Wakanda's Wrld
This channel is primarily informative within the weird and wonderful world of healthcare. I discuss how to improve the wide world of healthcare along with up to date information. I love to have different guest from different walks of life within healthcare. For podcast guest inquires reach me at shanklindj@yahoo.com
Wakanda's Wrld
Prayer, Perseverance, and Passing: My Path Through Nursing School
The journey through nursing school tests more than just your academic abilities—it challenges your relationships, resilience, and determination in ways you might never expect. Having completed my RN program at Murray State College in Oklahoma, I'm sharing the unfiltered reality of what nursing students face and how to navigate these challenges successfully.
My personal experience revealed the importance of finding your unique role within your cohort. Unexpectedly becoming the class "prayer leader" before exams allowed me to build relationships across different study groups, collecting valuable learning strategies along the way. This social flexibility proved as valuable as any textbook knowledge.
For married students or those in serious relationships, nursing school creates particular strains. Working weekend doubles while attending weekday classes pushed my family to the limit. Learn why "block timing" with your partner becomes essential and why resolving relationship issues before starting nursing school might save your marriage—several of my classmates weren't so fortunate.
Clinical rotations bring their own challenges, particularly when paired with nurses who seem reluctant to teach students. Understanding that their resistance often stems from burnout rather than personal animosity helps maintain a positive learning attitude. These experiences, though sometimes difficult, ultimately shape your nursing perspective and help identify your future specialty.
The real truth about nursing education? RN school primarily teaches you to pass the NCLEX—not everything you'll need in practice. The substantial learning happens after graduation with quality preceptors. This perspective helps manage the overwhelm that many students feel when facing the vastness of nursing knowledge.
From breaking down on deserted roads while classmates drove past to discovering valuable resources that helped me succeed, my nursing school journey taught me that remembering your "why" becomes your strongest motivation through challenging times. Share your own nursing school experiences or questions about the path ahead—what specialty interests you, and where are you in your nursing journey?
https://linktr.ee/WakandaRN
Welcome in, welcome in. Come tell a friend what your Wakanda are in. What's going on? Ladies and gentlemen, glad to have you guys today. Oh, my goodness, I got a lot on my mind, but I'm not here to waste your time, so let's get into it. So today's topic is nursing school, particularly RN school. So let's start with the where, we'll start with the when and then let's go from there. So we're going to cover a lot of topics today. So, first off, where? Dfe, dfe or for me it was Murray State College in Tishomingo, oklahoma. I know that's going to be kind of crazy to some of you guys. Oklahoma has a lot of indigenous type names, so Tishomingo is just one of those names. So let's talk about my overall journey and then we'll just kind of go from there.
Speaker 1:My overall journey of Murray State College was, overall, it was positive for me. I feel as though they had good facilities, the building that I went to. This was in 2019. The building was fairly new. They had upgraded and renovated a lot of their buildings and so, like the skills lab, the classrooms, they were pretty new. So those were pretty good. So I was pretty happy with that. So very nice building.
Speaker 1:But my overall experience was interesting in a good way, though. In a good way I felt as though I had solid teachers. I did have one teacher that was either her second or third semester teaching, so she was fairly new. So we went through the growing pains with her. She got better as time went on. She had a very low voice so she had to use a megaphone. She had to use a megaphone because her voice was so low, but she got better as time went on.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of nursing schools you deal with the new teacher, shuffle people, people leave, or they find a new job, or you know you get people come in. So I mean, at one point in time we even had our dean that taught maternity. It was. It was interesting, very, very interesting. So there's a lot of other topics I want to talk on and talk about. Depending on how long this goes, this might be a one part or two part. We'll just kind of see how it goes.
Speaker 1:So I think a lot of people don't understand like, okay, where do you fit in, or what is your role while you're in nursing school, particularly our end school, and so for me I didn't realize it at the time, but my role ended up being the comforter, so to speak. So my role was, before each test, my classmates would ask me to pray. They would ask me to pray. Now how that came about, if I remember correctly it was they just asked if somebody would lead them in prayer and I just felt led to lead the class in prayer and ended up doing that. So before each test, I led the class in prayer and they would not accept a substitute. Let me tell you, there was one time I remember, before a particular test I know that I was feeling really tired and you know I wasn't feeling all. I wasn't feeling prayed up, you know what I'm saying and so I tried to give like a little speech. They were not having it. I'm like, well, thanks for the speech, but we really want you to pray. And like a little, well, I won't say a speech. It was like a little pep talk, but that didn't work. It was like we want the prayer. So I ended up being the prayer, the person that ended up praying for the class. So that was my particular role.
