This is a guest blog post from Leslie Wheeler, a student at Marian University in the accelerated BSN program in Indianapolis, IN. Her anticipated graduation date is May 2014.
Oh, boy, is this semester going fast! We've finished our lab and now, next week, we start clinicals in the hospital. I must admit I haven't been nervous...until now. Live patients and actually being on the floor in the hospital - what will it be like in the REAL world?
When it comes to nursing, I feel like this is what I was meant to do. I've spent my whole working career doing jobs that I didn't really like. I've had jobs where I made lots of money, and I've worked for minimum wage, but I never felt like I was really contributing to society. Now, I'm in a position where I can actually give back. I can help people who are ill to recover. I also look forward to meeting new people and seeing how hospitals work internally.
I've spent so much time being "the family" at hospitals that it will be interesting to see medicine from the other side of the coin. I look forward to helping patients on their road to wellness and also to just being a voice, an advocate, for the patients whose care is entrusted to me.
That's one thing I find so special about Marian University. Always, always at the core of the program is the idea of Franciscan values. The values are responsible stewardship, peace and justice, reconciliation, and dignity of the individual. The most important value to me is reconciliation because Marian University is really giving me a second chance. We believe that everyone deserves a second chance, and I so much appreciate Marian University for affording me the opportunity to give back the things that have been so readily given to me.