Looking for inspirational melanated nurses? Having trouble finding bomb nurses that look like you?
Not a problem! I’ve decided to link of the YouTube accounts for some melanated nurses that have given me great inspiration. Comment below if you find more, enjoy!
Nurse Lada (Nurse Practitioner)
Dellexi (CRNA)
NurseMendoza (Travel Nurse)
Jasmine Ghee (ICU Nurse)
Godzdesign (Travel Nurse)
Nurse Mo (Travel Nurse)
Yaya Zoe (Travel Nurse)
I decided to create a YouTube to correspond with this blog to add some versatility and so that you have a face to visualize while I document my struggle. Feel free to subscribe!
I want to be a nurse, but I know I don’t want to be a floor nurse forever………so what do I think I want to do? Hmmm
Brief background…I have a previous bachelor’s degree in Sociology. I love the field of Sociology but it was never a field I specifically wanted to work in and how I ended up in that major is another long story for another day. I say to this to emphasize that going into undergrad, I didn’t really have a set career plan and I had no one to guide me either. Now that I’m back in school I know that mistakes I made last time and I’m making a plan for myself now to encourage and challenge myself but also to keep myself on track.
So here it goes…
The plan is to graduate this December, get a job in an ICU (fingers crossed) and gain experience for two years, be a travel nurse for 2 to 3 years, and then apply to school to be a CRNA or Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. I’m still waiting to finish out my clinical experience in OB before I’m sold on the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner path but after talking to CRNAs and watching a lot of videos about what CRNAs do, I am intrigued and fascinated. I know that CRNA school is far farrrr in the distance from now but having this goal gives me something to strive for. I would love to be able to contribute to the CRNA profession as an experienced nurse and also to diversify the field as an African-American. Not really sure how I will fit a husband and kids in this scenario but I’ll leave that to God #HeGotMe. Anyways these are my dreams, seems kinda daunting from now seeing as I don’t even have a nursing license but hopefully I can look back at this post someday in the future and be proud of the nurse I am and the work I’ve done no matter where I end up.
So I have my first OB exam tomorrow and I’m pooping bricks.
I’m extremely nervous. I’ve finished studying all the content I needed to review for this exam but this is the first time I’m taking a class with this professor and the first test is always nerve wracking for me. And in this 4 week OB class…….yes…..4 WEEKS, we have 2 test, a final, and a HESI (standardized exam). So there is absolutely NO room for error.
This exam covers fetal development, antepartum, intrapartum, and pain management fetal monitoring and this is a the bare minimum. We are still responsible for everything in the book. And this test is worth 25% of our grade. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why people say nursing school is hell so instead of tearing my hair out or crying I’ll just vent to the interweb about my struggles.
I’m going to go back to studying but Lord………….please send up some prayers for tranquility and wisdom. I’ll check in tomorrow to tell you how the exam went.
I’ve started this blog to chronicle my journey through nursing as well as motivate my melanated brothers and sisters and phenomenal people all over the world about the field of nursing. Currently I’m in one year accelerated registered nurse program. I started January of 2016 and should graduated in December of 2016 (fingers crossed). By the grace of God I’ve made it thus far.
I get a lot of inspiration to keep pushing through this program by talking with other nurses and looking at the social media sites of other back nurses. However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. There aren’t many YouTube or Instagram accounts dedicated to this that I could easy access, thus the idea of this blog was born. I’m not sure what else to say but I’ll be sure to check in periodically on my journey to becoming an RN.
This June I took Pediatric Nursing and I am currently taking Obstetrical Nursing. Prior to taking these courses I really thought I would enjoy them because my personality works better with more so with children than adults (I’m very expressive, playful, and I genuinely love children). Fortunately I can say that my intuition was spot on. I enjoy these  course content way more than the content I was learning in medical-surgical nursing and I also enjoyed my clinical experiences more. On the other had, pediatrics was the course that I have performed the worst in by bar. I barely scraped through that class. I’m pretty sure that this is because of how fast paced the course is. Each class is literally 4 weeks 😳. I’ve adjusted my study technique for OB to prevent another close call. I have my first OB exam this week so I’ll just have to wait and see how I perform. I’ll take any spare prayers 😓.
I’ll make a separate blog post about  my clinical experience in both courses at the end of the summer when I have my last break from school (3 weeks hallelujah!). Until then, see ya!
The Black Nurse 