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From nurses, to nurses

Ask the question, even if you asked it yesterday. Being embarrassed for a minute beats spending the whole shift unsure.

On asking for help · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Coming off orientation doesn't mean you stop asking for help. Find out who you can go to before the shift gets busy.

On finishing orientation · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

You can be nervous and still have a good first clinical. Show up ready to listen, and tell your instructor when you need help.

On the first day · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Learn where the supplies are. Knowing which cupboard to open saves a surprising amount of stress.

On finding your feet · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Keep something in your week that has nothing to do with nursing. You still get to be a person when you take the scrubs off.

On life outside work · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Get to know the techs and CNAs, and help when you can. A shift feels different when you know you're looking out for each other.

On your coworkers · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

If you and your preceptor aren't clicking, talk to your manager. Ask for a different approach, or a different pairing.

On learning from someone · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Let your preceptor finish explaining, then ask why. Understanding the reason will help you remember the next time.

On learning the job · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

A feed full of bad shifts isn't the whole picture of nursing. Ask people about the ordinary days, too.

On choosing nursing · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Make one plan for your day off that you actually want to keep. It helps to have something to look forward to besides being done with work.

On the first year · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

At clinical, ask what you can help with instead of waiting in the hallway. Check with your instructor before trying an unfamiliar skill.

On joining in · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

An experienced nurse still has questions. They've just had more practice knowing who to ask.

On getting comfortable · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

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.

a nurse looking back on her first year, American Nurse Journal, 2026 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Thirty-four years in the ICU and there is still plenty I do not know. The nurse who keeps asking questions is the one giving good care.

an ICU nurse, 34 years in, a health system feature, 2021 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“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.

a nurse looking back on her first year, American Nurse Journal, 2026 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

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.

a wound care nurse, fourteen years in, Working Nurse, 2026 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“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?

a nurse educator, on her own blog for new nurses, 2023 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

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.

a third-year nursing student, a university blog, 2022 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest.”

— William Osler

Lean on the people who have been here longer than you, and never write off a good nursing assistant.

an inpatient nurse, a health system feature, 2021 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

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.

a critical care nurse specialist, Working Nurse, 2026 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“I do not see that I do much good to these wounded and dying; but I cannot leave them.”

— Walt Whitman

If you and your preceptor are not clicking, ask your manager to switch you. People teach and learn at different speeds. You are allowed a better fit.

an oncology nurse, a health system feature, 2021 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

Confidence comes slowly. You will not feel ready for a long while. Then a nurse newer than you asks you something, and you hear yourself answer it.

a nurse looking back on her first year, American Nurse Journal, 2026 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“We tried to imagine how loved ones for whom we might be solicitous would react were they in the place of the patients whom we hoped to serve.”

— Lillian Wald

Keep some distance from the chronic complainers on your unit. Of everything that spreads in a hospital, negativity spreads fastest.

a psych nurse, 52 years in, a nursing school feature, 2024 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

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.

a nurse of fifty years, a health system feature, 2021 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“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.

a longtime hospice nurse, on her own blog, 2026 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

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.

a nurse midwife, nine years in, a nursing school feature, 2024 · Advice source (opens in a new tab)

“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

All quotesShare what you’ve learned

More on nursing in Nebraska

Nurse pay in Nebraska
Nebraska license guide
Nursing jobs in Nebraska

Cities

Omaha
Lincoln
Kearney
Fremont
Papillion
Bellevue

Guides

A Residency is Not Orientation. Ask About Both.
When to Apply for a Nurse Residency and How to Compare Programs
Your Preceptor Problem Might Be Fixable. Here's How to Find Out.

Nurse residencies in Nebraska | Nursing Mastery

RN residencies in Nebraska

Find a cohort you can still apply to. Free printable residency tracker (PDF)

All RN residencies NP fellowships

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1 result

Closing soonest first

Browse new grad jobs

Apply by Jan 14, 2027

CHI Health Iowa and Nebraska National Nurse Residency Program

RN residencies

CommonSpirit Health

8 locations in Nebraska and Iowa

Omaha, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
Kearney, Nebraska
Grand Island, Nebraska
Papillion, Nebraska
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Corning, Iowa
Missouri Valley, Iowa

Starts: February 15, 2027 · April 26, 2027 · July 19, 2027
Length: 12 months

Plan my application

Program website

No reviews yet

How to apply

Winter start February 15, 2027; application deadline January 14, 2027.

Application dates

New graduate RNs
Apply by Jan 14, 2027
Starts Winter cohort, starts February 15, 2027
Application page · checked Oct 9, 2026
New graduate RNs
Apply by Mar 26, 2027
Starts Spring cohort, starts April 26, 2027
Application page · checked Oct 9, 2026
New graduate RNs
Apply by Jun 18, 2027
Starts Summer cohort, starts July 19, 2027
Application page · checked Oct 9, 2026

Sources · checked Oct 9, 2026

CommonSpirit Health · source 1

Your six-month RN application plan

Start about six months before graduation. Some programs open earlier; use each employer’s application dates.

Graduation month

6 months before
Shortlist units
Check application windows. Gather clinical experience, references and your expected graduation date.
Find residencies
4–6 months before
Apply as windows open
Apply before graduation when the program allows it. Keep the cohort date and license deadline with each application.
Explore new grad jobs
2–3 months before
Meet the unit manager
Ask about overtime, a shadow shift, preceptor continuity and the schedule after orientation.
Prepare your questions
Around graduation
Confirm your start
Coordinate NCLEX, the required license and your start date. Get relocation and repayment terms in writing.
Plan your license

Why start this early?

Advocate describes a 6–9 month application runway for several regional RN programs. These milestones are a planning guide, not deadlines for every employer. See program calendars.

Nebraska · 1 program