¶ Nursing School Challenges and Tips
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 .
Hi everybody and welcome back to the show . This is the Nursing Student Coach podcast . I'm your host , nurse Lauren , and you're in the right place If you are looking for a show for aspiring nurses who want to establish the habits that create success In nursing school and beyond . It is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world .
You're just gonna hear me say that over and over and over , because it is true . We need more nurses , we need more great nurses with passion , and I would love your help in doing that .
So if you like the show , if you like what you hear , please share it with somebody you know that could benefit , follow us on social media , give us a rating and a review and subscribe . Today we have a wonderful guest . Her name is Professor Joanne Kiblehane and she is a professor of nursing at my alma mater , manhattanville College .
She is also the chairperson for the courses MedSurg1 and Population and Environmental Health , as well as the faculty advisor for the Student Nurses Association . In addition to that , she is just an all around awesome person . You are just going to take away so many great things from this episode .
So , without further ado , I would like to welcome to the show Professor Joanne Kiblehane . Professor Kiblehane , welcome to the show . We're so happy to have you .
Hi Lauren , thank you , I'm happy to be here . I love teaching , nursing students , so I'm happy to share whatever I can .
I am so grateful to you because you are my nursing professor One of my first and just thank you so much for everything that you have done for me that's brought me to where I am today .
I'm just so grateful for you and for those of you who are watching , who are Manhattanville alums or are students at Manhattanville , and we're fortunate enough to have Professor Kiblehane . She's amazing , so I'm just so happy that you're here . Thank , you . Can you tell everybody what got you interested in nursing in the first place ?
What's your favorite thing about it ?
Sure , I always find it interesting because I like to ask students the same question and you get a variety of answers . Right With me it went back to when I was in high school . I played soccer and had a couple of knee surgeries , and the post-op nurses were phenomenal and I still remember them to this day .
As I was growing up and maturing , I always thought I wanted to be just like them because they were so impactful In that moment in my life . That was really kind of what started it , my reason for going into nursing .
That's amazing . I feel like a lot of people can relate to that . A lot of people have either been hospitalized or they know somebody . They were there for the experience and it's the nurses that you remember . Yeah , absolutely , there's nothing else quite like it ?
Yeah , absolutely . And then sometimes you have a negative experience in healthcare and you think , or maybe with your family , and you think , oh , I want to go into healthcare and make this better than what my family experienced . And that sometimes is a catalyst too for some people .
Exactly . That's so true . I love that you said that . What would you say ? I know there's so many things that you could choose from , but what would you say is your favorite thing about nursing ?
I have many answers for that , but I think the number one would be that there are so many different opportunities that you can do with your nursing degree and your nursing license it's endless . I'm not sure if there is another profession that you have these opportunities .
I know I've shared with you , the students , some of my work experiences where I've been private duty , nursing , in the hospital , teaching . I have friends who do research . I just came across jobs that I saw on a website to work on a cruise ship . There's so many things that would be nice .
They're looking for dialysis nurses to work on cruise ships so that dialysis patients can travel .
That's so interesting .
Yeah , I would say that's probably one of my favorite parts of our profession .
That is great . You talked to nurses that have been doing this for 20 years and they've had just such a variety of specialties . You don't have to choose just one . You can hop around versus . If you're in medical school . You have to choose your specialty when you're so young most of the time and you're locked in .
That is what's so great about nursing , too , is the freedom and flexibility that you have .
Yeah , absolutely Many opportunities will present themselves as well . On this journey it's really special . I've worked with so many amazing people and met so many incredible patients and getting to know them In a selfish way it makes you really grateful , for when you go home to your family you feel grateful for healthy children , Anyway , I could go on and on .
Yeah , no , absolutely , that's okay , absolutely . Can you just walk us through your career path just a little bit where you started and what got you interested in teaching and how you went on that path ?
Sure , I started working in a acute care hospital here on White Plains and I started on telemetry , which was a great beginning . It was a great foundation . I learned so much , worked nights for a little while because it just suited my needs at the time . Then from there went to the float pool .
