Stepping into the ward for the first time is a life-changing experience. No matter how prepared we are, there is no book or teacher that can tell us what exactly caring for patients will be like.

For patients, they are never the same – it is different people with different problems every day. And things can change every second.

A patient who might be chatting with you right now could be on the bed a few minutes later
being resuscitated. A patient who said goodnight to you might be receiving the last office later
that night.

It is usual for the managers to say, “Always be prepared for the worse.” In my seven years in
the medical field, I have seen seniors who cracked under pressure. Imagine how students feel!

As seniors, we are too occupied with our tasks, so we don’t have much time for our student nurses.
Instead of students being a helping hand, sometimes we feel that they are slowing us
down.

As much as we would like to guide them well and share our knowledge, unnecessary tasks
take precious time away. Repeated documentation and being the middle person are duties
that take away the time we could spend nurturing the students.

We are scolded if 1 of the 100 doctors looking after the patient forgot to input his
treatment plans. With all the stress we absorb, we may sometimes vent it out on the
students because all we want is to go home and eat.

I have yet to see a full-time nurse who takes a full one-hour break. Perhaps HR
should state it in the contract ‘NO BREAKS GIVEN.’

Despite all the craziness in the ward, student nurses have to fight hard to get their checklists
signed. Moreover, they have case studies to present.

Google doesn’t give us answers on managing a complex patient. Therefore we have to ask the seniors. But when students see the seniors running and sweating at work, they feel awful to ask the seniors for assistance. Often, students prefer to stay out of the way.

Flashback to 2018.

This was when Ricky first joined nursing. It wasn’t his first choice; it was his only choice.

“Well, why not just give it a shot, right?”

Ricky enjoyed meeting his friends, skipping classes, and hanging out during poly days. The theory lessons bore Ricky to death. When Ricky inevitably started falling asleep, the shopping malls nearby would seem like the best place to be. He would slowly pack his bags and sneak out of class. Books and Ricky were enemies, but shopping and fast food were his best friends. Well,many of us can relate, right?

Faking attendance was easy; Ricky and his friends just needed to bribe someone to sign in for all of them. The only compulsory thing were LAB SESSIONS. Something they couldn’t escape from.

However, practical lessons were fun as they got to do hands-on training and laugh at one another. They got to practice looking after mannequins, treating them like actual patients, and even doing resuscitation on them. Poor mannequins. But none of this could prepare them for the actual situations in hospitals!

The first attachment is the most memorable for all student nurses. It is the very first time we get to wear our white uniforms and step into the real world.

Oblivious to the beeping of the machines, the call bells, the screams of the demented patients, we were standing behind our Clinical Instructor (CI) and hoping for her to lead the way. Deep down, we were hoping that we could be of help, but initially we were just paralyzed with fear.

After multiple postings, one might think that we are courageous enough to manage patients ourselves, but more responsibilities are given to us as we progress. That makes us more anxious during each attachment.

The two things that student nurses fear the most are:

1. Serving the wrong medications
2. The patient falls

These two things would mean an immediate failure for that posting. Nurses give their all to prevent those from happening, but the busier it gets, the higher the possibility of mistakes to occur.

Nothing beats the intensity of the last attachment: Pre-Registration Consolidated Placement (PRCP). The final extension lasts for 12 weeks, and this determines if one can
graduate from nursing school.

Currently, students that are having their PRCP are stepping up to care for Covid patients. I truly admire them because we weren’t allowed to enter the “Isolation Room” as
students. Hats off to all those who are being thrown in the deep end.

Though the PRCP is supposed to begin in December and last till February, it was brought forward this time due to a surge in Covid cases.

PRCP began in November, which meant that students had to cancel their November plans (working elsewhere for a month or resting and catching up).

They had to mentally prepare for the long hours of working with PPE. Without much knowledge or courage, and the fear of contracting Covid haunting them, they were asked to
help out in the Covid wards.

With the hectic situation in hospitals in the past two years, most students have been doing junior work daily, and their progression has slowed. They haven’t practiced their “Staff Nurse” skills much as there is too much “junior work” to be done.

On those rare days when there isn’t much to do, student nurses feel pressure if they aren’t doing anything as seniors might deem that student a ‘slacker.’

Not all staff assign tasks to students or guide them properly, so sometimes students just stand there like trees in the hope that someone will ask them for help.

It is easy for seniors to say that students aren’t contributing during their attachments, but let’s not forget that we were all students once, waiting around, praying that there will be tasks for us to do so we don’t look silly just standing there.

The worse thing as students is when seniors pick on us for not having that robot (professional) look. Undyed hair, short nails, no nail polish, neat hairstyle, one pair of earrings, and the list goes on.

Most nurses are women, and they want to look good because we will all grow old one day and they don’t want to look back and realize they wasted their youth.

For most of us, the only time we leave the house is to work. We are all too drained on our off days, and sleeping at home usually sounds like the best plan.

Some students are traumatised by the criticism and politics in the ward, which leads them to think, “Do I want to work as a nurse after graduation?”

Starting a Full-Time Job

When you start a full-time job after graduation, the shifts will drain you out. Let’s not forget that we have a life outside nursing too. Do not be tied down by work commitments so much that you neglect to live your life as a human being.

We are also brothers, sisters, mums, dads, or even grandparents outside of work. Please focus on family as well. The time lost can never be replaced, only regretted. Never forget about your personal identity.

What is our identity? What are we nurses for? Why are people so dissatisfied with working in this profession? How will people remember us?

Especially in this pandemic, when the workload is overwhelming, and we are all on a sinking boat, we need to pause for a moment and think.

● I am a Nurse, but what else am I?
● What am I passionate about, what do I live for?

We need to put ourselves first and prioritise our mental health instead of mechanically slogging our guts out with no motivation behind it. Nurses need to start thinking about their identity to fulfill themselves. We have been trying our best, but job satisfaction is becoming a rare occurrence during this pandemic.

Final words for my student nurses

Let’s step up during this Covid chaos and give it our all. It is our time to shine; let’s make it a remarkable one.

Remember, we go to work, care for patients, build good rapport with our colleagues and work in teams. It’s our job to leave the world a slightly better place than we found it. This is what success means to us.

Get deeply involved. We’ve got to have a positive impact. After all, we have been pushed to our limits. Covid has taught us lessons that we will remember forever.

Finally, thank you to all my teachers, students, and coworkers for allowing me to see nursing differently. I feel blessed to be part of this fabulous profession. I invite you to be each
other’s wings, to lift each other’s dreams, and never stop learning.

Cheers!
God Bless,
SGNightingales (feat Staffan Stewart)