Because of the nursing shortage and growing demand for health care, most nursing graduates aren’t questioning their ability to find a job. More likely, they’re wondering whether they can make the transition from student to professional nurse in today’s demanding health care arena. Six new nurses say they can. Here’s what they’ve learned in their first year of practice.

Blake Green
A social worker, Blake Green, RN, BSN, BSW, was working as a discharge planner in an intensive care unit in Alabama.

“I had never been exposed to a hospital setting before, and was drawn to the clinical side of helping people. Nurses were doing the nitty-gritty stuff,” he said.

When Green considered nursing opportunities, he aimed for the ICU. “More male nurses work there — maybe it’s the adrenaline rush or all the machines and gadgets,” he joked.

Still, it took him a year after orientation to get comfortable in his job at Atlanta Medical Center. “You’re always wondering, ‘What are they going to give me today and can I handle it’?” he said.

A leadership internship let him explore his future workplace. Talking to department heads about their management styles helped him make a smoother transition.

“As a new recruit with no experience, you have no bargaining power for compensation, so bargain for better training,” Green said. Before being persuaded by signing bonuses and education loan reimbursements, he advises students to talk to the nurses
they’ll be working with, and listen to their experiences.

“It’s critical that you find a working environment where you’ll be comfortable, one where there’s an emphasis on teaching and supporting new staff with orientation and mentoring,” Green said.

Green knew he had received a good education at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University, but still had plenty to learn. A multigenerational work force was a great benefit.

“Older nurses have a wealth of information and it doesn’t take long to pinpoint who to go to when you need help,” he said.

Green also has been reading about intensive care. The education doesn’t stop once you’re working, he said. “Nursing school prepares you to be a generalist, now I’m learning about my specialty.”

Green expected that female patients might be uncomfortable with a male nurse, but hasn’t found that to be the case.

“Seeing nurses in action changed my perspective about this profession and I have absolutely no second thoughts,” he said.

Kelly Moynes
Kelly Moynes, RN, BSN, who took “an indirect path to nursing,” now claims to be the profession’s most enthusiastic convert. With a degree in psychology and Japanese, she taught English in Japan and India. Later, a research job at the Emory Medical School psychiatry department sent her to visit a psychiatric unit at Grady Hospital.

“The nurses there had such a tremendous level of compassion and connection with their patients. That’s when I felt called to be a nurse,” she said.

She graduated last May from the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University and took a part-time position in a GI med-surg unit at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, while enrolling in the Emory’s joint family nurse practitioner/nurse midwife master’s degree program.

“I wanted to put in my time as a bedside nurse and I’m loving it,” she said.

She felt prepared intellectually, but needed more practice with hands-on clinical skills.

“I thought I was going to kill someone every day — you’re so afraid of hurting people,” she said. “Now I know that people know I care about them, even when I make mistakes.”

Good preceptors and a gradually increasing patient load helped her build confidence.

“My time-management skills have increased tenfold and a veteran nurse helped me insert my first nasal gastric tube. She could have done it quickly herself, but she let me try. I was beaming the rest of the day,” Moynes said.

Getting so much help from others, she’s learned to “fill the favor well. You’re not done if someone else is busting her butt,” she said, “You’re a team, so even if you’re overwhelmed, you stop and help someone who needs it.”

After a year of nursing, Moynes feels “ridiculously blessed.” As a midwifery student, she’s learning how to bring babies into the world. At the hospital, she helps people through serious illness. “It’s such an honor to be part of people’s lives and to be doing vital and useful work,” she said. “That’s why I chose nursing — to make a difference.”

Salve Jones
Switching from a business career to nursing, Salve Jones, RN, interned for a year on a surgical floor during nursing school. She never had plans to work in ICU, but that was the job she was offered after graduation from Kennesaw State University’s WellStar School of Nursing.

“I was so scared, but they were very encouraging, so I took it because I thought I’d learn the most from this unit,” Jones said. It didn’t take long to start learning. Two codes — when a patient quits breathing — in the first week at Well- Star Cobb Hospital in Austell left Jones feeling overwhelmed. “I was close to quitting after six weeks, but wonderful preceptors and mentors kept me going.”

