PERSEVERANCE TEST: HOW NOT TO GIVE UP

A perseverance test happens every day we face the impossible.

Some of us take it in stride, make it look easy, like getting the toast just right.

Others have greater challenges, life changing challenges, life fulfilling challenges.

Did I say life saving challenges? That, too.

For example:

Imagine having a professional dream of being a nurse. You got there because people respond to you differently than they do others.

When you’ve been asked to help out, you help, and it’s actually helpful.

You found yourself drawn to helping people when they were down. And they got better.

Who does that sort of work? Nurses. Where do they learn the skill set? Nursing school.

When Nursing Schools Fail

What if you felt the call of nursing, but want to be sure? What’s next step for a new worker at the beginning of their career?

Learning the ins and outs of the job by working as a nurses assistant in a nursing home is one path.

If it goes well and you feel the same pull of helping others in distress, enroll in nursing school.

Now you’re a nursing student working as a nurses aide in a nursing home. The trifecta. And it’s good until it’s not.

The bad news gets worse when the nursing school shuts down. Instead of the promise of education and job placement, it all goes south.

A lot of students spent years in school and thousands of dollars, only to find their degree would never land them a new job in their chosen field. 

Why? Because in many cases, the school’s professional programs lacked the accreditation to work in those areas. 

For example, none of ITT’s nursing programs had a nursing-specific accreditation. 

Without the specific accreditation, a graduate can still sit for a licensing exam. But many employers simply won’t hire someone whose degree comes from a school that doesn’t have the accreditation. And it will be hard for students to transfer credits or pursue a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing at another school.

In a world of Make of Break, this is a bad break, a spirit breaker. And a key test.

End Of The World, Or New Perseverance Test

With their best intentions dashed, nursing students either pick up their gear and turn away from their goals, or make plans to finish.

A nurse I’m proud to know, someone with no quit in them, took the long way around.

Instead of letting the crushing news of a mismanaged academic business end their hopes and dreams, they refined their goals and started working toward them.

After the smoke and dust of a downer-school settled, they focused on the same priorities they had before.

Get an Associate Degree in Nursing? Check.

Pass the nurses’ license test? Check.

Get a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from an accredited school? Check.

And finish it the year of the covid pandemic quarantine while keeping family members safe? Check and check.

We call that passing the perseverance test in flying colors.

Tiger Nurse In The House

One thing we learn the hard way growing up: When to let go.

We usually ‘let go’ too soon, or too late.

Then there are those who never learned how to let go.

They stay on task, up to date, and work toward a better outcome for themselves and those in their sphere of influence.

Instead of finding another course of study after their nursing school folded, they stuck with nursing. Where they could have been licensed and called it a win, the pushed themselves for higher academic standards.

With the top priority of finding a spot in a hospital’s Labor and Delivery staff, they sent our dozens of applications.

One particular hospital had the perfect setting with openings for two nursing jobs. The one for Labor and Delivery had hundreds of applicants with a drawn out hiring process.

From virtual interview, to in-person, to waiting for rejection, the best fitting nursing job was at the start of the long haul for professional status and recognition.

As a big fan of non-traditional students in higher education, I checked in.

The Nurse’s Perseverance Test

Me: The waiting is the hardest part. At least it was for Tom Petty.

Nurse K: Yes, it is, probably like you waiting for your writing to hit.

Me: I don’t quit.

Nurse K: Neither do I.

Me: I’m not looking for perfection, just progress.

Nurse K: Did you make that up?

Me: No, I heard it from the guy who took the stain out of the couch fabric.

Nurse K: Where you spilled a bowl of . . .

Me: Ramen? Yes, that one. Can’t even see the stain anymore.

Nurse K: After you turned over the cushion?

Me: No stain on either side. How long will it be before you hear job results?

Nurse K: There were a lot of people for one job.

Me: A lot of people and one of you. That’s how I look at it.

Nurse K: That’s a good way to think.

Me: Why, thank you. So it’ll be awhile?

Nurse K: It looks like I’ll be working nights.

Me: Nights?

Nurse K: Yes, nights.

Me: But, what about . . .

Nurse K: Yes.

Me: Hundreds of applicants.

Nurse K: Yes.

Me: For one job.

Nurse K: Yes.

Me: You?

Nurse K: Yes, me.

Followed by cheering, yelling, and tears.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you pass the perseverance test.

Pass it along. Dreams do come true. Stay in the game.