The Teachers

You may remember my previous posts about my first clinical group of nursing students. We have completed 8 weeks together, and December 4th was the last day of a continued journey to become nurses.

I still remember their faces on that first day.

Excited. Worried. Eager.

I will never forget their faces on the last day.

Confident. Passionate. Encouraged.

I am so proud of those ten students. We all experienced our "firsts" together this semester. First day as a student. First day as an instructor. First day of realizing tears and laughter can coexist in the same conference room.

I am humbled, for they taught me.

Their passion for patient advocacy grew stronger each week. They went the extra mile and touched someone's soul. They reminded me of why I am in the field of nursing.

My only hope is that they never forget the feelings from that first day.


I made a survival basket for each one of them. The contents are explained at the end of this post.

They made me a picture frame, and the picture from the first day was placed inside. I will treasure it always.

Enjoy a few pictures, and notice the confidence that exudes from the picture that was taken on the last day!!!

First Day....for Everyone!


Supplies for Survival Kit


Inside the Kit


Finished Products


Last Day!


Emotionally Touched:)


Gift from Students





Survival Kit Contents

- Band-Aids: Always remember you aren’t just helping heal physical wounds; you are touching the innermost parts of a person that most people ignore.

- Book: Never stop learning. Stay a student. This is what fuels your passion.

- Cards: Whatever cards you are dealt in your job or life, always play your best hand. Never fold or give up.

- Clip: Stay organized…on and off the job. Don’t take your frustrations from work home with you, and don’t let struggles at home affect the care you deliver.

- Magnet: It’s ok to hang your “artwork” on the fridge. Celebrate your accomplishments and even brag a little. Your graduation diploma, first nursing job, last day before retirement, all are triumphs and need to be recognized.

- Kleenex: Show emotion. It’s what makes you good at what you do. Once you lose joy or compassion, it’s time to find another area.

- Ornament: Life is fragile and beautiful. Each one is unique, and needs special handling. Do so with care, including your own.

This kit is never done. You will add to it as the years pass and your experience widens. One day, you will share your own kit of knowledge with another student just like you. This is what makes nursing a gift.





Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts. ~Florence Nightingale