I was able to work in a lot of different units and really became a jack of all trades when . I reflect on that time because I worked a little bit on every floor , I think , except maybe the OR . I felt like that gave me a good foundation to then lead into teaching . I loved precepting new nurses when they came to our hospital .
That led me into looking into a master's degree and thinking of where I wanted to be down the road . I love it . I think there's nothing else I would do at this point in my career other than teaching .
That's amazing . I know when you taught us you had so many amazing stories about the emergency room and just amazing . You've had quite a career and I know you're teaching and you're still practicing as a registered nurse in urgent care , which is just awesome .
Just to keep everything going . I think that's really important to stay , practice your skills and stay involved in the profession itself rather than just teaching . I think you miss out on some opportunities and learning , new procedures and new research and what's going on out there . That's , I think , really important to do .
For sure To be able to bring it into the classroom and relate to the students and everything . It's amazing . We're talking about nursing school and nursing students . What do you think are some of the challenges that nursing students face in nursing school and what do you think that they can do to be better in nursing school ?
Okay . So this is so important for the success of our students . I find that a lot of new students are not fully ready and are not anticipating exactly how much time is involved in your nursing courses and clinicals .
So I think the better we can prepare students for what sort of lies ahead in time management , I think that gives them a good foundation , because sometimes I think students go into it thinking that it's not quite as hard as it's going to be and then , when they fall behind a little bit , instead of being maybe proactive , become negative about the process .
So I think if we can best prepare them for what lies ahead , the more successful they will be .
¶ Tips for Success in Nursing School
For example , I'd like to tell students or share with students if I had , if I were in your position , I would love to share with them Go to every orientation meeting that there is every extra help opportunity you can from your professors , like fully embrace anything that the school is offering to really stay involved , because I think when they , when students , start
to fall behind , it really is hard to catch up . So if they go into it ready and fully prepared which also might mean that some of the students that have jobs may need to cut back on those hours .
If they're not anticipating that , that can really be a roadblock to being successful , because we don't want our students just to pass , we want them to excel and be quality nurses . So I think the better we can prepare students when they begin the program and anticipating how much time and studying is involved , the more successful they will be .
Yeah , I love all of that . I think just knowing nursing school is hard , that is , that's the truth . It is so hard , it's harder than any other major , I think .
I agree .
Just knowing that and knowing that every day you're going to have to do something , you should not really be taking a day off , even if it's something small , to build that consistency to do well in your classes , because you don't want to just squeeze by and just do well , because that's not the kind of nurse that you want to be , that's not the kind of nurse
that you want taking care of your family member or you want to be working with .
So it's so true .
And I love what you said too , about just saying yes to everything and so many times you hear oh , I don't have time . I don't have time to go to this extra meeting , but you go , and it's an investment of time to make everything so much better . I'm fully on board with you .
Yeah , here's another good example , lauren , and you'll remember this . But in the beginning , when you guys start , you're in that first semester there are several sessions that are offered from our administration and about the textbook and how to be able to use all the resources on the textbook from our publishing company .
There's sessions about ATI and our NCLEX prep , because that's throughout the whole program and we don't always get a good turnout to those . I always wonder and I always feel like saying or sending an email out and saying it's so important that you make the time to come to this so that you're ready to go .
You hit the ground running and then week one , so for sure , have all of the tools that you can . And also , if you're feeling stuck , if you're feeling in trouble , go talk to your professors . That's what they're there for . Even the ones that don't seem approachable actually are .
They really are If , once you start talking to them , they want you want what's best for the students Absolutely that too . Let's say a student did not do well on a test . Let's say they failed a test and hopefully that doesn't happen to anybody that's listening .
But if it does and they think that they studied really hard you probably hear that a lot I studied so hard and I just fell short . I don't know what I'm doing wrong . What advice would you offer a student that said that to you ?
Again , another great question because this does happen right , as you just mentioned earlier is to reach out to your professor , your instructor , right away . Sometimes students are embarrassed or they feel frustrated and they just maybe let it go and think , oh , I'll do better on the next exam .
But I say , be proactive and meet with your instructor immediately and then , when you meet with them , ask if you can go through the incorrect answers that they got on the exam and discuss the rationale behind it .
