Nursing and journalism don’t seem like they mix. But being a nurse makes me a better journalist and being a journalist makes me a better nurse.
When I started at the Crite in fall of 2023, it was a hobby that was outside my comfort zone. It soon became a place to go to escape from the stress of my major. It has turned into a true passion for me, and I have learned a lot of valuable skills.
I’m a big believer that every skill you learn can be applicable in a wildly different situations. So you should learn as many random things as you can. I’ve gotten plenty of weird looks and a lot of comments over the years, like “nursing and journalism, that’s a weird mix” or “you don’t see that very often”, from nurses and journalists alike.
The hours that I spend combing the newspaper for grammar errors have trained my eye for small details, like a medication order put in wrong. The time I spend practicing writing nursing notes has allowed me to write news pieces with more clarity and brevity. The hours I put in leading pitch meetings for the newsroom, have made me more comfortable as a leader and better able to advocate for my patients during my clinicals.
The truth is that nursing and journalism share a lot of core concepts. The motto of the Crite is “the voice of students”; we create a place for student perspectives, we highlight the underdog stories. We practice ethical journalism, acting with objectivity and candor. The core principles of nursing are promoting patient autonomy, protecting confidentiality and providing equitable care. If you drew a Venn diagram, it would nearly be one circle.
As I’ve gotten further in nursing school, the Crite has continued to be a welcome reprieve for me. A place to go to see my friends, to have fun, to revel in creativity and to forget about memorizing fluid and electrolyte balances for awhile.
Some of the looks and comments I’ve gotten have made me feel like I shouldn’t pursue both, that I should pick a lane and stick to it. While college is often touted as a place to learn a lot of new ideas and skills, there is also an underlying current of “pick a major, stick with that major, make it your whole identity.” This is an unfair ask of college students, we are still figuring out who we are and who we want to be.
Trying to fit all of the nooks and crannies of myself into being a Nurse will never make me happy because there is too much of me to fit inside one thing. I have so many hobbies and interests that I pursue, even outside of nursing and journalism.
People like to label things, it puts everything in a neat little box and takes up less brain space. In college it’s easy to become a label. An English major, a frat guy, a student athlete, a nursing student.
Don’t fall prey to being confined into one box. Be a nurse and journalist, try every random thing you want. At the end of the day, it’s all transferable skills and gives you a wider perspective.
