Making it (and excelling) in nursing

Nigawas na, I think it was yesterday, ang results sa Nursing Licensure Examination last June. Congratulations to all the new RNs!!!

Sadly, no one from our school made it to the top 10 (in the previous NLE, 2 of our graduates managed to land in the 8th and 9th place). Surprisingly, 4 of those in the top 10 came from Southwestern University! Dili man nga wala tay bilib sa ato mga friends in SWU, but it's quite a surprise since it's been a while, I think, that they garnered top spots in the board exams. Congratulations to you all! :) As expected, some of the topnotchers came from Cebu Doctors' University, Velez College, and Cebu Normal University. I didn't see anyone from Ateneo de Davao, or Silliman... I think the Silliman graduates didn't take the board last June...

A friend asked me this afternoon if naga-aim ba pud ko nga maka-top inig board namo puhon... hahaha... as they say, char! Layo ra sa tinuod, pero kinsa ba dili ganahan ana di ba? Pero realistically, lisud naman gali ang makapasa, ang maka-top pa kaha? This guy we know who took the NLE, he graduated Cum Laude, but he didn't make it to the top. There are probably many factors to consider why some people make it to the top and why some don't. Of course, innate intelligence is one, then of course, hard work during those years you are studying, and then there's the time you spend preparing for the NLE. Some take it a couple of months after graduation. Some wait for many months and review intensively.

Well, I don't have innate intelligence, although I could work really, really, really hard. Then, I can review for 8 or 9 months... hehehe.

The girl who topped the board last year is now our clinical instructor, and a classmate of mine asked her about her "secret formula"... hehehe. She merely said that she has always been a "naning" since she was a student. She would always read, read, and read. It is said that she has read two volumes of a Medical-Surgical book (cover to cover, I guess). I don't know if that's a significant feat. She would opt to stay at home to study than to go out with friends to make suroy-suroy.

I think that's one significant characteristic of someone who has successfully become a knowledgeable and skilled nurse (of course, all nurses are knowledgeable and skilled, but others are exceptionally good in their profession) -- he or she always reads and reads. Reading man gud, I think, trains the mind to think critically. And, I think, in nursing, "all that is needed" (not to make it sound easy, of course!) is for you to master those concepts and principles about health and wellness, illness and disease. "All that is needed" is for us to be more familiar with those concepts, those "frameworks" that make up the multifacted discipline that is nursing, and we can more easily understand, appreciate, and remember the great body of knowledge that make up the science and art of nursing.

It remains to be seen if my theory is correct hehe.