Because I failed bio consistently throughout high school, I figured there was no better lecture to run into than one of the first for nursing 102; and I was very pleasantly surprised by what I walked into.
The class size was massive, and with a diverse range of ages it was refreshing to see so many different people in a lecture hall, rather than the same idiot teenagers I’m used to. They jumped straight into discussing the elements of an emergency department assessment, and while it probably helps that I’ve never been to the emergency room, I can’t believe how much analysis and quick thinking goes into diagnosing someone on the spot.
The discussion in class was thorough, addressing each element of a medical assessment with care and consideration, as well as encouraging introspection and discussion amongst the students. I would never have thought to take personal circumstances, family, or financial constraints into mind when discussing symptoms with a patient; so the content I learnt gave me huge respect for the nurses that operate our hospitals. The class had absolutely nothing mentioned about group work, which makes sense, but I wonder if there’s much working together done in labs or other classes. If there isn’t, I may be converted out of arts into science just because they don’t have to work together constantly.
One thing that really caught me off guard, was that at least half the class was insanely distracted, or only taking short notes on their computer. Maybe I’m just too ADHD for science classes, but I was taking every note possible, and I am doing nothing even remotely related to nursing (and hopefully never will). Everyone was also reasonably well dressed, which was a far cry from my morning lecture that day, where everyone was bleary-eyed and mostly in pyjama pants.
Unfortunately, the nursing student aesthetic I’m used to seeing across social media was well and truly lived up to- there was a lot of beige, baby pink and pastel highlighter around the room from what I saw. Also, way too many Macbooks. Overall, an interesting and eye opening experience, and I now admire people that choose to take on a medical career. It was fun to go along and have a look around, but I’ll stick with my extremely vague arts papers instead.
Just PLEASE pay attention, first year nurses. You’re scaring me a little bit with how lax you are.
