would be braiding hair. You ask anyone I've ever worked with, I am very good at de-matting and braiding that hair. Dang! And that's the first time I've ever heard that. I love it. I absolutely love it. If you could have a meal with one person, dead or alive, who would that be and why? Uh, Freida McFadden, which is my favourite author of all time. she writes thrillers. Love her. I, yeah. She's also a physician that specialises in big- God, I can't speak! Brain injuries. And like, brain stuff. So, yeah. she just happens to write on the side. Yeah, 10 out of 10 would recommend. my gosh, okay, I'm gonna have to check her out. I grew up on Stephen King. Oh! I love Stephen King. Maybe I need to change my answer. No, that's okay. So, okay, then now the question is, you were gonna give me a recommendation for Freida so we'll circle back around to that, but what is your favorite, like, any of, what's your favorite Stephen King stuff? Probably the...it. The big one. Everybody loves It. I knew I liked you for a reason. I read the- Go ahead. every single book that has ever became a TV show or a movie, I have watched it. No, I grew up middle school is when I started reading Stephen King and, judge my parents. don't know, judge anyone can whatever but, uh, because it's pretty messed up. He, that guy has got some messed up stuff in his books, but oh so good. The Shining Truly, like that one I had to read with the light on and, uh, and it though, what I loved about it is it is the one of the finest I don't want to say finest pieces of literature, but it is one of the finest examples of character development because he fleshes out, I mean, a lot of the audience, maybe you've seen the movies at this point, but in the book, he goes back and forth 30 years from when they were kids to when they're in their adults and to get not only to flesh out characters, but to flesh them out in their youth and then to totally see what they look like as adults and middle age and all the problems that go with that. I appreciated it as the teen version and now that I'm in my like 40s and all that business I'm like dang he's so how did he do that I don't understand. Wow okay and sorry your recommendation you're Freida recommendation. Never lie, that's my favorite one, but I also love the housemaid series and the Housemaid series. Okay, there it is. There's your recommendation, everybody. m in like a day. Yes. I'm gonna do something like that today since I am now a nurse and don't ever have to study for the NCLEX. Amen, hallelujah. You need to let that brain like relax. Oh, okay. So how big and what is it? Um, I don't know, it's like flowers and green stuff and sky and I... A thousand. my goodness, that's your form of relaxation. Got it, okay. All right, well, 80 year old, newly minted nurse brick. So, I mean, that leads into the other question I was gonna ask, which is what are the other hobbies you now get to partake more in now that you don't have to consume your time studying? Yeah, hiking. Love hiking. Owen and Bodie love hiking. Kayaking. And I newly found uh gardening. I have like 15 dahlias growing and I got some cucumbers and squash and tomatoes. So yeah. But I'm new at it, so we'll see how it goes. And you'll be, so you're gonna be new at gardening while being new at nursing, and you're gonna be amazing at both. That's fantastic. So you have become, we've already clearly established in episode one, we are now talking to Brooke Peterson, the nurse RN, having passed the NCLEX. If you, again, if somehow you skip the first episode, double back. She gives incredible advice and just tells us her story about how she... went through the NCLEX and sorry, again, this is an audio only podcast video. This is great. There's birds, you know, cawing overhead as it is Oregon. And she's looking up at them and I'm just laughing because I'm like, you won't hear it in the background, everybody, but it's great. And I can hear them and it makes me want to come back. um OK, so but as we've established that that's the case, nursing school. So you graduated from a community college, meaning you have your two-year degree, correct? Beautiful. And so your associate's degree in nursing, your ADN. And again, FYI, everybody, anyone who's newly listening, we make the distinction here that there is no distinction between being an ADN and a BSN when it comes to your ability to care for your patients. Like, I don't care if you have a two-year degree or four-year degree, you are still going to sit for those boards. and you are going to be an incredible, amazing nurse if you're giving it your all. So that is, we need to make that clear right off the bat. But two years uh in college learning how to become a nurse. I'm gonna turn the mic over to you. I'm gonna do my best to shut this mouth and I want you to tell us all about your nursing school experience. Your highs, your lows, what you loved, what, you know what I mean? Just take us on a journey, will you? All right. Well, my most favorite part about nursing school was probably the friends I made and my cohort was honestly very, very tight. Everybody knew each other. Everybody helped each other out. Um, but also just like my main study group, we had our little group message and keeping