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New perspectives

Nurses new to profession reflect on first months on the job during COVID-19

SARA ERICSSON FEATURES Sara.ericsson @saltwire.com

If there were a nightmare year to start a new job, this may have been it. It certainly doesn’t sound like a dream to start work during a global pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped many young professionals from embarking on new careers.

For some, that career has been within health care and, more specifically, nursing. New nurses in Nova Scotia have experienced a final school year and first year on the job like no other, but have learned a lot because of it.

This cohort includes Madison Brow, who says this year has been full of challenges and surprises.

“It is always scary starting a new job, especially one where others are relying on you to care for them during their most vulnerable times. I feel empowered though, seeing how everyone as a community has come together during these challenging times,” she says.

COPING WITH COVID-19

Finishing school either right before or during the COVID19 pandemic was no easy feat for these nurses. Miriam Macewan, who’s just graduated, says her final months in school were incredibly overwhelming but left her more prepared for the job than she’d perhaps realized.

“I feel a lot more prepared that I thought I would, given everything, because we had those six months of clinical practice. That time meant

I got to see what it’s like to work as a nurse,” she says.

Brow’s degree started before the pandemic, which meant it was during her third year when whisperings of new virus began. Then COVID-19 began spreading and impacting events and workplaces, including the cancellation of Brow’s clinical placement.

It was temporarily stressful, but she says she too realized she was more prepared than she’d first thought.

“The pandemic has taught me the importance of collaboration and communication between team members, empathy and having a strong support system. It makes me feel proud that I chose this career path as I know I’ll be making a difference and helping to keep others safe,” she says.

Brae Greencorn was hired as a new nursing graduate at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow. She’ll be re-taking her registered nursing exam soon and says her career goals remain the same despite this year looking very different than she’d expected.

“They remind you in school to always be prepared and to put your best foot forward, regardless of the circumstance. In nursing, we are equipped with the skills to adapt to change. Only when I began working did I realize how flexible and adaptable nurses are, caring for ever changing patients in ever changing conditions,” she says.

HEEDING THE CALL

Many people who end up working in nursing say they felt called to the profession. For Greencorn, it was stories about nursing from her mother and aunt that compelled her to consider the job at a very young age.

Nursing became something she could picture herself doing, especially when her aunt described working in neonatal nursing.

“Her job sounded like a dream to me then and not much has changed since. I would use my glass vanity as an incubator and pretend to work in a neonatal intensive care unit. I think this is where my passion for nursing began,” says Greencorn.

Brow says she also felt called to nursing and knew she wanted to pursue a career in health care once she realized how the job aligned perfectly with her professional goals of finding a career that was both rewarding and made a positive impact on peoples’ lives.

“I enjoy the science of nursing along with the caring aspect. Being able to utilize my critical thinking skills while caring for patients and families is very rewarding,” she says.

It was a similar experience for Zoe Hartwell, who knew she wanted to enter a profession that made a difference in people's lives.

“I had a lot of diverse job opportunities and was offered additional opportunities to learn throughout my career; and nursing just fit those criteria really well. The ability to travel the world as a nurse was a huge bonus,” she says.

And for others, nursing is a passion they discover later in life. This was certainly true for Macewan, who didn't know she wanted to work in health care until realizing the scope of possibilities within nursing.

“I realized how wide the nursing span was, as nurses can work in offices, hospitals and nursing homes. I'd thought throughout that the last place I wanted to end up working was a hospital, but through my clinical terms I've learned that's exactly where I want to work,” she says.

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT

After working in local longterm care facilities during her summer breaks, Greencorn realized her passion for neonatal nursing had grown to include another area of focus in working with elderly, vulnerable populations.

“I learned a lot about hard work, time management, patience and compassion during my four years as a student nurse working in long-term care. Although I enjoy working with patients at all stages of life, my passion lies with caring for our tiniest and most vulnerable patients,” says Greencorn.

And she is not alone in having expanded her original career plans. Hartwell's second-last clinical placement was cancelled during COVID-19'S first wave in Nova

Scotia, which meant she completed her final placement on a psychiatric floor. This is also where she now works.

“It's amazing to see how each of the different nursing career paths have taken a role in this pandemic. I work as a psychiatric nurse and I have seen firsthand how the pandemic not only effects individual's physical health, but their mental health too,” she says.

Macewan is now working in Amherst and says her new world of nursing feels like a new normal to some extent, as it has made up the entirety of her experience in nursing.

“Learning to do this job in health care within a pandemic setting is all that I've known. If anything, it'll be a transition when things go back to normal,” she says. “But my clinical term has prepared me to work in different settings.”

The past year has certainly been full of challenges for all nurses. These young nurses each feel proud to have made it through and say that it has reaffirmed their certainty that nursing is the right career choice for them.

“If I wasn't proud to be a nurse before, I certainly am now. The way that nurses and other health care professionals and essential workers have stepped up to aid those in need during this pandemic is truly admirable,” says Greencorn. “It is powerful to see nurses put on their brave face and go into threatening conditions to care for those that need them most.”

“If I wasn’t proud to be a nurse before, I certainly am now.” Brae Greencorn

NATIONAL NURSING WEEK 2021

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2021-05-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

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