If you’re considering becoming a nurse, then you must be curious about the life of a nursing student. Or maybe you’re already in nursing school and seeking encouragement for your journey as a student nurse and your future nursing career. Regardless of where they are on their journey, aspiring nurses can benefit from speaking with a nurse to learn about becoming an agent of health promotion and a model of excellence in the healthcare field.
In this article, we discuss key points in the Caring Support podcast episode with Mackenzie Ostrowski, learning more about her journey in becoming a nurse—from studying hard every semester with her classmates, anticipating the next lecture, finishing successfully and graduating from nursing school, and become a full-fledged nurse. Here's a summary of what they talked about in the podcast episode:
Mackenzie Ostrowski graduated from Ontario Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a dual minor in Entrepreneurship and Forensic Psychology. She passed her licensing exam, the NCLEX, and has since been a registered nurse with the College of Nurses in Ontario. She has had multiple clinical experiences during her education through emergency medicine, surgery, mental health, complex continuing care, and online simulations, and aided in a software launch for charting system Epic.
Mackenzie has already completed her Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certificates and is currently working towards her Coronary Care 1 Certificate to work in the emergency department. But prior to obtaining her degrees, she volunteered at her local hospital for over 5 years, which provided her with the Ontario Volunteer Service Youth Award issued by the province of Ontario, and multiple scholarships. During her education, Mackenzie led her university’s nursing club as co-president and board member of the Undergraduate Nursing Program Committee.
As a newly Registered Nurse, Mackenzie continues to learn and grow in her profession and is excited to pass on her knowledge on how to survive nursing school. Mackenzie shared that she lives with her parents and her dog, and added that she's passionate about continuing her education, caring for others, and reading Colleen Hoover books, as well as baking and traveling.
Mackenzie was first exposed to the medical world when she was a little child. When she had emergency surgery for appendicitis, her father was also being treated for stage three colorectal cancer. Mackenzie recalls that it was a very difficult time for her family, but the nurses were "some of the most supportive, educated, and caring individuals that she had ever met". That's why she was inspired by them.
Since then, Mackenzie has wanted to work in the hospital or in the health care setting in general at that moment. When she was released from the hospital, she often played a doctor on her stuffed animals or pet bunny, wanting to be a physician at first.
But taking life sciences in her first year of university made her realize that laboratory wasn't for her, an experience that redirected her to nursing. According to her, she realized that she wanted to connect with patients one on one and it was really what she was more passionate about, emphasizing the personal connection that nurses get to generate and nourish.
Mackenzie was still in nursing school when the COVID-19 lockdowns happened. In the podcast, she described the changes that occurred in how classes were delivered because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, but it was apparent that she still took everything as a learning opportunity. For Mackenzie, getting in the hospital setting when she was in nursing school was something she really loved and wanted to keep doing, but online simulations and clinical debriefs were still important for cases that they didn't get to encounter in-person.
Mackenzie's first year was more in-person classes that consisted of having labs about two times a week, and those were for practicing skills like completing head-to-toe assessments or manual vital signs, catheterizations, N.G. tube placements, oxygen therapies, communication techniques, transferring ambulation hygiene, feeding, complex wound care, treat care, and I.V. therapy, among others.
She shared that lectures were mainly in-person in her first year, but then it went to a mixture of online and in-person, depending on the professor. But in the second year, it was all online because of the COVID-19 lockdown, and they were instead forced to do online simulations following lockdown restrictions.
In the second year, Mackenzie learned pharmacology, where she specifically appreciated the way that she got to know the different medication routes like oral, subcutaneous, and I.V., among others. During the third year, she went back into placement two times a week, every week. In the final year, she had 600 hours of placement, having 240 in their consolidation, which are all in hospitals, clinics, or long-term care settings.
Mackenzie got exposed to a ton of different things which, according to her, made her learn so much, on top of taking minors where she was doing spring and summer courses, as well as extra course load here and there.
Estimating how many hours a week are dedicated to nursing school work, including studying, completing the actual school work, and tending placement, Mackenzie says about 50 hours a week. Breaking the schedule down, the classes took about 12 to 15 hours a week, which was 24 for placements and the remaining for reading, studying, and working on assignments.
For Mackenzie, the best part of being in nursing school is that she was already exposed to different aspects of nursing even before getting conferred with her nursing degree, in contrast to other university degrees that don't offer practical experiences or hands-on learning to students. For her, it was a really valuable experience that she got to create her own judgment on a clinical area, because this allows a student to already know which area to pursue once they graduate, also thanks to her university having a wide variety of clinical placements.
Mackenzie wished that people told her to enjoy the journey and take part in more university engagement activities and events. As students, Mackenzie shared that she often gets really caught up and stressed about her studies, and then she doesn't take that moment to breathe and relax and talk to other students about how they're feeling or even just enjoy being a nursing student.
She also emphasized on how important self-care is—this should be applied to our day-to-day lives as it wasn't a huge aspect of being a nursing student back then.
Mackenzie then compared it to when someone is on an airplane going through the safety training, and telling you to put on your oxygen mask before you assist others. She argues that how can you expect to care for your patients if you don't care for yourself first, and highlights that it's important as a student and as a nurse as well.
Related: How Schools Can Help Mental Health: Empowering Students
Mackenzie suggests that nursing students to breathe and enjoy their time being a nursing student, "because it will be over before you know it". For her, students should take their time and focus more on things that they can control, and don't put much energy and stress over those that they couldn't.
She also advised students to stay organized, prioritize, and start early because solely succeeding in nursing school is mostly about time management and dedication. She shares that many of her peers would often procrastinate on assignments, and it would cause so much unnecessary stress. She was always telling her friends, "Hey, if you start early, it's not as stressful," or "Stay organized and put things in a day timer; it really does help."
Meanwhile, her clinical tip is to prepare your lunches, your clothes, all your snacks, and whatever you need for the next day during the night before, because it's already stressful enough sometimes going to placement. Mackenzie adds that the morning is stressful as it is, so taking as many things as possible out of your morning routine helps a lot since it clears up the mind of the nursing student.
Mackenzie also went on to add that it wasn't stressed enough that students shouldn't stress over a bad mark because these don't define you as a future nurse. After all, as Mackenzie says, it's "just one mark, and sometimes you're just a bad test taker".
Mackenzie emphasized that students should ask questions to their professors such as "How did I do on this?" or "Can you explain to me why it didn't go this way or what I was thinking?" as well as "How can I correct myself to make sure I'm not making these mistakes and the actual clinical settings?". According to her, students should ask professors, preceptors, or clinical instructors for help or explanations, have support networks like peers or other people they know who are nurses so that they can get through their struggles.
Nurses should choose Caring Support for several reasons. We provide access to a wide range of job opportunities in various healthcare settings, allowing nurses to explore different career paths and find positions that align with their interests and expertise. We also offer valuable resources such as resume help, interview preparation tips, and networking opportunities that can help nurses advance their careers.
By using Caring Support, nurses can also stay updated on the latest industry trends, training programs, and certification requirements to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving healthcare field. Overall, choosing platforms like Caring Support can help nurses streamline their job search process, connect with reputable employers, and ultimately achieve professional growth and fulfilment in their careers. Create an account with us today or log in if you have an account.
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