Speaker 1:And then I also was individual. I didn't sit with one particular group. You know how people get all cliquish in groups. I didn't sit with a particular group. I sat. You know, depending on the classes or whatever, I would sit with different groups just to talk, just to see what they're going on, and generally I was accepted. So that allowed me to build relationships with people. It allowed me to, you know, just kind of learn from different people. You know I'm saying because, guess, what you're learning and studying techniques are different than somebody else's and there's little tips and tricks that you can can pick up on, and so that that is definitely a thing. So that's a little tidbit. So if you are someone who you know you're very social, maybe you can just not in a messy way, of course, but learn to associate different groups and you know you can kind of get in that way. Some people, they're pretty good about staying out the way. Some people are pretty good about, you know, staying out of. They're not trying to get in trouble, they're trying to stay out of drama. So I completely respect that. But that was my particular role, that's how. That's how I was able to navigate through RN school in that particular manner. So one big thing I think people need to understand while you are in nursing school, you need to remember your why. Why are you in school. Why do you want to become a nurse? Because that is going to be your main motivator while you're in school. It just is.
Speaker 1:So I prayed before coming to RN school. That was a big thing for me. I really didn't know what direction I wanted to go in life. I mean, I was kind of struggling between you know a little bit of ministry. I was struggling between wanting to go back because physical therapy was my first major, and so I struggle, you know, do I want to go back, get my physical therapy assistant? Do I want to become a registered nurse? And so, after praying about it, praying about it, praying about it, I feel like I was led to go back to RN school and ultimately, I'm glad I did.
Speaker 1:I feel as though that it was very key for my own personal development. It was good for my personal growth. It was bigger than me, it was bigger than myself, and I have met so many wonderful people along this journey, in terms of and with patients as well, and some gaining valuable skills. So I'm blessed and thankful for opportunity of going through our in school. So you have to remember what is your, why? Why do you want to become a nurse? Is it just about you? Is it bigger than you? You know, only you know that answer. So remember that for your personal growth, your personal journey of what is your why? So you know, I want to break it down to things I like and things I disliked, or what was maybe one thing I liked and one thing I disliked about our in-school, just for me personally. This may vary by individual and then if you're somebody who's going to school, this definitely could vary for you.
Speaker 1:One thing I definitely enjoyed while I was in RN school for sure, was the different clinical rotations. So I was able to go to ICU, emergency department, of course, med surge or you're going to go to med surge, of course, and then you see some other specialty areas as well. I remember at the time one thing that really that stuck out for me was I actually had an increased interest in the emergency department and also had an increased interest in ICU. As a licensed practical nurse, my specialty was long-term care with geriatrics. So that's primarily what I knew. But there was something different. When I went to the emergency department I actually kind of caught my interest somewhat, and then I had a heightened interest coming to ICU and so I really enjoyed that. So that was a big thing for me. And then but what's funny about that? Later in my career I ended up choosing the emergency department as my specialty, so it was actually pretty interesting. One thing I disliked about nursing school Now some of you may agree or disagree.
Speaker 1:Some of you may feel a certain way. I don't know universally what everybody else uses, especially across if you're listening to this in another country. I am not the biggest fan of ATI. In another country I am not the biggest fan of ATI. That is primarily what is used in our in-school. I'm not the biggest fan of ATI Personally. It gets redundant after a while. It gets pretty stale to me. The repetitiveness of ATI. I was not the biggest fan of ATI. I was not the biggest fan of ATI. We did everything. So you looked at, you know skills on ATI, you did assignments on ATI, you did tests on ATI. I mean you did so many things to. Ati Was not my personal favorite. But some of you may feel differently and so I'm very curious to see you know how you think and how you feel in the comments. Definitely let me know how you feel about it below. So love to hear that. But that's just that's me personally. So here's a big thing I definitely want to touch on, and this is this hits home for me personally, so maybe this hits hard for you as well, and we'll see advice for couples.
