As I enter my last semester of nursing school, I feel so many emotions. Excitement, curiosity, nervousness, and overwhelmed to name a few. However, excitement is definitely the most prominent emotion, which showcases how I truly feel about entering the workforce and starting my career as a nurse. This semester feels a lot different; after completing Adult Health III and my preceptorship, I feel a wave of confidence that helped me feel less anxious about graduating than I ever have. I feel prepared, and I trust myself and my skills more than ever, which is reassuring. However, I know there is still a lot to learn and study for prior to graduating and moving on, and I am ready to put in the work to get there. The thing I am most excited for in regards to the next few months is probably the ease I will feel when I finally know where I am going to end up. I have many places in mind to apply to, but truly not sure about where I will end up.

I am going to celebrate completing nursing school by taking a much-needed break from studying for a little bit, and celebrate with family and friends that helped me along the way. I remember at my sister’s college graduation, the President of the school said when you get your first paycheck from your new job, you need to take your family out to dinner with it to thank them for all they have done. My parents have truly gotten me to where I am today, and for that I owe them more than just a dinner, but I think that’s a good start. I also think I want to celebrate by going to a spa; I just really want to destress and reward myself.

My most-anxious feelings go toward the NCLEX. I know that everyone is stressed about it, and rightfully so. It’s a long, hard exam and it determines whether we can continue onto our dream careers or if we need to study more and try again. Clinical instructors have ensured and drilled into our heads how even if you fail the first time, you can always take it again; it’s not the end of the world even if it feels that way for a bit. However, I do think having studying goals each week will help immensely in passing the NCLEX the first time I take it. A goal I have is to study content and test taking strategies for two hours each week (along with completing all my other homework) starting in February, and then add in more time as the NCLEX approaches. I think the Nursing Logic 2.0 modules showed that I need to work on my recall in content areas because in some instances of questions I simply did not know the condition the client had, and had to rely solely on testing strategies. So, I think that will be a good place to start in regards to starting somewhere, and the ATI remediations will surely help with that as well.