Q&A: “I can’t stop stressing about my nursing future!”

I am a senior in nursing school–there is one semester left until I graduate. I have not been sleeping thinking of all the things and responsibilities that are in my near future.

I really want to be an ER nurse, but I feel like there are too many things to think about, like finishing the semester, NCLEX, resume building, job searching. I feel like I’m so far away from all of it and I’ll never get there. Ah!

Sincerely,

S.O.S.

Hi S.O.S.,

Welcome to the Age of Anxiety! Just recently on my subway commute, I had an epiphany: I should become a nurse practitioner! I would run my own practice. I would change the health of every single patient who came to my office. Literally, S.O.S, in that 30-minute subway ride, I had become this person. The mind is a very powerful thing.

I’ve had enough experience to know that these tricks of the mind are to be taken with a grain of salt. I may have dreamed that particular day of being a nurse practitioner, but tomorrow my mind may wander on a different path. I may imagine myself as an actress or a chef or (insert the professional of your choice here), all of which will produce the same sense of wonder.

Your dilemma is a common one, S.O.S. Please don’t “wonder off” too far into the future. There is no real substance there. You still have one semester left–focus on learning. Don’t waste these last classes rummaging around your mind as a nurse you have not yet become. One day at a time.

The ER isn’t going anywhere. Once you start working, you’ve got a long road ahead. Really, S.O.S., things fall into place regardless of how much time we spend time worrying about them. Plus, who knows, maybe next week the ICU will seem more enticing?

The best of times is now,

Nurse MER

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