Speaker 1:So myself, I went to RN school as a married man, and so for me, as a married man, it was a challenge for a lot of reasons, because for me I took a different role. It's me, my wife and two children, and so I had left a primary job where I was working five days a week, and then I went to RN school. I ended up taking a double weekend job and so I was going to school M through F and then doing double weekends and, you know, doing our best to budget, doing our best to. You know, just doing our best during RN school Didn't have a lot of finances at the time. You know my wife was working too. We would it.
Speaker 1:It was not easy. It was not easy, let me tell you, because, as as as a married person person, your, your spouse, is on the back burner. They are on the back burner and for some people they can't handle being on that back burner. They can't handle it. Like you, you tell people the expectations of our in school. It helps if you have somebody in health care Let me. Let me say that right now, no-transcript. So she had an understanding of health care and so we were both, we're both in health care together.
Speaker 1:But if you have somebody that's not within health care and you know maybe they don't share the same passion as you or you know they don't really have a clue of what you know, especially school is about forgiving. I witnessed other classmates that went through divorces or had marital problems during RN school and I did feel bad for them. I think I know two people that end up having divorces in RN school, which is crazy. It happened. I'm thinking, man, I couldn't even wait till I got through RN school, but they end up getting divorces during RN school. So that is a thing.
Speaker 1:Also during school. What can go wrong will go wrong. So expect to have those type of problems. But even with understanding, it still gets frustrating because if you guys don't like, let's say you, if you don't share roles and responsibilities and the other person has to pick up more they're, it's going to get frustrating for them. So I don't know how to explain it. So it was kind of like if let's say that like, for example, myself I did yard work Right, I did the outside yard work and you're neglecting that no-transcript in school becomes. It's heavy, it's heavy. So that's something you guys need to be aware of and my advice is definitely talk those things through because it can get difficult. And my advice is definitely talk those things through, because it can get difficult. It can definitely get difficult.
Speaker 1:Intimacy was just keep it real intimacy. If you're not intimate, if you're not intimate with your partner, that is also a problem. That's also a problem and I know that's a big one for a lot of people, because you know your partner is not putting out like they were, because they have other focus and they can't. A lot of people can't adjust to that. So my advice is, if you can try to I love this thing called block timing Like I think some people they overestimate how much they need to study or they overstudy or they don't really know how to manage their time study or they overstudy or they don't really know how to manage their time.
Speaker 1:And I would say like, if you guys have like a favorite TV show, if you guys have, maybe you love something on Netflix, or or maybe you love to go out or whatever. I would say definitely, definitely, allocate an hour, two hours to set aside each week for sure, for that personal time, because you're going to need it, you're going to need that, like, they need to know that you know you still love them and you know vice versa, you support them. You're going to, you're going to need, you're going to need all that getting through school. So set aside time for each other to where you can do that. Okay, so, yeah. So couples, it can, it can get hard. It can, it can get hard. So I'm just going to put it out there If you're, if your relationship is already on the rocks before going to RN school, it's probably going to crumble.
Speaker 1:Not going to hold you, it's probably going to crumble because nursing school does it does not help that. Nursing school does not help that one bit. It does not. And I'm sure there's people listening to this right now and they're relating to what I'm talking about. So if you are having problems, you might need to go. You know, try to resolve those issues beforehand, go see counseling beforehand or whatever you need to work out. Because let me tell you something, those issues get amplified, they get amplified and they get worse while you're in RN school, so you don't want to take that into RN school. Try to resolve and work out different things that you know, whatever differences you have, try to work on those before going to school, because it will not help. I promise you it will. It will not help. Communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate. That is my biggest advice to couples Please communicate with each other, please. So yeah, that's got to be my advice for couples During RN school. I hope everything works out. I hope everything turns out well for you, wish you nothing but peace and blessings, but it's hard out here. It's hard out here. So let's kind of shift gears a little bit. Let's kind of shift gears a little bit.
