Call for help the minute your patient looks off to you, not once you are sure. Needing help is not a mark against you. It puts more eyes on the patient, sooner.
“The most important practical lesson that can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe.”
— Florence Nightingale
Some shifts end with you crying in your car because it all catches up at once. That is allowed. Just say out loud, to someone you trust, that it was a bad one.
Get certified in whatever you keep gravitating toward. After my wound care certification it was like new glasses: I saw what I had not known to look for.
“Willingly, had they accepted me, I would have worked for the wounded, in return for bread and water.”
— Mary Seacole
When you are unsure and everyone else is slammed, try this: if another nurse walked up and put that exact question to you, what would you tell them to do?
Someone on clinicals may say something that has you wondering if you are cut out for this. Do not take it to heart. A couple of bad days are not the profession.
Three or four years went by before the overwhelmed feeling lifted, and close to six before I felt expert at the bedside. Measure this in years, not months.
Expect the unexpected every shift and at every hour of it. The part you can learn is flexibility: managing a bit of chaos, and finding something in it to enjoy.
“But time has helped to settle the question and a trained nurse’s position now is largely what she herself makes it.”
— Isabel Hampton Robb
Most of what a dying person's family needs is to hear that nothing has gone wrong, that this is what dying looks like, and that they are caring for them well.
There will always be one more patient and one more paper. Your kid is only a toddler once. Do not give the people at home what is left at the end of the week.
“To do what nobody else can do, in a way that nobody else will do, despite all that we go through, that is to be a nurse.”
— Rawsi Williams
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Life in Scranton, PA
Neighborhoods+Downtown Scranton is the central hub for apartment rentals, offering walkable access to dining, historic landmarks, and cultural venues. For residential living with character, nurses and young professionals frequently look to established enclaves like Green Ridge, the Upper Hill Section, and Tripps Park. East Mountain provides quiet residential streets, scenic vistas from The Lookout, and immediate proximity to Lake Scranton and Nay Aug Park just two miles from downtown, while Minooka offers single-family properties with generous yard space.
Downtown Scranton is the central hub for apartment rentals, offering walkable access to dining, historic landmarks, and cultural venues. For residential living with character, nurses and young professionals frequently look to established enclaves like Green Ridge, the Upper Hill Section, and Tripps Park.
East Mountain provides quiet residential streets, scenic vistas from The Lookout, and immediate proximity to Lake Scranton and Nay Aug Park just two miles from downtown, while Minooka offers single-family properties with generous yard space.
Getting around+Commutes across Scranton are typically brief and manageable, with residents averaging travel times of about fifteen minutes. Proximity between outlying residential pockets like East Mountain and central medical facilities keeps hospital drives straightforward, though winter driving requires extra caution when snow and black ice affect hilly valley roads.
Commutes across Scranton are typically brief and manageable, with residents averaging travel times of about fifteen minutes. Proximity between outlying residential pockets like East Mountain and central medical facilities keeps hospital drives straightforward, though winter driving requires extra caution when snow and black ice affect hilly valley roads.
Outdoors+Outdoor options are integrated into everyday city life, led by Nay Aug Park with its scenic gorge and walking paths, and the popular Lake Scranton walking trail. Robinson Park and East Mountain offer quiet green spaces and elevated valley overlooks. For seasonal sports, Montage Mountain Resorts provides downhill skiing, snow tubing, and outdoor summer festivals just south of the city center.
Outdoor options are integrated into everyday city life, led by Nay Aug Park with its scenic gorge and walking paths, and the popular Lake Scranton walking trail. Robinson Park and East Mountain offer quiet green spaces and elevated valley overlooks.
For seasonal sports, Montage Mountain Resorts provides downhill skiing, snow tubing, and outdoor summer festivals just south of the city center.
Check the commute at your shift’s start and end, upfront housing costs, and whether moving assistance must be repaid if you leave.
Living in Scranton
Scranton offers healthcare professionals a grounded lifestyle steeped in industrial history and Northeastern Pennsylvania pride. Known as the Electric City, the community pairs historic railroad and coal heritage at Steamtown National Historic Site with an accessible, human-scaled downtown centered around Courthouse Square. For relocating nurses, commute times are a major asset, averaging roughly fifteen minutes and making shift changes at regional medical facilities remarkably low-stress. Downtown Scranton provides walkable loft living near eclectic dining and Cooper's Seafood House, while established neighborhoods like Green Ridge, Tripps Park, and East Mountain feature classic single-family homes with quick access to the Lake Scranton walking trail and Nay Aug Park. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy Montage Mountain Resorts for skiing and festivals, alongside staples like La Festa Italiana and First Friday Scranton. Tradeoffs include sluggish traditional club nightlife and freezing winter conditions with hazardous black ice. However, for clinicians seeking a welcoming, unpretentious environment with outdoor recreation and short commutes, Scranton delivers a practical and community-focused landing spot.
