Nursing school is a wild ride , but that doesn't mean you have to run and hide when the going gets tough . Don't leave your stress undiagnosed . You gotta call the nursing student coach . Real-life tips from a registered nurse , in school and out . She's seen the worst . Now , without further ado , yeah , here is your host . It's the nursing student coach .
Apple Podcast . If you could please take out your phone , give us a quick 5 star rating and review . And the whole point is so that we can reach More potential future nurses and help put more Great nurses into the world , which is my mission in creating the show .
Today's episode is for anybody who thinks they are too old or it is too late , or you are simply afraid to make a change , and this is a show for nursing students . But this episode is for anybody , anybody who's thinking about making any kind of change , a career change , any kind of change in your life when you feel that there's something more for you .
Maybe something has been calling to you . In my case , I was called to be a nurse For years and years and years before I finally listened and took the plunge and did it Because I was afraid . I kept saying it's not the right time , maybe I'll do it later . It's just whatever it was .
It was a lot of excuses and I finally realized I turned 40 and sometimes that's when it happens For me . My husband said what do you want for your birthday ? I said you know what ? I want ? To finish my prerequisites and go to nursing school . I want to be a nurse . It was time . And here's the thing it is about taking that very first step .
And you don't have to know where it's going , you don't have to know exactly what it's going to look like . All you have to know is that you don't like where you are right now and take one step . I heard this analogy recently and it's so relevant .
It's like you're driving down a road in your car and it's pouring rain and it's foggy and you can really only see two feet in front of you , but you just keep going and eventually you're going to get home or you're going to get to whatever the destination is , and in many of our cases who are listening ? That's getting your nursing degree .
On a personal note , I was stuck . I was overweight , I was depressed and I didn't even realize that I was until I wasn't anymore . And when you just take that first step , there were so many doubts . There were so many questions I had Like how am I going to go back to school ?
How am I going to go back to work when I have two kids who are used to having me at home ? Those questions how am I going to do this really difficult degree when I haven't gone to school in so many years . And you know what , once I started , once I signed up for that very first prerequisite class , it just was a domino effect .
And that's what happens you take that first class , that first step , and it charges something in you . You realize , wow , there is this whole other universe out there and I get to be a part of it now and Learning something brand new at a later stage in your life .
It's so rewarding because you're choosing to be there and whatever fields it is , whatever change it is , you are so valuable . The life experience that you have that you're going to bring to this new path , whether it's nursing or anything those life experiences that you've had . Maybe this is a second career and you want to make a change and do something else .
You're going to be better at that thing than you would have been if you had done it when you were 18 , 19 . You know , because you have all this life experience to bring to it , you have more things to connect with your patients about , your future clients . Let's say you're a mom , a dad . Let's say you've experienced loss and grief .
You have a way to connect with future patients that you may not have had . You have learned life skills . You have learned how to talk to people , and that is a gift . What you will bring is Such a complete whole person . Now , specifically with nursing school , if you have the fear , am I too old ? The answer is Heck .
No , you are never too old , you're not . If you want to do this , you do it . I went to nursing school . I went back to nursing school at 41 . I was not the oldest person , because it doesn't matter . Nursing needs you . The world needs you to be a nurse . If you have a calling to do this , if you have a passion to do this , you listen .
I don't care how old you are , I don't care if you're 90 . You get in there and you do it . You are valuable , you are meant to do this , you can do this and you are not too old and you will bring Extraordinary value , insight to all of this . And here's the thing I was scared . I Was scared . I was a mom , still am a mom .
I was a mom of two very young kids and when I first started to go back to school , I was scared , so scared . What's this going to mean ? And so many Wonderful things came out of it that I didn't even realize , didn't even cross my mind the things that would happen , like Setting the example .
If you are a parent , setting the example for your children that you are a fulfilled , complete parent , you know . Do you think you want your kids to see somebody who just gets by and watch , watches Netflix and , you know , just goes through the every day mundane routines and and goes to bed every night and just waits for life to be done ?
No , you want to show your kids that it doesn't matter how old you are . You follow your passion . You can make a change at any point . You can change your life . You can Reinvent yourself . That's really what you're doing . You are reinventing yourself , and that is exciting , that's amazing , and you can do it . You can absolutely do it .
I am living proof that you can do it . I was overweight , afraid to go out , didn't want to be seen and would cancel plans with friends because I didn't have any clothes that fit me .
That's where I was in my life and going back to school , because to go back to nursing school , you have to take a lot of science classes , and so what happened personally was I started taking anatomy classes and learned that it's very unhealthy to be overweight .
I knew that , we all know that , but until I really saw how the cardiovascular and respiratory system works and how you're overloading the workload on your body when you have extra weight , until I saw that and learned it , I didn't really fully , wasn't motivated , not enough .
And so that first initial decision I'm going to change my life , I'm going to go back to school .
It wasn't even about the weight loss , it was about changing my life , being a happier person , and one of the things that happened along the way was I happened to drop close to 70 pounds , and so it's just one of those things that once you start , you take that first step .
I didn't say I am going to go back to nursing school , lose 70 pounds , change my life , become super healthy , start a podcast , start a coaching business . I didn't see any of this . It all just created itself because it's a domino effect One decision impacts , another impacts another , and it's this exponential growth of personal development , happiness .
It's your destiny , really , and when you are doing what you're supposed to be doing in life , when you're living your true purpose , the universe responds . The universe rises to where you are and presents things to you and life changes . And it's incredible , and that's what happened to me .
I went from overweight , stay at home mom and transformed myself into nurse , nursing student coach , happy in shape , healthy human who's living my best life . And it started with one decision . Did I have fear that I was too old ? Did I have fear that everybody was going to look at me like I was the grandma in the room ? Yeah , did that happen ?
No , not in the least . And if anybody thought that I wasn't aware of it because I was so happy to be there , here's the thing you can change your life . You can absolutely make this change . You can take one step . One decision will change everything .
I'm living proof of that , and I know that if you want to make this change in your life , you have it in you . That first step , that first decision , is all you need to do . Take a step forward and what will happen will blow your mind . You will reinvent yourself and I can't wait to hear about it . This is Nurse Lauren nursingstudentcoachcom .
Until next time , have an amazing day . Bye-bye .