"ZERO WEEK"

Lesson #1: There are some things in life that you can never be fully prepared for.

In the Air Force, when you first arrive on base you are greeted by screaming, angry drill sergeants.  You get off the bus in a foreign place, surrounded by strangers with blank confused stares and terrified faces.  You have no earthly clue what is going on or what the next step should be.  They call this week "zero week" and it is the week dreaded by all trainees entering the military. 

The first week of nursing school is EASILY comparable.

 I once conducted an interview with Ms. Schneider, our level one classroom instructor for nursing foundations, and asked her for one piece of advice for level 1 students just entering the program.  She said, "Don't listen to the horror stories of nursing school.  Just take one day at a time."  She was absolutely right.  Don't listen to the horror stories, they are lies.  It is FAR worse than anyone could ever describe. 

Seriously though, the first week of nursing school could be described in nearly the same fashion as hell.

What do you mean we have a test next week?  We haven't even had a lecture yet! And what is this class I have to attend for an additional 3 hours that isn't even listed on my schedule?  I am going to be up here 5 days a week? And a dress code?  No nail polish, or jewelery or colorful socks? Khakis and polos? Gross.

For someone like me, with no medical background or history, the first week was a debacle. Complete and utter chaos.  It has taken me 27 years to learn the English language and now all of a sudden I'm supposed to know the meaning of PRN and NPO?  Those aren't even words....and come to find out, the letters don't even make sense for what they stand for. 

You have no idea how to take notes, you feel like you have to write down every.single.detail that comes from your instructors mouth, you can't keep up, they use big words that you have no idea the meaning of, your hand cramps when you write, and at the end of it, you look to your new best friend on the right or left of you and realize that neither one of you have a clue what's going on.  I believe dumbfounded was a word created just for the way a "zero week" student nurse feels for the first 7 days of school. 

Lets not talk about the load of crap you are now responsible for toting around.  Approximately seven books, a computer, a purse, a lunch box,  a calendar, a skills kit bag, stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, pen light and a phone.  Oh, and you have 2 feet of table top space to organize your belongings.

If you're lucky, your school won't have difficulty with the thermostat, but if you're at Kilgore College you'll either leave the classroom as an ice cube or with pit stains.

I never knew it was possible to sit in a chair for 8 hours a day and leave feeling exhausted...like you could sleep for the next year exhausted.  Your brain never stops, they don't let it.  They bombard you with foreign concepts and tell you that from this point forward you are to critically think.  By the end of the first week, you will honestly consider rethinking your decision to become a nurse.

But stick with it, because even though there isn't a single thing anyone could say or do to prepare you for that first week, it gets better.

Better, not easier.