Speaker 1:Learning, learning your instructors is a big thing in terms of overall advice learning your instructors and take advantage of the knowledge that they have. It doesn't matter, I don't care if you don't like Miss Johnson, I don't care if you you don't like you know, miss Sarah, I don't care if you don't like them. What can you learn from them? What can you learn from them? We need to separate liking somebody and having the ability to learn from somebody. So what can you learn from these individuals? What can you take from them. You know what knowledge, what expertise do they have that you, you take from them. You know what knowledge, what expertise do they have that you can take from them. Ok, so learn your teachers, learn your instructors, learn how to deal with them and learn and see what you can take from them.
Speaker 1:Ok, I will say this so be careful when it comes to using AI. Be careful. I know people are trying to fast track, they're trying to do everything they can to pass programs, but at the same time, you need to be very, very careful with AI. Just because AI gives you an answer, it does not mean that is the correct answer. We know in nursing school that you have to learn to choose the most correct answer. So the AI may give you an answer, but it may not be the most correct answer, ok, so you still have to learn to critically think, even though we have the increased use of AI. So just because you you can doesn't mean that you should. Ok, so don't abuse AI while you're in nursing school. Learn to use AI, maybe to to make some tests or some quizzes or things like that, but don't just look at that for direct answers. Please refer to your textbooks. Please refer to your instructors, because there's a lot of misinformation out there. One day I will get to a point to where it's going to be pretty accurate, but right now I would not fully rely on AI because you're setting yourself up for failure for sure. Let's see. So I would say, ok, so when you go to clinical, I can't.
Speaker 1:Ok, let's talk about clinicals. All my nursing students that are listening to this, I'm gonna let you know that potentially you're going to go to clinicals. You're going to see, hear and or be with nurses that want nothing to do with you. It is not your fault. Please do not feel guilty or responsible. The nurse that you are paired with that does not want you. That nurse probably is burnt out. I'm gonna go ahead and say it. That particular nurse is is burnt out. I'm going to go ahead and say that that particular nurse is probably burnt out. And that nurse is probably already has a heavy load and a heavy burden and they know, because of their already hard enough workload, that you're potentially going to make that harder.
Speaker 1:Having said that, please try to have the proper attitude and do the best that you can Learn from them. See what you can do to try to help them. Do everything that you can to try to have the best clinical experience for yourself, because I don't want you to shut down. There's too many students. They feel like they get a bad nurse or they feel as though they get a nurse for attitude and then they immediately shut down and it ruins the learning experience for yourself. Ok, and sometimes sometimes that you may get on the floor that only one or two nurses are really, they really will take students and then you're feeling bad. He's like dang man. This nurse already has somebody. This nurse already has two people. Learn what you can, take what you can.
Speaker 1:Don't take it personally. Don't take it to heart. These people are burnt out by a bad system. Don't take it personally. Don't take it to heart. These people are burnt out by a bad system. I'm telling you right now these nurses are burnt out by a bad system. Now there's some nurses they're just. They're just. They have bad attitudes. I'm going to keep it. Let's be honest here. Some nurses have bad attitudes.
Speaker 1:If you're a nurse with a bad attitude, you need to fix your bad attitude and treat these students right, because these students need the learning opportunities. So you need to treat the students better. So if you're not a nurse, don't be that nurse. Be a better nurse and be and be teachable. All right. So let's get that out there, all right. But take what you can, learn what you can, because you need to be an absolute sponge. You need to be a sponge.
Speaker 1:So all my student nurses that are out there, let me go ahead and say it are in school. It's here to teach you how to pass the NCLEX. You will get out of nursing school and you will say the words I did not learn that and that is OK, because once you hit the floor of whatever specialty takes you, you're going to hit the floor and then you'll learn what you need to learn. But, baby, we got to get you to pass the NCLEX first. We've got to get you to pass the NCLEX first. We've got to get you to pass the NCLEX first. So don't take it to heart, all right. Just, you didn't learn something in nursing school, that is okay. You're not gonna learn everything. You're not gonna learn everything in nursing school. That is perfectly fine.
