It’s not a secret that I don’t like public speaking. And it’s pretty ironic since I chose the path of education for my graduate degree, where I’ll probably have to do a lot of that. A week before I needed to present my lecture, I got to talking to one of my patients, who conveniently used to coach performers and singers on improving their “presence”. As we got to talking, she started to probe into the reasons why I lacked so much confidence, when it seemed evident to her that there was so much I wanted to offer my students. I even had to practice in front of her! She gave me the most solid advice that I didn’t even know I needed… She said, you need to believe that what you’re saying is important and the things you want to pass on are what they need to be good nurses.
*cue mike drop*
Obvious, right? I’m about to graduate with my Master’s and before deciding on this path, this was exactly the reason why I chose this part of nursing – because I wanted new nurses and nursing students to know not only the challenges of this profession, but all of the reasons why it’s also so great. I want them to think like nurses, act like nurses, and most importantly, show them what it means to have heart. Because I really do love what I do, and it would be amazing if I could inspire that kind of love to my future students as well. The unique experiences I’ve been through, the challenges of starting out as a newbie nurse – they were all for this and I am terribly appreciative of every difficult patient and shift I’ve ever done because it’s helping me better prepare students for that kind of environment.
On the day of my lecture, I practiced – A LOT. And when it came time to actually present, the palpitations came up and my heart started racing, as they always do. I got through it. But it was so much more different than any other presentation I’ve ever had to do. I actually enjoyed it. Asking the students questions, simplifying a pretty complex diagnosis, and taking them step by step through critical situations – it felt… right. I stepped up to that role with a different perspective that what I was doing was important and even more important, that what I had to say was important. And that made all the difference.