each other in the loop, reminding each other of due dates, all that fun stuff. And rocking out to our music before every exam. I love my people and they know who they are. um What I love most about nursing is probably the most cliche answer, uh helping people. I love helping people. What else do want to know? The loans. That's all. That's all I gotta say. It's in the past. is I love that, you know what mean? Again, you and I going way back a couple hours, it is evident your love of taking care of people. Have you always had that or was that even more fostered as your time as a CNA? ah More foster does my time is CNA. Yeah. honestly, in high school, I was kind of like the kid in the back of the classroom. I didn't have the best grades and my family is all probably very shocked that I became a nurse, but I am a nurse. If you didn't know. Yeah. I am an orange. You are an RN. Well, no, then let me ask you that then. You know, as far as you say you weren't the best student in high school, you know, all that. How do you make that jump? How do you overcome that in nursing school? Learning how to study and being organized. Yeah, I think that before I did not, even with my prerequisites, I did not know how to study and manage my time. That's why I failed anatomy and had to retake it. But I figured out real quick that I needed to study. Okay, my top recommendation for nursing school is to find the people, find people to surround yourself with. um They are the only people that really know what you're going through. I mean, you can have your partner and your kids or whoever, but they really don't know what you are going through. So yeah, also keeping a schedule will make you a lot more organized. I had like a written calendar. had a thing on my phone to that like reminders for assignments or exams and then also a little to-do list that I could check things off because it's just satisfying to check things off and it makes you feel more accomplished. So yeah. And then how I studied, I used a lot of resources on YouTube. ah My most favorite was registered nurse RN. She's awesome. Nurse Sarah. I also got the book off of Etsy called Nurse in the Making. I'm pretty sure that's what it was called. um But I think it was like the most used thing I used to study throughout all of uh nursing school. And she also has YouTube and TikTok videos, like short little videos, which is nice. And I also used Simple Nursing. ah But those are the main resources I used during nursing school. And then I would type all of my little notes into uh documents. And I liked comparing and contrasting things, like to, you know what I mean? Like comparing different diseases, because it kind of helped me just to see like the key points of each diagnosis or whatever. Because again, you know what mean? Like you're giving practical advice, you know, as someone who is self admittedly wasn't a great high school student, you can expand on that too if you want. What does that mean? Like just not disciplined? Like not a good academic student? what? didn't study. Like I just kind of rode through, Cs get degrees and yeah, that's how I was in high school. Okay, so an example, let's look at my endocrine example. So I would like compare hyper versus hypothyroidism in a little table next to each other. And I would say the causes, the signs and symptoms. the labs you might see and then um how a nurse would treat the patient. like treatment or nursing interventions. And yeah, that's how I studied. And then I would use a little whiteboard and do active recall. So do you know what active recall is? No, what is active recall Brooke? active recall is I would write everything I knew about one thing on the whiteboard so you're active recalling the information and then once I once I wrote every single thing I knew about whatever it was I would check my notes and see what I missed so yeah I feel like that helped me a lot. Awesome, that's incredible. um So with that then, nursing school is obviously very stressful. So these are incredible practical tips for how to get through nursing school, how to study and all the things. How did you deal with the stress of nursing school? And was that easier to deal with because you've been a CNA? You know what mean? Did that help with that? I dealt with stress by taking a bath almost every night. Bath bombs and bubble bath. Self-care is very important, so do self-care. And I know they say that and you're gonna be like, oh my god, I have no time for self-care. But you have time for self-care. You just have to find it. Yeah, that's how I feel. I'll do you one better. You have to make time for it, right? Yeah, you do because you can't you cannot take care of somebody else if you're not taking care of yourself. So I feel like that's pretty practical uh advice, not just for nursing school, but nursing in general. Incredible. So what was your favorite part of nursing school then? mean, I think I know where you're going with this, but what what was your favorite part? Okay, my favorite part of nursing school was probably my last term of nursing school because I did a capstone. You know what capstone is where you're the benefit of those that don't, go ahead and explain. okay, okay. um You get assigned to one