When I meet with students and do that , I see like light bulbs going off and how much better they understand the way the questions are formed and exactly what thinking process they need to do when they answer questions .
So I strongly encourage , like you mentioned earlier , meeting with your professors and instructors and , yes , it can be a little intimidating , they have to do that I strongly encourage . And then going through those questions and understanding the rationales is , I think , key .
Yes , nursing exams are literally learning a new language , I think , because you can know the material . You can know everything and still get a question wrong because you didn't understand how it was worded .
I think that's exactly right to go through what you did wrong and see , oh , I thought it meant this , but it actually means this because it's a nursing exam and you have to think critically , and so it's an entirely new skill .
Absolutely , and sometimes that one-on-one half hour with your professor just can make such a huge difference . I talk a lot about the process behind , how questions are formed in terms of airway breathing circulation , in terms of stable versus unstable patients , acute versus chronic , and right now , the focus with NCLEX , as you know , is prioritization .
So it's really important for us , the professors and instructors , to share that with our students , because they need to understand where this is all coming from .
Like you mentioned , I agree with you that nursing is probably the most difficult undergraduate degree out there and , like you said , the test questions are like a different language , so students can't possibly be prepared for that unless we help them . I think that falls on the instructors as well .
Yeah , I agree From day one . You're preparing for your NCLEX , really , because it covers everything in nursing school . So to just know , as you're reading the question , not only understanding the body processes and what the medication is or whatever the question is , but to prioritize and say , okay , how can I best be a safe nurse here ?
What could kill my patient ? Really , absolutely , what is like the limb in this question ?
Yes , the word safety is . The most important piece of everything we're talking about is patient safety . That's what the focus is in nursing right now .
Yeah , absolutely , and I think what's confusing to a lot of students is there can be two answers that are correct , but one is the most correct , and so you're not wrong the airway is more crucial than the temperature or whatever it may be . You have to choose the best answer .
Yep absolutely .
So if you could pick just one thing , one thing that nursing students could do to be more successful in nursing school , what do you think that would be ? If they could just pull something out of their tool about ? What do you think that it could be ?
So again , I love this question and I have a very concrete answer that I think is helpful . I would encourage students to make the most out of their clinical experiences and to make connections to what they're learning in class at clinical . For example , we just finished urinary tract infections in med surge one .
So I spoke to the class and said okay , when you were in clinical , look for those patients with an indwelling Foley catheter . Find out why they have it . What was the rationale behind the order ? Why does that patient need an indwelling Foley catheter ? Go look at it . Talk to the nurse , find out more about it .
I think the key to success in nursing school is that when students make connections between what they're learning in class and clinical , it all starts to make sense and fall into place .
So when we can time that out nicely , I think that makes such a big difference and for students to actively seek out those opportunities , I think they need encouragement to do that . Talking to your professor might seem intimidating . Clinical can seem intimidating . Also . I strongly encourage them to ask questions .
Say to your clinical instructor can we see a post-op patient today ? Because we're talking about post-op complications . I wish somebody had said that to me when I was in nursing school , because I remember thinking , oh , I just want to get in here and get home , I hope we get out early today .
I'm embarrassed to admit that , but that's what I was thinking , that it wasn't really that important but it is , and it can really help some of the students to better understand some of the disorders that we talk about in lecture .
Yeah , I'm jumping out of my seat . I guess you're saying this and I'm like , yes , and I don't want to interrupt . But it is so true . Looking back , I'm done and looking back at my entire clinical experiences , it's half the time of school , yeah , half of your week . You're in a clinical .
So don't phone it in , be in the front row , put your hand up , get in there , volunteer , even if you don't know what to do . They're not going to let you hurt anybody . That's that nurse's license on the line that's helping you .
And I remember in I think it was it must have been med surge one when you said ask your clinical instructor to see a chest tube , because we were learning about chest tubes . And the clinical instructor was also so grateful to be able to connect to what we were learning , because they want to teach us too . They wanted all to connect .
So it is those moments when you connect what you're learning in lecture , seeing it in a patient , and I will never forget that man with the chest tube . It was so exciting . Come on in . We had , like I meet people in his room and he's . At one point he tried to lift it up and the professional's like no , no , no , put it down . So it was great .
