So your loved one’s a nursing student….

Here are some tips for those of you who are lucky enough to
know a nursing student:

(I put this list together from listening to my classmates and from comments I have received on here- this is not directed at my friends or family!!)

1. One day we will hate nursing, the next we will love it.
We are allowed to have mood swings like this, so please don’t point out our
inconsistencies.

2. When we complain about our evil teachers, just listen to
us and give us sympathy. There are some things we know we can’t change, but we
still need to vent.

3. When we are upset by something that happened with one of
our patients, don’t just tell us to get a thicker skin. Every day we see nurses
with skin that is way too thick, and we never want to be like that.

4.  It won’t hurt you
to let us practice some of our new nursing skills on you. Well, once we get
good at them it won’t hurt you… (Sorry about the blood pressure cuff incident,
Michael!)

5. Most of us are broke. So please don’t invite us to
go do expensive things and then act offended when we say we can’t go.

6. Please realize that we have a lot of reading and homework
to do every weekend. I know for non-students, the weekend means relaxing. But
for a lot of us, the weekend is our chance to attempt to catch up.

7. Although we have a ton of work, we do need the
opportunity to let off some steam. So if we told you on Friday we couldn’t go
to a bar because we needed to study, don’t get upset if you see us watching a
TV show or at the mall on Saturday. That might be our only break for the day,
and we would probably lose our minds if we didn’t take an hour away from the
books every now and then. And unfortunately, we often do have to weigh things
against studying- “Should I go spend money at a bar and stay out until two AM, or
get fifty pages of reading done and then relax and watch movies tomorrow?” Please
don’t be offended if we choose studying.

8. Don’t ever use the line, “Well is your school more
important than ME?!” You might  accidentally be volunteering your arm for IV
practice the next time you fall asleep. You wanted attention, right?!

9. If we are stressed out about a test don’t just say, “You
always say that and then get straight A’s. You should quit studying and go out.”
Maybe your statement is accurate, but had we stopped studying earlier, as you were suggesting, we would not have done as
well. You are always welcome to say you think we will do fine, but don’t try to pressure us to quit studying when we don’t feel prepared.

10. Don’t compare what we are going through to what you went
through in school unless you majored in something in the medical field. If you
are an accountant and you didn’t fully understand something in school, you
might mess up someone’s finances. This is a big deal, but your mistake will not
kill someone. Ours might.

11. Bring us plenty of chocolate, especially Reese’s peanut
butter cups.