nurse. At least that's how my school did it. You get assigned to one nurse in one department and you follow them for however many hours you need. So I was assigned with my nurse for 165 hours in the ICU and I loved her so much and I have never felt as confident in myself as I did that last term. Because you're kind of, it's different than like regular clinicals. Because I feel like you're actually the nurse, you know? Yeah. that's, so I tell my students, like, you're, the students that I have as an adjunct, right, you're somewhere along the span of I'm doing this and caring for people and learning how to become a nurse. But I tell them, you know what I mean, give yourself grace, all the things, where it all comes together is that capstone or practicum experience. I've heard four years, typically you'll call it practicum, two years, typically capstone, or there's another name for it, it escapes me at the moment. But that is the time, nursing students, where everything that you're learning on the clinical side of things and in the classroom really come together. Brooke, would you be able to confirm for me what I tell my students? Is it true that that is the time where all the pieces start congealing into what it actually means to be a nurse? Yes, you know what you're doing. Well, hopefully you know what you're doing, but it all comes together. Like you, what you learned in the classroom, you see it in the real world and now you're doing things. everything really comes together during the final term of nursing school. You're going to go into your capstone and at first you're going to feel like, my God, I have no idea what's going on, but you are going to get more confidence throughout the term and throughout nursing school period. for sure, and I think that also speaks to like, it's where, is it really kind of the first time that you feel like you're the one, over the course of your capstone or practicum, you're the one making the decisions with the guidance of your nurse. You're like, hey, I feel like we should see this patient first, we should do this, and kind of that time management piece, yes? yes. the nurses that take students during capstone, from my understanding, at least where I went, was they had to say they wanted to do that. So it's hard to have a bad experience. Like these nurses want to teach. I think that also... uh no, Bodie, do you agree or disagree? You're confirming what your mama's saying, right? I love it, I love it. But no, and that's it, that's the whole purpose of Capstone slash practicum, right, all the things, is to pull it all together, get the best opportunity to be a nurse without being a nurse under the license of another nurse, right? Yeah, incredible. So then, Have you ever? Questioned in nursing school. Did you ever go? I picked the wrong profession Um, yeah, I thought I was too stupid. Like I sucked in high school. How am I going to be good now? You know? Um, I doubt, I think that the first year was a lot more rough for me than the second year. I doubted myself a lot and I just thought I, there's no way I can do this. Like I'm stupid. I don't know what I'm doing, but honestly, the second year is where it all came together. I was like, yeah. I know, I know what a stroke is. I know what B-Fast means. Yeah. And you're building off your previous successes. Yeah, I agree. Thank you for being open with that because again, you know what mean? I go back to the very first episode, anyone who wants to listen to the first episode, like I remember distinctly going, I have chosen the wrong profession. This is awful. even like having failed anatomy, I was like, there's no way I can be a nurse if I failed anatomy and physiology. am going to be the most stupid nurse and I don't know what bone is what, but I got through it. I kept my head up and just, there's no shame in having to retake classes or return again in nursing school. know, I know many people that have failed nursing school. in the past and they are going, they have been or they are going to be the most amazing nurses and there's nothing to be ashamed of. Can you open the door to that a little bit as far as you failing anatomy? uh You took it in Idaho, I'm assuming, pre-reqs, right? So you fail anatomy and physiology. how do you decide to just keep going? Was there a moment where you're like, well, nope, this is it, I'm done? Like, how did you overcome that obstacle? I don't even know, feel like that was a lifetime ago. um I know, I'm a nurse now. um How did I get through that? I honestly don't even know because I was very sad, but it's okay. I went to a, I took it with a different teacher, thought that might help. And I think that did make a big difference. He was very... He was very good teacher. But how did I get through that is a good question. I don't know how I got through that, eh you sound like a person who doesn't give up easy. yeah yeah i kind of just like kept my head up and got over the shame you know like i there's nothing to be ashamed of just have to get over it that sounds dramatic but No, no, just last night there was a, know, and I get these positive like motivational memes that come through, partially I think because I share them and so then, you know, the algorithms like, okay, here's