Your First Year as a Nurse: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional
- Book Review,
by DONNA RN CARDILLO, Donna Cardillo
Review
Survive and Thrive As a Nurse from Day One!
Review
Survive and Thrive As a Nurse from Day One!
Book Description
Survive and Thrive As a Nurse from Day One!
Welcome to the compassionate and caring world of nursing! You are entering a profession that offers great rewards and endless opportunities. But you must prepare for the challenges ahead and do everything you can to ensure that you experience the best that nursing has to offer. This invaluable book will get you started!
Written by an experienced R.N., Your First Year As a Nurse provides practical, real-world solutions to the profession's most common and difficult issues. Inside, you'll find out what you really need to know, who you need to know, how to avoid missteps, and where you can go for help when you need it. Gritty, witty, and full of invaluable tips and advice from first year nurses, this book is your personal mentor for your new career.
Ensure a healthy first year by knowing how to:
·Acquire the job that's perfect for you
·Create your own patient-centered style of nursing
·Develop positive relationships with doctors, patients, and other nurses
·Stay positive, deal with conflict and adversity, and avoid burnout
·Network, enhance your education and career, and become a leader
"Combines common sense with the wisdom of a seasoned professional. A valuable resource for new graduates as they begin practice."—Lucille A. Joel, R.N., Ed.D., FAAN, professor, Rutgers College of Nursing, and former president, American Nurses Association
"A must-read for all nurses, not just new graduates!"—Joan Orseck, R.N., president, National Association for Health Care Recruitment
Book Info
Provides practical real-world solutions to the profession's most common and difficult issues. Discusses how to avoid missteps, where to go for help, and tips and advice. Softcover.
From the Author
My name is Donna Cardillo, RN and I am the author of "Your First Year as a Nurse." Over the last year, I have lovingly worked on this book in order to ensure your success in the profession...a profession that it has been my privilege to be a part of for well over 20 years. I interviewed scores of new graduates, as well as experienced nurses, in the course of my research. I share many of their stories and experiences, as well as my own...some funny, some poignant, some inspirational...but all of them from the heart. Although the negative stories about nursing get a lot of air time, the good and wonderful things about this glorious profession are rarely told. You get all that along with down to earth advice and practical tips on what to expect, how to deal with the most common and difficult issues, and most importantly, how to be successful. I wrote this book for both RN's and LPN/LVN's in Canada and the United States. I even included a section on the unique experiences of men in the profession. The book contains an extensive resource section for both Canada and the U.S. including professional associations, web sites, magazines, clinical databases, etc. New graduates in other countries have also found it helpful. You can even earn continuing education credits for reading "Your First Year as a Nurse." Contact Nursing Spectrum at 800-866-0919 for more information. I would love to hear from you. Please send me your questions, tell me about your experiences, and let me know how the book helped you. I am committed to your success!
From the Inside Flap
Survive and Thrive As a Nurse from Day One!
Welcome to the compassionate and caring world of nursing! You are entering a profession that offers great rewards and endless opportunities. But you must prepare for the challenges ahead and do everything you can to ensure that you experience the best that nursing has to offer. This invaluable book will get you started!
Written by an experienced R.N., Your First Year As a Nurse provides practical, real-world solutions to the profession's most common and difficult issues. Inside, you'll find out what you really need to know, who you need to know, how to avoid missteps, and where you can go for help when you need it. Gritty, witty, and full of invaluable tips and advice from first year nurses, this book is your personal mentor for your new career.
Ensure a healthy first year by knowing how to:
·Acquire the job that's perfect for you
·Create your own patient-centered style of nursing
·Develop positive relationships with doctors, patients, and other nurses
·Stay positive, deal with conflict and adversity, and avoid burnout
·Network, enhance your education and career, and become a leader
"Combines common sense with the wisdom of a seasoned professional. A valuable resource for new graduates as they begin practice."—Lucille A. Joel, R.N., Ed.D., FAAN, professor, Rutgers College of Nursing, and former president, American Nurses Association
"A must-read for all nurses, not just new graduates!"—Joan Orseck, R.N., president, National Association for Health Care Recruitment
From the Back Cover
Survive and Thrive As a Nurse from Day One!
About the Author
Donna Wilk Cardillo, R.N., whose nursing career covers more than 20 years, is president of Cardillo & Associates. One of the country's leading experts on nursing career management, she lives in Wall, New Jersey.
Excerpted from Your First Year As a Nurse: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional by Donna Cardillo. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED It’s your first day as a nurse and, boy, are you nervous. Did you make the right decision? Is this the right career for you? Can you handle the responsibility? All of these feelings are normal. When the reality of your chosen profession hits, it can be overwhelming. But never lose sight of the reason you chose to enter this glorious profession – to help others, make a difference, and make the world a better place to be. That’s what it’s all about. Most of us started out scared, nervous, and perhaps even feeling inadequate. Remember that even after just one day on the new job, you’ll be more experienced at the end of the day than you were that morning. After each day, you will be further along than you were the day before. Before you know it, days will turn into weeks, weeks into months, and finally you’ll find yourself with a full year of experience under your belt! It’s important, in this early phase of your career, to set small, realistic goals for yourself. Set an initial goal to get through orientation. Then set a goal to get through your first three months, then 6 months, and then one year. Most experienced nurses agree that it takes about a year before you feel comfortable with most common situations. It will probably take two years to be completely comfortable with all situations. So be patient and just keep moving forward. In many ways, your education is just beginning. I used to say, jokingly, that I never learned anything until I got out of nursing school. Although that isn’t completely accurate, when I was finally working on my own as a nurse and was out of the student mode and no longer in the safe confines of my instructor’s wing, it sometimes felt like I was starting from scratch. For certain, I’ll never forget how overwhelmed and scared I felt the first time I was handed the narcotics keys to hold onto during my shift. I wanted to say, “Oh, you’ve made a mistake. I’m not responsible enough to carry these keys.” I suddenly realized the responsibility I had. I wondered if I could meet everyone’s expectations. I also remember how I would gaze at more experienced nurses with awe. They seemed so confident, so in control, so calm in a crisis, so all-knowing. I couldn’t imagine that I would ever reach that level of practice. But an amazing thing happened. Not only did I continue to learn and grow in my new career, but here I am, more than 20 years later, loving every minute of this wonderful profession and giving advice to other nurses. I’ve come a long way from being a scared, self-conscious rookie nurse who thought that the person who gave me the narcotics keys was not thinking clearly. You, too, will someday look back and see how far you have come. In fact, you’ve already come a long way. Phase one of your education and training was your formal education. Consider your first job as a nurse to be phase 2. Don’t be too hard on yourself in the beginning. You’re not expected to know everything as a new graduate. In fact; no one, not even the most experienced nurse, doctor, or other practitioner, knows everything. For each of us, myself included, learning occurs on an ongoing basis. If you’re not learning, you’re stagnating. So now it is time to begin phase two of your learning process: your first job. Where do you start? What do you need to know? The key to getting the job you want is to have a plan, prepare, and dive in!
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