Ah, those were the days...

I felt a lot of relief when I finished nursing school. To date, it has been one of the hardest things I've ever done, childbirth included.

So tonight, I raise a glass to all the graduates of PrivateU, my alma mater, who are getting ready for all the festivities coming up. If I were in charge of the nursing school commencement, here's what I'd tell you all, nurse to graduate nurse.

1. Enjoy waiting for your ATT (Authorization To Test). It'll get there when it's darned good and ready.

2. Take an NCLEX prep class with a guarantee if you can afford it. If not, plan on studying full-time for at least three weeks (Monday through Friday like an 8 hour job). Enjoy the weekends to digest everything.

3. Follow the instructions exactly when taking the test. Know where to go and get there a little early.

4. Breathe and count to 10 if you get the question from hell.

5. Do the same even if you get the TV commercial Viagra (Cialis, fill in your drug of choice) slam dunk easy question.

6. Do not throw up when you're done taking NCLEX. Relax and enjoy. You'll have to wait however long no matter what for results.

7. If you have a job, work hard and realize, yes, you really do need to keep studying those things you don't know on your own time. You need to do them at work.

8. If you don't have a job, make your search your full-time job, Monday through Friday, eight hours a day. Three words: network, network, network. Join a nursing organization if you have to (many have new nurse discounts) and volunteer if you can. Don't despair. Been there, done that, many moons ago (and waited over a year for a full-time degree-appropriate job).

9. Use every resource available to alumni of your institution for your job search. Register with them (if needed) even if you have a job. You never know when you'll look for another one.

10. Nursing is hard and there is a reason why (you'll soon find out) many new grads (somewhere around 50%) quit nursing after one year. Think of it like Survivor. Learn to outwit, outlast and outplay whatever madness comes your way. Always wear good shoes and use the rest room whenever you can.

And finally, make time to have a life. Have friends you can count on, in nursing, and outside nursing. Have family relationships of value. And most of all, take care of your physical and mental well-being, even if it means you get your toes pedicured once a month, get that monthly massage, or have that lunch with a friend monthly. Live so that you may have something to give to your patients and your coworkers at work and to the people you love when you get home.

This is just the beginning. Enjoy the trip. Congratulations!