some more, but I love it for myself personally. And the one that I love is there's two targets and there's a, you know, some people think failure looks like this and it's three or four arrows all missing the bullseye. when failure actually looks like this and it's a target with no arrows on it. You know what mean? has their own journey and it doesn't matter how you get there, but you get there. So yeah, just keep your head up. There's my motivation. I love it. Like I said, I barely know you and I'm motivated by you. So thank you. Thank you. uh I imagine Brooke, not the nurse was just as motivating as now Brooke the nurse, right? Well then, awesome. with that, are what's what's the what does the future hold for Brooke RN? Brooke RN is going to be uh starting her new grad position at the end of July in Salem, Oregon on the neurotrauma unit. Why neurotrauma? How'd that come to be? Um, I really liked the neuro stuff. When I was a CNA in home health, I had multiple patients that were paralyzed. I had like three men I cared for and would help them with their ADLs. And I really enjoyed working with those guys. And I felt like that was like the most rewarding. CNA job I had. uh Also, coming from long term care, I've dealt with a lot of like long term, like long term stroke patients, you know what I mean? Or dementia. I did, I've had a lot of dementia patients as well in home and I like them. And also my mother, the first year of my nursing school, she had a stroke. uh My last like the last month of nursing school she had a stroke. The same week I was learning about strokes. Yeah, she was only like 53 or something like that. Hopefully I didn't age her because I know she'll listen to this. Yeah, sorry, Mom. Oh no, she don't care. Yes, she is completely fine. I drove to Drove to Boise real quick and she was okay. She had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. They don't know why, what caused it. It was an idiopathic one because those doctors are idiots. I can't figure it out. That's how I remember idiopathic if anyone needs to know. But yeah, she has no long-term residual effects. She is completely fine. Miraculous. Yeah. She's a lucky lady. So not that I don't care about your mom, so glad that that absolutely, you know what I mean, that there was no long-term sequela from that. But from the perspective of this podcast, how do you, you get that news you said in your first year. So first year, near the end of your first year. So your first year, you've already established you were having doubts about yourself and all the things. And then on top of this, now you've got this, you get this phone call, right? Like, how do you deal with that while trying to maintain? whatever semblance of life you have in nursing school. I don't even know. I was so, I mean, she lives in a different state, so it's not like I could just like go 30 minutes, you know? So I emailed all my professors, I was like, yeah, my mom has a stroke or something's going on with her, because I didn't really know at the time. So I went to Idaho, brought all my stuff and everything, and she was in the neuro ICU for like maybe seven days, but. She was a walkie talkie patient, you know? She wasn't a real ICU patient. Walkie talkie, she wasn't intubated and sedated. She was walking around talking. um How did I deal with that? m I... not healthily, I don't think. I drink alcohol. Don't... you might have to edit that out, I don't know. Is that appropriate? before, 100%. Yes. positive brook. That's how I, yeah, I feel like I had a strong front. Everybody's always asking me questions because now I'm a nurse. So my dad, I'm like talking to my dad and I'm like, so what are they doing? Well, when she was in the hospital and he's like, I don't know, they're putting the baby thing where they look for the baby. they're putting it on her head and I'm like an ultrasound and he's like yeah that sounds right like okay but yeah my gosh. my gosh, Eric. Okay, so my mom and my sister came to visit me for graduation um not too long ago, like a month ago. And have you ever been to Silver Falls? Silver Falls State Park? It is so beautiful. It's got like, it has a trail with 10 different waterfalls on it. So I show this hike to my mom and she's like, yes, let's do it. So we go on it. my god, and I haven't even been out of school like three days. And she falls at Silver Falls and she got a giant gash. Giant. And ended up having 12 stitches. But yeah, so I did some... I cleaned out her wound in the bathroom at the park and then a park ranger took us back to my car and we went to urgent care. And yeah, she got 12 stitches. And then she went back home. and it got infected and she had to stay a few nights in the hospital. So my mom is like the expensive hospital patient apparently. Your mom is just doing everything she can to reinforce your nursing education, right? Yes. wanted to make sure I knew. But last night she calls me, she's like, does my wound look okay? I'm like, girl, I don't know. I'm not even really a nurse. You say, and what we're trained to say, right, is contact your provider. Oh, that's amazing. Well, Brooke, this has just been so delightful and just talking to you and literally, I guess, picking you out of a