Jones learned that nursing school had prepared her well. “Whatever you learn in college, you really do bring to your work,” she said.

The hardest part was treating patients who didn’t get well. “In the beginning, you wonder if you did enough. Later, you realize you’re not God, you just work hard and do your best.”

Liking the challenge and her helpful team, Jones has decided to stay in the ICU.

“The fear never goes away, because there are always new skills and technology to learn,” she said. “I tell new nurses to take a chance. Don’t be afraid to try something new.”

Even on her worst days in the ICU, Jones leaves knowing “I did a good thing. I helped someone today.”

Klare Lacy
Not satisfied with her career in journalism/marketing, Klare Lacy, RN, BSN, entered Kennesaw State University’s 18-month fast-track nursing program.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, very stressful and competitive,” she said. “My transition to work was really good, because of a wonderful nurse who showed me the ropes and other nurses who helped me out. “Still, there’s a big difference between visiting a hospital in class and being an employee.”

Working as a nursing technician during school improved her skills and understanding of the system.

“One of the challenges in nursing is learning how to be a manager, to give instructions and delegate tasks, often to people older than you. Starting at the bottom as a tech taught me a lot about respecting fellow workers,” she said.

Lacy chose oncology at Northside Hospital in Atlanta because she thought it would use all her clinical and psychological skills and allow her to work with patients and their families.

“People with cancer have a different outlook on life. For me, it’s inspiring,” she said.

Is she glad she made the switch? “Definitely!” she said. “I have a lot more freedom working three days a week, and a lot more satisfaction. There are hard days, but I feel like I’ve spent my day helping people.”

Emily Mason
The sights, smells and experiences of Emily Mason’s first job were “a reality shock. It took six months for my butterflies to leave because your clinical time in school is so small, and you find that there is so much you take on as a nurse. Fortunately, I had excellent mentors,” said Mason, RN, BSN.

Wanting a career in international public health, Mason had planned to get her master’s degree in public health policy, but she noticed that nurses were on the front lines.

“Nurses have such an important skill set and it’s been a real gift realizing I like bedside nursing. I’ve found my niche,” she said.

Mason used an internship to solidify her skills and gain more exposure to the hospital setting, with its policies and politics. “It’s important to ask about the staff mix where you’ll work,” she said.

One of the reasons she chose to work at the gynecology/urology med-surg unit at Emory University Hospital was the number of veteran nurses there.

“They’ve been fantastic role models, and I always feel like there’s someone to cover my back,” Mason said.

Mason has learned to chart as she goes and how to talk to anyone about anything, yet respect the privacy of her patients.

Hearing veteran nurses’ stories makes her realize how far nursing has come.

“My skills are portable — I can go anywhere in the world and get a job and there are so many opportunities and fields to explore. No limits!” she said.

Her advice to new grads: “There will be days when you don’t feel prepared and wake up with a knot in your stomach. Just show up.”

Suzanne Kingsley
Suzanne Kingsley, BSN, first thought about being a nurse as she sat in the NICU for two months with her newborn son (now 12). Impressed with her patience and caring, doctors would ask why she wasn’t a nurse.

“I didn’t think I could handle it emotionally,” said the former accountant. But the thought persisted, so she went back to school at Kennesaw State University seeking a second career.

“I worked as a tech for three years, but still never understood the responsibility nurses have,” she said.

At the newborn nursery at Piedmont Hospital, she cares for eight to 12 babies and their anxious parents during a 12- hour shift.

“You spend your first year getting organized and making sure all procedures are done properly . . . and the paperwork!” she said.

As an accountant, she could usually leave tasks until the next day, but at the hospital, she charts after hours rather than leave work undone for the next shift to do.

Kingsley has been surprised at how well college prepared her. “That knowledge about disease processes does pop into your head at just the right time.”

She also has found that she loves nursing. “As an accountant, I did the same thing over and over again. When I can teach new parents something about their baby, I know I’m making a difference,” she said.

She’s the first new nurse to receive three letters of commendation from the hospital, as a result of glowing patient reports.

“To have patients think that highly of me is very rewarding. I’ve learned that anything is possible at any age, if you’re willing to work hard enough at it,” she said.