Nursing students Nicole Dickinson and Josiah Tuch.
National Nurses Week
Sponsored by the American Nurses Association, it runs from May 6 until May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birth date. May 8 is designated as National Student Nurses Day.
Heading into the full-time world of nursing is “very daunting” by itself, said Nicole Dickinson, but the jitters ratchet up with the prospect of launching a career in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Becoming a nurse in general is very daunting but becoming a nurse during a pandemic adds a sprinkle more of anxiety,” said Dickinson, who graduated this month from the School of Nursing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
“Knowing that we are now going to be the sole provider of our patients causes a little nervousness on its own,” she said.
Despite facing the double-barreled angst of a new career and the coronavirus, UTC nursing graduates remain steadfast that they’ve chosen the right career. And they’re ready to get to it.
“We have been trained how to protect ourselves and that’s what I will do,” said Josiah Tuch, who’s also a member of the Army ROTC at UTC.
“We know the sacrifices we need to make—especially for myself as an Army officer—and I don’t think this challenge has turned me off in the slightest. We will get through it and I’m always ready for a challenge and hard work,” he said. “I think it reinforces the pride that we have in what we do and equally humbles us through its challenges.”
Laurel Rhyne, a lecturer in the School of Nursing, also is a clinical instructor who works with senior nursing students as they care for hospitalized patients who are acutely and/or critically ill. Her advice for graduating seniors focuses on their personal commitment.
“Be kind, hold fast to each other and their new work families, be there for each other, be there for their patients and families and to trust in their training. They will be joining the ranks of heroes,” she said.
Ana Rodas, who graduated from the UTC School of Nursing in December and now works at Erlanger Hospital in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit, says the school “taught me how to provide top-notch and quality care to my patients,”
“I learned about it in our curriculum but also saw it among our professors. I had some amazing professors that mentored me, taught me what it looked like to care for others and rooted for me to finish school. Their wisdom and knowledge are still a part in shaping my nursing practice,” Rodas says.
Tim Lott, current president of the UTC Student Nurses Association, said the pandemic provides undeniable evidence that nurses are indispensable.
“Personally, this situation reinforces for me the choice to join the front lines of health care because it is more evident now than ever how much of a difference a nurse can make in the lives of people who many times find themselves at one of their lowest points, both physically, emotionally and mentally,” he said.
Lessons in the School of Nursing have prepared students to step confidently away from the University and into whatever lays ahead, Lott said.
“The nursing program is a very academically, mentally and emotionally challenging program,” he said, “and many of us have been counting down the days and hours to graduation for over a year.”
