My Very First Convention! Hint: It Was not Comic-Con.
Hi everyone! I am currently in Salt Lake City, Utah. You may be wondering, “Why are you in Utah?” Well… it’s because I am here for the 70th National Student Nursing Association (NSNA) Convention. The NSNA convention offers a variety of panels, exhibits, and National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) mini reviews for nursing students. Today was my first day attending the convention and oh boy was I busy! Here is a little bit about my day at the convention:
7:00am- 8:45am NCLEX Mini Review: The NCLEX is the nursing exam that must be taken and passed to become a licensed nurse. I am taking the NCLEX in January and attending the review was very beneficial. The speaker gave tips on how to answer questions, how to memorize information, and what was most important for the test. Since there are a lot of concepts within the NCLEX, the review was split into three days. Today was the second day and we reviewed pharmacology, identifying risks, and caring for newborns. At the end of each section there are practice questions. To be honest, I did not do too well answering the practice questions but I know being exposed to it will help me for the future.
1130am- 2:00pm Career Development Exhibit: At this event there were over 100 booths offering information about advancing our nursing career, NCLEX study materials, giveaways, and lots of free swag! My favorite part was meeting the founder of Simple Nursing, Nurse Mike. I was able to express to him how much his videos have helped me learn difficult concepts. My favorite swag items were a canvas tote bag that says “Future Nurse” and a teddy bear that I won from a free claw machine. Overall, it was really helpful seeing the amount of support and options student nurses have after nursing school!
4:30pm- 5:30pm Focus Session: The Art and Science of Marketing Yourself: The focus session gave information about how to improve your resume and interviewing skills. When I was listening to this presentation, I noticed that I should revise my resume to make it stronger and more memorable. One example is to add my Dean’s List to my accomplishments. It is also important to emphasize everything that makes you different in your resume. This is the same thing for interviewing. You don’t want to sound like every other person, and instead describe what makes you unique. Out of the two focus sessions, this was my favorite! (I hope to receive a copy of the slides and share it!)
I had a lot of fun on the first day! There are 2 more days left, and I can’t wait to learn more about the nursing profession. If there is a convention that pertains to your profession, I highly suggest attending!
Hey Emily! It is awesome to read about the convention you attended! There is so much useful information and realistic goals that you can work towards through this meeting. I also like how you mentioned that this reminder of what is expected and what you need to know has helped you with your mindset in the future. Staying goal-oriented and on task for your career choice is an incredibly important mindset and will definitely drive you forward. It also has inspired me to look into my major to see if there are any career fairs or public speakers occurring in the near future. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete-James
Hey Emily
ReplyDeleteOne of the majors I considered choosing was nursing, alongside with sports medicine. Then I considered school counseling and that was the winner our of the three. If the NCLEX review was split into 3 sessions that tells me it is a huge, difficult test, wish you the best luck when you take it. I was not aware about the imposer syndrome and it probably could apply to my major as well. I'm glad that convention also helped you with some tips for after you graduate. It seems you did learn a lot on the first day and that there is a lot more to learn on the rest of the days left.