And just to have that visual that guy had I think it was a partial lobectomy because he had lung cancer just to put it all together .
And I think also with the medications too , when you're if you're shadowing a nurse who's pulling out meds , look at what they are and if you don't know what they are , look them up and ask to talk about them at post conference and things like that . That's clinical , is your play time is what I always do .
Oh , that's a good way to think of it . I didn't even . I've never thought that . But yes , absolutely yeah . It's an incredible opportunity to learn .
And sometimes I hear students and I'm sure you've experienced this more and that will say oh , there's nothing to do on our floor and right away I'm like okay , so go answer the call valve , go to the nurse's station and help out the nurses on that floor and just start answering the call valve . You're gonna get to interact with patients .
Maybe that patient just needs a blanket , maybe that patient needs to help ambulating to the bathroom . Those are all great opportunities to interact with your patients and become more comfortable touching patients , talking to them and developing some relationships . So that's always my advice .
So when they say oh , our floor is boring and I think that's usually what I try to- I could go on and on about this .
There's always something to do , there's always somebody who needs help , especially the techs , the nursing assistants , the CNAs . Go , follow them , say can I help you make this bed ? Can I help you help with anything ?
Because you may have a connection with a patient during that you can bring into your interviews that will just stay with you and ultimately , all of this is just making you a better nurse all of it , some of the best moments are just washing your patient's hair or getting them a toothbrush and talking to their family Things that when you're busy as an RN working
on the floor , you're not gonna have time necessarily to spend an hour with the spa , with your patient . So it's clinical that you have the opportunity to do those things .
Yeah , absolutely . That's one way I think that students can really be successful in nursing school is through that connection in clinical I could not agree more .
I love that . I love that so much . So if there's anyone out there that's thinking about being a nurse and maybe isn't sure what's one thing that maybe you would tell them to encourage them .
So I would recommend to get some experience in any kind of healthcare setting that they can , because sometimes that's a great question , because sometimes students think , oh , I'll go into nursing . And I actually remember a student a few semesters ago when I was teaching clinical and we went around the table and talked about why do you wanna be a nurse ?
One student said he was in the Accelerator program . He said I finished my degree in biology and I just don't know what else to do . I thought that's interesting . I hope this worked out for you . Yeah , I was worried for him because he didn't have any other experience in health care at all . I thought oh this might not , he did great .
He was one of those students that just had an amazing attitude and he embraced the whole process . He did really amazing .
Yeah .
Yeah , so I would . That's what I would suggest , whether it's in a doctor's office , it's volunteering in a hospital and a nursing home to get to become a little more familiar . I just saw at our local pharmacy that they were job opportunities for being pharmacy techs . That would be a great place to get some experience .
But just if they're thinking about it , that's what I would recommend .
Yes , I love that and being a pharmacist , you would learn so much about your medications . You would be so much further ahead in pharmacology . That would be amazing . Absolutely I love that , because any volunteer experience , you're going to know right away if it's for you or if it's not .
Yeah , absolutely yeah . I think that's important . Pharmacology is one of the harder courses , I think , in nursing school , because the medications can be pretty tricky and difficult to learn .
Absolutely , yeah . I just want to thank you so much for joining us today . If you want to get in touch with Professor Kivlehann , she is on LinkedIn . Her name is Joanne Kivlehann . It's right there on this . You can find her there , yes , and I thank you so much for coming on today . This was such a pleasure to speak to you , and thank you so much .
Oh , thank you , Lauren . Thank you for inviting me . This was a wonderful opportunity . I love talking about nursing school , so thank you for .
I'm sorry I could talk to you all day . All right , thank you so much . I'll see you soon . Well , that's going to do it for today's episode . Everybody , I thank you again , professor Kivlehann , for joining us and for everybody listening . I hope you had just as much fun as we did .
Again , it is my personal mission to help put more great nurses into the world and I thank you for your help in doing that . I love you all and I will see you the next time . Bye-bye .
Thanks for tuning in to the Nursing Student Coach podcast .