By Nia Mwangi

Staff Writer

Much goes into the life of a nursing major. Between classes and skill checks, nursing majors tend to have a lot on their plate. But nursing is “more hard mentally than it is actually hard,” said sophomore nursing major Jenna Kubena. She shared details  of nursing major life.  

“One of the things they teach us is called cultural competency for our patients,” Kubena said. “You don’t need to know everything about every culture but have a general idea so you can respect them. For example, if somebody from Southeast Asia believes in Hinduism and has rituals that they do for their health, I can incorporate it into their healthcare plan.” 

The nursing major is broad and diverse, according to Kubena. There is a variety of backgrounds within her classmates, which she was not expecting. “In my cohort [group of classmates], there’s quite a few people who are from different backgrounds. There’s a guy who’s in the military and is now doing nursing school because he always wanted to do it. There’s a lot of people who are moms. There’s another guy whose wife is a vet while he’s going to nursing school.” 

They also study subjects each semester in a specific sequence. As a freshman, she took classes that taught health assessment, geriatrics and how to treat adult patients. As a sophomore, she is learning about Labor and Delivery.  

“We don’t know what our specializations are right now,” Kubena said. “We’re just learning how to be nurses. We get to pick our specializations more whenever we graduate.”  

Kubena shared there is a lot to learn in nursing, and it can be difficult at times.  

“I feel a lot of pressure during skill checks, which is when you go into a simulation hospital and perform a skill on somebody.” she said. “I’m very much a perfectionist, so I like to do things by the book. I can get in my head. But there’s nothing against you for redoing them and they give you a lot of chances to do that.”