NCLEX Review & Nursing School

Having graduated with a Bachelors in Nursing,  I felt very privileged to have my degree on hand.  As I reminisce and look back on my Nursing School days, I can definitely say that it was a very interesting and one of the toughest experience that I have ever experienced.  There were many ups and downs and high’s and lows.  Today,  I was previliged enough to Interview a good friend of mine, (her name is Stephanie) who is now a nurse and I asked her about her experiences with nursing school and how it has come to shape her now.  I choose Stephanie, because, I think her story is one that is very inspiring and shows how determination and strong will can help anyone succeed in life.

Stephanie’s Story

This was my background before getting into Nursing, I was a single female in my mid 30’s with a 6 yr. old child.  I began my life growing up in the Midwest and moved over here in the East Coast when I graduated High School.  Ever since I was young, I always thought about being a nurse, but for some reason, I was also very passionate about money and finance.  Soon after High School, I proceeded to get my degree in Finance from a state college.  It was not very productive having a Econ Degree without a master and sad to say, being in the opposite side of the ‘male’ dominated spectrum.  I worked in a small firm as their Primary Consultant, and enjoyed working in that firm for about 3 yrs. before transferring to another job.  I met the father of my baby that year, I pretty much fell in love (at least, I thought I was) and we both considered building a family.  Long story short, the father cheated on me with one of my closest friends.  My baby’s father then tried to avoid paying child support by leaving the country, in which he succeeded.   I became a single mom when my son was born.  Zack (my son) is such a beautiful boy, unfortunately their were several complications during my labor, with the umbilical wrapped around his neck and cutting the blood circulation to his brain.  My son was born with a cerebral palsy and became mentally handicapped.

This was a very huge devastating blow to me.  Having quit my job, I was able to get support from my parents, but it was a very hard struggle.  It took me at least a year to get a part time job, while taking care of Zack.  When my son was about two and a half years old.  I decided to pursue and apply for Nursing School, which was a harder process that I thought.  I began the journey by taking all my pre-requisites and trying to achieve the highest possible GPA that I can get (since that was what everyone has told me).

It was a pretty tough journey for me.  I applied to at least three nursing programs, until I finally got accepted in to a Bachelors program in a private college.  I graduated with my Bachelors of Nursing this year, passed my NCLEX in August and I now currently work as an ER nurse in Good Samaritan Hospital here in my County.  I love my job very much, but when I try to  reminisce   about my past experience in Nursing School, there were a lot of bitter and happy memories that are all still embedded in my head.