My Nursing Journey
My Nursing Journey
Welcome to my portfolio of my nursing journey! I am in my final year of studies in the Trent Fleming School of Nursing Compressed BScN program. Before coming to Trent, I studied at the University of Nevada, Reno. From 2016-2019 I studied Community Health sciences with a minor in Addiction Treatment Services, graduating with a Bachelors of Science. Following that degree, I completed a Masters of Public Health at Nevada. Through my entire time at Nevada I ran on the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. During my time running and studying I knew I was looking for a hands on role in health care. I has found this years later in the nursing field. I have a passion for rural health, harm reduction and primary care and look forward to exploring these areas following graduation in December 2026.
Reflection
As I complete the final weeks of my last clinical placement before pre-consolidation, I reflect on the enormous amount of knowledge that I have gained in a short period of time. I contrast this gain with how much I feel I will continue to learn throughout my career. Through this reflection on my knowledge gain and future gain, I am also about to be undergoing a New Grad Nurse (NGN) role transition. I explore my feelings towards both this shift in knowledge and transition and how they relate, in this reflection.
Entering school, I knew there was an enormous amount of knowledge to gather, however I didn’t anticipate how fast the time to learn and absorb all the information would go by. I feel personally connected to the concept that NGNs often feel underprepared (Prosen, & Ličen, 2025). Prosen & Ličen (2025) describe opportunities to bridge this gap through microcredentials and other continuous learning opportunities. I feel that is one the beautiful components of this profession is that it is a lifelong continuous learning opportunity and there are endless avenues for growth.
The transition period from student to nurse is ongoing while I process the shift in knowledge. This experience of this transition is described by the literature, authored by Akomeng Aryeequaye, Corneau, & Duchscher, (2025) as “[t]he sum total of an NGN’s experiences during professional role transition reflects a period imbued with significant and simultaneous physical, psychosocial, developmental, cultural and spiritual influences, impacted by external factors”. I feel these factors swirling around me, as I enter this chapter in my journey. I feel connected to this research having met Dr. Judy Duchscher at the CNSA conference in the winter of 2026. I am comforted to know they are researched and experienced by other NGNs.
Together, both the continuous learning and the anticipated growth in the NGN transition period, present opportunities to create an exciting and successful career.
Akomeng Aryeequaye, S., Corneau, K., & Duchscher, J. E. (2025). Professional Role Transition in Nursing: Leveraging Transition Theory to Mitigate the Current Human Resource Crises. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 13(6), 671. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13060671
Prosen, M., & Ličen, S. (2025). Bridging competency gaps for newly graduated nurses through micro-credentials: an interpretative descriptive qualitative study. BMC medical education, 25(1), 843. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07419-w