To help celebrate International Nurse’s Day on May 12, The Dialog has interviewed Chiara Cuscianna, a graduate from the collaborative Ryerson-GBC nursing program and a current Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and cosmetics nurse. 

Even at the best of times, nursing can be stressful. And over the past year, as COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on hospitals, care homes and medical centres around the world, nurses have been central to aiding us through the pandemic.

But while aspiring nurses may be feeling as anxious as ever about the future, Cuscianna does have 11 tips to help students achieve their goals:   

1.) Try to stick it out
Nursing can be a stressful program of study, as plenty of students are trying to balance their placements and their school schedule. However, Cuscianna emphasizes that a student can find their interests, outside of inpatient care, through different opportunities. “I would say, stick it out because I know it is very hard, but at the end of the day, you have a lot of opportunities and even though you may be feeling overwhelmed, there are more than just acute hospital job opportunities.” 

2.) Plenty of options exist within the nursing field
There are more opportunities available other than bedside care-related jobs. Other than cosmetics nursing, options in outpatient care, mental health facilities, and clinics also exist. 

3.) Having a support group is important
In nursing school, Cuscianna did emphasize her frustrations given the heavy workload and difficult courses. However, she says that having someone willing to offer a shoulder to lean on is important for her to complete the program. “If you have a hard time, talk to somebody about it, especially to somebody who has gone through it,” Cuscianna says.

Other than emotional support, having a friends group for academic support is also vital. “My hardest course was research, and I just found someone who was good at it and I asked them for help,” said Cuscianna. In this case, completing school assignments will be less tedious than expected. 

4.) Choose a placement outside of your comfort zone
In order to learn the procedures and apply theoretical techniques, Cuscianna emphasizes that choosing a placement that is outside of one’s comfort zone is crucial. For her, she perceived it as the surgical or general medicine floor, and even was placed in the ICU. “You would get the most experience that way,” Cuscianna said. “Go for what scares you and something you know the least of.” 

5.) Explore every opportunity through job searches and networking
A simple job search can result in hundreds of possibilities. For Cuscianna, she searched for different jobs within the cosmetics field and consulted a plastic surgeon. However, after the initial job search, Cuscianna says that networking is the next most important step. 

“For students interested in outpatient care, they should just approach an outpatient clinic, family doctor’s practice and ask if there are any opportunities there for future nurses or anything like that,” said Cuscianna. “If you think about it, these big corporations have some kind of nursing staff on hand, so just reach out and ask for help.” Networking will open more opportunities for the student to experiment different tasks and see what they like.

6.) Float nurse positions allow students to utilize their skills and explore their interests. 

Since there are so many opportunities within the nursing field which students may not be aware of, float nursing positions will allow students to experiment different aspects within the profession. However, Cuscianna still suggests that networking is important for a student to determine their interest: “I would definitely reach out to different kinds of nurses and see what their life is like.” 

7.) Volunteering your time to help other students will be beneficial for your future path.
Similar to any other school-related experience, extracurriculars are important for obtaining new skills within the nursing profession. For Cuscianna, she decided to volunteer in another country. “I did volunteer medical missions, so I took time off work and went to go nurse in different countries,” said Cuscianna. “Maybe it’s not something you need to commit to long term, but you can take a short period of time to help others.” 

8.) Find an outlet to destress and manage your time well.
When school work starts to take a toll on a person’s body, Cuscianna says that finding a hobby will help a student relax. “I would say you have to have an outlet that works for you to destress, whether that is going to the gym or doing yoga, or even cooking,” said Cuscianna. For Cuscianna, her outlet was going to the gym, which she scheduled accordingly. “You have to make time for it or you go nuts, especially in nursing.” 

9.) Always write down your goals to keep track of progress

Cuscianna found that writing goals is effective in terms of measuring progress. “I think by writing it down, I can see a deadline,” said Cuscianna. “If you didn’t reach it by that deadline, you can keep track and see what things went well and what things went wrong and keep on trying.” 

10.) Building a stronger mindset means achieving small goals first
Cuscianna says that small goals should be first written down before any long-term goals, in order to motivate a student. “Honestly, once you start crossing things off your list, you want to keep doing it,” said Cuscianna. “Just start making small goals and once you start achieving those, you can easily figure out your bigger goals.” 

11.) Students in placements should realize how strong they are 

Working on the front lines is not easy for any healthcare professional or student. “It’s literally one of the hardest things people are going through right now,” said Cuscianna. Therefore, students should keep in mind that if “they can make it through this, they can come out stronger.” “The vision at the end of the tunnel matters,” says Cuscianna.