Speaker 1:You had opportunity to learn while you can in nursing school so you can pass the NCLEX and then, when you hit the floor, that is when you really start your learning, and I pray that you are with a good preceptor, somebody that will take the time to teach you so you can learn and everything else. I pray that is your situation. I pray that is your situation Because if you have a good preceptor man, you're going to be straight, you're going to be all right because they're going to make sure you get everything you need. They're going to make sure that they're taking you everywhere and they seem approachable. They can't wait to teach. I mean, I pray you have that type of, that type of preceptor so you can get the best learning experience. Ok, so there.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to go ahead and say, like post-nursing school. Actually, actually, there's a resource I'm going to give you guys right now In terms of learning dosage calculations. There is a nurse Her name is A Blessed RN. Hit her up for nursing dosage calculations. Wonderful, wonderful person. So hit her up. And I believe she has tutoring services that are available as well. So A Blessed RN, rn. Hit her up. In terms of passing the NCLEX, hit up Kevin Gibson, aka the boot nurse. He has a lot of NCLEX prep material and he's a great mentor as well. So those are two resources, I'm going to give you guys absolutely free for listening to this podcast. So definitely hit those two individuals up. If you're struggling with doses calculations and if you want some NCLEX prep stuff, hit up those two individuals for sure Love hearing about other people's experiences while they're in RN or while they're in nursing school and then what they love to specialize in.
Speaker 1:So if you're listening to this, let me know in the comments below what do you plan on specializing in and where are you at in your NCLEX excuse me, in your nursing journey. I'd love to hear it. Love to hear about it for sure. So for me, my experience was wild. I had a wild experience, but it was also a good experience as well. Oh, I do got a funny story for you. I do got a funny story for you. So funny story while I was in RN school. So at story for y'all. So funny story while I was in rn school. So at the time it wasn't funny, but look back it's funny. So I remember I told you guys earlier what can go wrong will go wrong.
Speaker 1:So there's a particular day I was driving I think I live about like 40 minutes, 45 minutes out from campus, so I was leaving school and literally right, I think think I was about five, maybe 10 miles out and I was literally in DFE. Man, I'm telling you, man, I was in the middle of freaking nowhere. So the oil is just leaking out of my car and my oil life is like little to none. I'm confused, I'm not sure what was going on. So I am literally on the side of the road, right, I don't have great reception. I'm trying to get ahold of my wife and you know I'm walking to try to get reception so I can call her, so she can try to help me out. Man, when I tell you guys, there was classmates that were literally passing me by. They were passing me by on the side of the road, didn't honk, didn't wave, didn't do nothing. They just watched me on the side of the road, brother. So, long story short, my wife comes, she helps me out. We eventually take it to, we get my car fixed. All stops leaking my car. We they get, they get saw situated. You know, I had let that go and, additionally, I was like I'm not gonna say anything, I'm not gonna say anything to my classmates, I'm not gonna say anything.
Speaker 1:Well, a day came up where somebody brought up about me being on the side of the road. I, low key, went off in class. I did, man, I went off. I went off on the people. I called out some names and I was like you people left me on the side of the road, you MFers left me on the side of the road and it was craziest. The teacher walked up in the class and she let me vent Now she was a newer teacher too, so maybe that's probably why but she let me vent and I said my piece and nobody stopped me either. Nobody stopped me. Nobody said nothing. They let me say what I had to say. And then I was done with it. But somebody else brought it up. I was like bro, I said. I said I wasn't gonna bring it up, but I said but you guys passed me on the side of the road, you left me hanging and I thought she was on the phone or I didn't know what you were doing. I said you could at least stopped and checked. You could have been a good samaritan and just to see. So yeah, that happened and mean. It's funny now, but at the time I was so hot I was. I was hot because I tried being a good person. I tried being, you know, getting along with people, and then nobody stopped, but I get, but they. But they said, ok, well, we see you next time. We'll stop Like, ok, ok, that'll work, that'll work. So for you guys might get a kick out of that for sure. So, yeah, man. So this is.
Speaker 1:This is just a quick, quick overview of my experience in nursing school, my experience in our in school. I mean overall, for me it was, it was fine. There were some trials and tribulations, just like everybody else does. I mean I end up passing our in school, I ended up passing my NCLEX, I mean I. I mean I mean overall, it was fine. Overall, I survived, I survived overall, survived. I mean, was I tired? Yes, especially for really not having time off. I survived, I survived, I did what I had to do and I still feel blessed, I feel, still feel like you know I made the right decision. But you guys, let me know, man, are you in our in school? Are you? You know you thinking about it? And let me know if you have any questions. Definitely, let me know in the comments below. But thank you guys, so much for tuning in, which are Wakanda, are in, and I love you guys, until next time Later.
