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Nurses Week 2023

To my dear nurses & nurses-to-be: Happy Nurses Week, and thank you for all that you do! It’s nice to get gifts and swag during Nurse’s Week, but I hope you’re appreciated every day!

Update on me: I’m still on orientation at my new hospital. I worked Sunday through Wednesday this week as well as celebrated my daughter’s birthday, so I’ve been busy. For Nurse’s Week, I got to enjoy a goody bag, free breakfast, free drinks & snacks, and I got to experience a mini massage, reiki, and sound bath session at work. At my hospital, they have a nurse’s MONTH! I’m hoping to take advantage of the fun or relaxing activities they have to offer beyond this week…not sure what that is yet.

Throughout social media, I’ve seen some funny or questionable gifts for nurses in celebration of nurses week…Even if you don’t get the best gifts or activities for Nurse’s Week, I hope you are happy in what you do and feel properly compensated for your nursing role. I myself have high and low days, but am overall happy with my decision to be a second-career nurse! Good luck on your journey!

Welcome to “The Mature Student Nurse”!

I created “The Mature Student Nurse” because I found it complex to navigate the journey of becoming a second-career nurse. I had worked for many years as an engineer and scientist before deciding to pursue Nursing as a career change. While I had years of discernment and thought about changing careers before, I had no single resource to guide me in how to become a nurse let alone how to apply and get into nursing schools once I decided to make that leap into Nursing. I had not been in school for many years and had no guidance counselor to turn to for advice; I had to advocate for myself and figure things out on my own. I am a wife and mother and an only child to aging parents – I had to carefully consider how my choices would affect my family. Ultimately, my family has been very supportive, and I couldn’t have pursued this career change without them.
In 2018, I completed thirteen pre-requisites, began volunteering at a hospital, and applied to various accelerated Nursing programs. I have been accepted into a couple programs so far, and I hope to hear from the rest this Spring! I plan to start a Nursing program Spring/Summer 2019.
Throughout my journey, I frequently thought about how it might be helpful to others to share what I’ve learned. While I know it won’t be perfect, I wanted to take a first step to share what I know with others. To quote Robert Schuller: “It’s better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly”.
If you are an aspiring nurse, I hope this site inspires you or that you’re able to find something useful for you here. It is my privilege to offer some encouragement or guidance to others on a similar path.  Good luck to you on your journey!

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