lineup, right? Isn't that a saying? Like you pick someone out of a lineup. Like I literally see pictures of someone who just graduated. And here we are. shout out to Melissa Webb. Shout out to Melissa Webb if you are in the, gosh, what area does she serve? Just Western Oregon or? and also the coast. She's so awesome. hit up Melissa Webb for your photos. I've actually already asked her about family photos for the next time we go. We also got mother daughter photos on the same photo shoot. So yeah, was super fun. ah Well, before we wrap up with the traditional questions, is there anything that we didn't cover at all that you want to make sure that you are sharing with anyone about your personal experience through nursing school before and after? I don't think so. Just keep your head up. You got this. your head up. Keep your head up everybody. Even when it's as heavy as a thousand pound head, like you just feel like, my gosh, I do not, I can't do this. I can't do this. You can do it. Yes. And you too can become a what, what, An RN. You can have an RN after your name as well. So Brooke, you chose three words to describe nursing school. What were they and why did you pick? Okay, stressful. Stressful because we are constantly learning and feeling like we're running from a bear the entire time. um Yeah, balancing life and clinicals and self-care, but we get through it. So, it is rewarding in the end. There you go. That's my second word. uh Overcoming all of your accomplishments and you will get to the end goal no matter. how many bumps in the road you have, you're gonna get there. And then transformative. um I feel like a whole different person than I was before nursing school. Like I just, yeah. I don't know why, I just do. I'm a nurse. I feel positive, more positive, and more, I have more respect for life. yeah. Incredible. That's incredible. I love it. And then if you had one piece of advice other than keep your head up, everybody keep your head up, right? If you had one last piece of advice for anyone listening to your episodes, what would that be? Find good people to surround yourself with. Find your study group or, yeah, find your nursing school friends that know what's going on with you. I usually leave you with the last word on that, but that does make me think and wonder. There's something I wanted to ask you earlier, because that's something that is kind of a common theme for you throughout the whole thing. Has that always come easy to you? How did you find your people in nursing school? How would you do that? Okay, well, I had an orientation before nursing school and I sat down to one of my most favorite new friends. Well, new, as in two years new, which is crazy because I feel like I just started nursing school, but I'm a nurse now. I sat next to my friend, Jesus. We sat next to each other at orientation and that's kind of just how we became friends. And then one of my other very good friends, Brianna Brie, um I kind of, just messaged her on Teams, which is what we used at school. And I was like, hi, can we study? And yeah, just put yourself out there. And then my other good friend, Daniel, we all just kind of sat next to each other in class and that's kind of how it happened. And then we would have, we would study together and yeah. that bit about putting yourself out there though because like that's like to me that's that's always come easy to me but it and I know it I recognize it doesn't come easy to everyone but the idea of like easy to me. I would say I'm a socially awkward human, but... I don't know. Yeah. Yes. Yes, I am, because I've got some lifelong friends, and I truly do help get my lifetime friends. And for anyone out there like, I couldn't do that, I couldn't do that. Let me offer this little piece of advice, because you're sitting there going, like you said, you just, hey, you want to study together? You know what mean? That's your intro. And someone may say, no, thank you. And maybe it's because they have a full on family and life and they can't, you know, who knows? But the point is, yeah, if you're terrified to ask, I promise you, that person, one of the people you're asking is equally terrified and are probably going to be grateful that you're the one that took the initiative. And what's the worst that could happen? They could say no. That's it. And what's the best? You can have a new BFF. Nursing school. BFF nursing school BFF. Nursing School Trauma Bond. Yes! Yes! Well, Brooke, I can't thank you enough. This is a Friday morning that you're taking time out just chilling, relaxing, and talking nursing after becoming a nurse. Yes, I'm a nurse. I'm gonna go find that book you recommended and in the meantime, I hope you keep in touch. If anything, and I've talked to some people about this, but if down the road you're willing to do another episode, I have this envisioning for like a where are they now. So it'd be kind of like, how did Brooke transition into practice? What does that look like now? Yes, you down for that down the road? You heard it here first everybody, I have it on recording. I'm not even deleting this, this is it. signing a waiver. uh Well Brooke, I can't thank you enough. I hope you have the most amazing rest of your Friday. Thank you.