Hi fellow Females of Filadelphia readers 🌻 Hope everyone is staying safe and practicing self-care. I am so excited for today’s guest, Sydney, because not only is she my friend, but she’s also a first-year nurse working at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia during this crazy time. As someone who is scared of needles, I can’t imagine being a nurse during a normal period, let alone this Covid-19 pandemic. But Sydney has been putting on her mask and heading to work every day while most of us get to stay inside. Before I say much more, let’s get into the interview…
Journey to Become a Nurse
V: Thanks for joining me Syd! Before I ask some of the deeper questions, tell the audience a bit about yourself! Where did you graduate from and what’s your official degree?
Sydney: Hi, yes, so I graduated from Temple University and my official degree is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
V: From what I understand after you graduate with your degree you have to become a Registered Nurse. What does that process look like?
Sydney: Yes, so I’m a RN [registered nurse], but you can also choose to be an LPN, etc. I did the four year track for the Bachelor’s degree. You prepare for the NCLEX, National Council Licensure Examination, all four years and take it after you graduate. It’s a long process, though, because the state has to approve you and send you a number before you can even schedule the exam. And then the exam is stressful because there can be as little as 75 questions or over 200 questions, adjusting to how well you’re doing.
V: Oh wow that does sound stressful 😲! But I feel as though a lot of people that go into nursing really have a passion for it so I’m sure it’s worth it. What made you go into nursing?
Sydney: Yeah I feel like everyone’s answer is usually that they want to help people. For me, specifically, I had a really bad concussion my sophomore year of high school and I was out for 6 months because I was getting really bad headaches and had short-term memory loss. I was in and out of doctor’s offices for awhile. After being in the healthcare system for so long, I became more interested in the healthcare field.
My senior year of high school I joined this program at my school called the Emerging Health Program, where I was able to take intro science and nursing courses at a local college. Also, I shadowed healthcare professionals once a week, anything from surgeons to specialists. That’s when I really knew I wanted to go into nursing and applied to all the college nursing programs.
Changes to Nursing Role
V: That’s amazing that you knew so early on and got some of those fundamental courses in high school. I feel like so many college students change majors frequently. So after you got the degree, what did your first job look like (pre-pandemic)?
Sydney: I actually have a pretty unusual job for a first year nurse because I’m at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital but in the neurology sector so technically I work for Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience. I work in the PACU, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, so I get all the patients, of all ages, coming from surgeries. The patients usually only stay in the PACU anywhere from 1 hour to 6 hours because they can either go home or get admitted. My main job is to assess the patients and monitor for any complications such as pain, nausea or even stroke symptoms.
V: Oh my yeah that definitely sounds different to what I’ve heard other first year nurses going into. How would you say that role has changed since Covid-19?
Sydney: Yes! So I’m not even doing my normal job currently because elective surgeries- surgeries where the patient willingly comes in to get it done- got cancelled a few weeks ago, which is a lot of the surgeries our patients had. I got asked to do a new job when that happened since a lot of our work had been cut back. My new job consisted of screening patients and some visitors [most visitors are now prohibited from entering the hospital] in the hospital lobby, which then evolved to handing out masks and getting all visitors to wash their hands.
Now more recently, I’ve been working more behind the scenes for this situation, by helping physicians place Covid-19 patients from outside hospitals and the emergency department. If a surge occurs they may switch my role again, but we really don’t know what’s going to happen. I never know what I’m going to walk into every day.
Advice
V: Wow so you have to learn entirely new roles with every change that comes with the virus. This is a great example of the uncertainty we are in right now. I know lots of nurses have been telling people to stay in to avoid more uncertainty and help flatten the curve, do you have any additional advice, from your perspective, for people reading this?
Sydney: Yes we were actually talking about this at work and we think the stay at home order has helped slow the curve in Pennsylvania, so I think everyone should continue doing that because it’s helping more than they think. Additionally, when you’re out in public you should be wearing a mask even if it’s homemade, but be careful about wearing gloves in public because it can spread germs even more if you’re cross contaminating.
Lastly, I would tell people not to obsess over the numbers they see on the news because there can always be inaccuracies, even with the tests, and to really stick with reliable sources to avoid more anxiety. Really take control of what you can control because a lot of this situation is uncontrollable: wash your hands, stay inside, call your loved ones and find new things that make you happy.
V: That’s amazing advice. Everyone really has to find ways to adapt to this new (hopefully temporary) normal and take advantage of the things they can still do. Thank you so much Syd for doing this interview between your long shifts to give your side of the story.
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