I should work for Buzzfeed: 30 Signs You're a Nursing Student

Hey, what's up? My name is Perpetually Late! Would you like to see a blog post? Yeah?
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Get it? No? Meh, my sense of humor doesn't always translate well online. The moral of the story is I'm late like always and I'm pretty sure I forgot a post or two somewhere along the way. Are you really late though if you're always late? I mean, eventually your friends and family just learn to always count on you being there 15 minutes after you say you will, so it's pretty much the same as being on time, right?

Anyways it's the most maddening, hectic, exciting, weird time of the year! Back to school. Parents are dancing a jig at 9 AM in their empty houses and kids are still excited about their wicked cool Batman lunchbox. But what about those of us in upper division professional programs? Not psyched and already praying for Christmas Break. I was thinking about this distinction (between Kindergarten through our first couple years of undergrad) and I thought to myself, "Self, why is that?" and then I was like, "Excellent question. Because fuck nursing school, that's why."

Yes, it is exciting to be moving into adult life with so much hope and promise, but this last hurdle is a particularly excruciating one. And in the spirit of a Buzzfeed journalist, I'd like to explain why:

1. When you get accepted and you're like, "Shit, I actually have to do this now."



2. When your parents and relatives ask you if you're enjoying nursing school you just pause...



3. You hear this question: "If my (insert body part) is (insert verb or injury) is that bad/fatal/indicative of a serious ailment?" More and more from friends and family as you go through your program, and this is generally your reaction...

4. You make this face when your clinical instructor asks if you heard that irregular heart sound...


5. But when they turn around...



6. Learning to give injections was one of the most exhilarating and terrifying times in your life because you finally felt like you were becoming a real nurse



7. Until you volunteered to help with an immunization clinic, and you started to feel like this when you had to give one...



8. Everyone did this before their first skills check off...



9. But made this face after your first semester when you saw new students doing the same thing



10. You neglected your health while simultaneously learning how to take care of others' health



11. But it's OK because you're totally on top of that shit... as soon as you graduate



12. Finals week saw some potentially dangerous experimentation with caffeine



13. You had at least one person in your cohort who acted like this



And/Or this...



14. And irritated the fuck out of everyone else





15. Getting creepy while practicing assessment on your classmates was often the funniest part of your week...





16. But none of your friends in other majors "get" your funny nursing school stories
'

17. Your friends and significant other also don't "get" how much time nursing school takes up, even when you're not in class


18. Nothing chaps your ass worse than having more confusing tests, and a tougher grading scale

19. How you feel when med students try to act like they're better than you...



20. You forget sometimes that describing disgusting stories over a meal is not entirely appropriate



21. We have to do another care plan?!?!



22. Having to learn specific ways to ask a question so you can get the health information you want from a patient can be fracking frustrating



23. When friends in other majors complain about having two exams in a week...



24. When a friend or acquaintance majoring in Communications starts complaining about how "hard" their course load is...



25. Basically this is one of the most stressful times in your life...



26. But you've developed your own methods of coping...





27. Most of the time you feel like no one has any fucking clue about what's going on in class, especially the professors



28. And you have at least one of these moments... a week


29. This is when you feel like you're gonna graduate...



30. But stay calm my friend because there is a light at the end of the tunnel... I hope





P.S. I didn't own/make/generate/copyright any of these memes or GIFs. I'm not that tech savvy and if you thought I was you're a chump.