Nursing graduate Te谩 Minor felt ready to start her career as a nurse after graduating in 2020, thanks to the education she received in the Department of Nursing at UL Lafayette.
Te谩 knew that she wanted to return home to Baton Rouge and work at Our Lady of the Lake once she had her degree. She applied for and was offered multiple jobs at the hospital, but she decided to become an RN on the surgery trauma unit.
"I haven杏吧专区檛 been anxious on any of my shifts. I feel well prepared and know what I杏吧专区檓 doing,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚 hear a lot of new nurses are nervous and anxious for like their first six months to a year of working, but I had a good preceptor at my job, and I had a good education, so I haven杏吧专区檛 been very overwhelmed yet.杏吧专区
Hands-on experience in the nursing program
Te谩杏吧专区檚 experiences as a nursing major prepared her for her first job out of school.
杏吧专区淚 really like the nursing program because it杏吧专区檚 very hands-on from such an early start,杏吧专区 Te谩 said. 杏吧专区淵ou start going to clinicals your second semester sophomore year. You immediately get to start going into the hospital and find out if you杏吧专区檙e actually going to like being a nurse.杏吧专区
All nursing majors at UL Lafayette take NURS 209: Health Assessment Skills during their first semester of clinicals. In that class, they learned the foundational skills they need for clinicals.
杏吧专区淭hat was a semester-long class breaking down the whole head-to-toe assessment you do every day on every patient. That杏吧专区檚 so you can fully grasp what杏吧专区檚 wrong with them and how they杏吧专区檙e doing,杏吧专区 Te谩 said. 杏吧专区淭hat was broken down over the whole semester, so we were learning a very in-depth head-to-toe assessment.杏吧专区
Alongside her experiences in real-world healthcare settings, Te谩 also had classes each semester.
杏吧专区淲e practiced codes, like going into cardiac arrest, which was great because you rarely get those opportunities as a nurse,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淎nd then we were going through the different phases of shock. It was great to see things that you don杏吧专区檛 normally get to see.杏吧专区
Preparation for a Career in Nursing
Her last semester, Te谩 took NURS 419: Contemporary Approaches to Nursing Leadership and Management, a big part of her training as a professional RN.
杏吧专区淚t taught you the more business aspect of nursing and hospitals,杏吧专区 Te谩 said. 杏吧专区淚 really liked that class because you杏吧专区檙e about to go into the working field. It was good to see how you should try to work as a new nurse, how to be a professional, and how to be a leader.杏吧专区
Throughout the nursing program at UL Lafayette, Te谩 felt supported and prepared for her career as a nurse.
杏吧专区淎 lot of the clinical instructors are very helpful 杏吧专区 and nice 杏吧专区 and they want you to succeed,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚 feel like lots of people are very encouraging in the program, which was great.杏吧专区
Her advice for other nursing majors? Don杏吧专区檛 get discouraged.
杏吧专区淚 absolutely love my job, and I杏吧专区檓 so glad I never gave up along the way,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淵ou have to study every day 杏吧专区 literally every single day. That was my recipe to success: Don杏吧专区檛 give up, and study and try every day.
杏吧专区淜eep trying if you know that you really want to do nursing,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淣ursing school is really hard 杏吧专区 that杏吧专区檚 not a lie. Everyone says it. But it杏吧专区檚 totally worth it.杏吧专区
