Take a chance, step out, and become the nurse your patients need.

Hi, I'm Elizabeth

This is my Story

My journey into medicine started as a 23 year old daycare director that was looking for a change. My older brother was a firefighter/EMT and he encouraged me to join the local ambulance service. To be honest, the idea of becoming an EMT terrified me. I was extremely shy, uncomfortable taking charge and being vocal. But I signed up for the next open class which started a month or so later. I had an amazing instructor and I learned so much from her, so if you are reading this Sheri, thank you! I passed my 4 month program, passed my national registry exam and state exam and got my start on the ambulance. After two years working on the ambulance, I was recommended to apply at one of our local emergency rooms as an ER tech. I applied, had what felt like a failure of an interview, got the job anyway and learned very quickly that working in the ER made me a better EMT on the ambulance. I met some amazing nurses, techs, and physicians...some not so amazing. I had several wonderful mentors and as time went by, I learned more, grew, and developed. I quickly became hungry for more and after several years I enrolled in my prerequisites for nursing school and finally ended up on a waiting list for nursing school.  Finally, I was accepted into nursing school and I quickly noticed a significant advantage to many of my classmates. I was one of the first test-takers done and I was scoring high on my HESI exams. I realized that my experience as an EMT taught me to think critically and act. Don't get me wrong, nursing school was hard and I struggled through parts of it and lived in dread of my NCLEX. Finally, I made it to the end of nursing school and scheduled my NCLEX. I stressed out and tried to study but couldn't focus because the harder I studied, the more I felt like I didn't know. I decided that if I hadn't learned the information yet, it was too late to try to stuff more information into my brain. To top things off, I woke up with bronchitis on the day of my exam. I prayed the whole 2 hour drive to my NCLEX that my screen would shut off at the minimum of 75 questions. I was able to start my exam early since I arrived early. I developed a horrible headache from the tight noise-cancelling headphones I was wearing. After answering question 75 and clicking "next", I was relieved to see the computer shut off and the additional sample questions appeared so I could escape and begin the long drive home. I passed my exam on Tuesday and on Thursday I started working in the ED as a new grad nurse. I quickly learned that I needed to be a life-long learner as a nurse. As I have learned and grown as a nurse I realized quickly that most nursing school programs don't teach critical thinking as an important element of nursing. After becoming a preceptor to many student nurses and new nurses, I realized this is a need that I can fill. I tutored several nursing students, one who had multiple failed NLCEX attempts, after several weeks of tutoring and helping to shift her mindset and she passed. That success put me on track to developing courses to help nursing students better prepare for NCLEX and their nursing career. I want you to survive, thrive, and grow! Welcome to Critical Nurse Mind!