Rating: 
Summary: Good medicine for nurses RETURNING to work, too
Review: And in the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot*Your First Year As A Nurse* was exactly what I needed when I needed it, but not for the reason you might expect. I will be 50 years-old this year. I practiced nursing from 1977 to 1991 and am returning to clinical nursing after I complete an RN refresher program. While I may not be "a new grad" I certainly feel new. So much has changed in the last 12 years. I am in need of a big dose of confidence and Ms. Cardillo's book is just the right medicine. The book is well-written, organized and sprinkled with gentle humor. It addresses almost every aspect of feeling inadequate because of inexperience, but it doesn't dwell on negatives. Instead, it focuses on the joy and value of learning and emphasizes strong communication skills. I especially liked it because it is filled with personal stories, and comments from real nurses in the trenches. The most amazing thing about the book, to me, is that it maintains a realistic outlook in a positve manner without sounding like it was written by someone named Pollyanna. Ms. Cardillo makes it all seem possible in the real world because she writes with honesty. She looks at difficult situations head-on and instead of asking "What's the problem?" she asks, "What's the solution?" I left nursing in 1991 in a state of complete burnout. It was a time of change that I could not accept: the dawn of HMOs, DRGs and managed care. Hospital nurses were being laid off in great numbers to save money and replaced with technicians who had two weeks training. Delegation and case loads became the buzz words.
Because of a severe shortage of hospital nurses, there is a huge recruiting effort to get nurses who have left back into the workforce. You'll find everything from RN refresher programs to intense hospital-based internships for nurses who have been out of the workforce for more than five years. Our finances have changed and I need to go back to work as an RN. I was very frightened by this possibility even though I have always kept my nursing license active. And then I found Ms. Cardillo's book. I have cried in places while reading it. It is as though I am recapturing the sacredness of nursing that I had lost. It isn't written just for the beginner. It is also wonderful for someone like me who has been out for a long time and wishes to return. No, I don't have a long time left to work as a nurse (maybe a decade, 15 years at most), and some of the chapters on career building make me very sad when I think of what could have been. (I would love to go back and talk to that young woman but I can't.) Still, *Your First Year As A Nurse* gave me another lens through which to look at nursing. The author reminded me of why I became a nurse in the first place so many years ago. 9/11 affected me deeply. Because of this book, I will "dare to care" once again-and maybe, if I'm lucky, know the place for the first time. Thank you, Ms. Cardillo, for writing the book.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable!
Review: As a new graduate (second career) I found the advice in this book invaluable. Especially helpful for me was the advice on how to chose your first nursing job, how to work with physicians, and how to stay organized when giving care to multiple patients. There is a whole chapter on challenges and I was relieved to find that my fear and apprehension is normal and how to deal with it. I particularly liked the quotes and advice from other new graduates which made me feel more at ease. The resources in the back of the book were also helpful and saved me hours of searching the Internet. This is a must read for all new graduates. Thank you to Ms. Cardillo for writing it!
Rating:
Summary: Read how to be a professional nurse
Review: As a nursing student or beginning nurse, looking for guidance and advice that helps in adapting to the unfamiliar role as a nurse is invaluable. Reading countless numbers of textbooks, listenting to long lectures from instructors, and getting 30 second advice from staff nurses can leave a the beginning nurse bewildered as to what to expect once their license and career is on the line. Donna Wilk Cardillo has written a book that can help the beginning nurse develop into a sheer professional. I am a nursing student with a degree in business. As I was about to embark upon the nursing profession, I needed some sound advice that would give me confidence as I started my new career. Reading "Your First Year As A Nurse," I found out how to interact with patients, families, doctors, co-workers, and supervisors in a professional manner that I hadn't learned about in school. The book offers "real world" experiences and testimony from other students and professionals that helped me to visualize myself taking on the nurse role with confidence. Cardillo has used language that is easily interpreted and challenges the reader to make themselves into a better professional nurse. Cardillo's book also explains in depth how to be marketable in the nursing profession. Using her expertise in career development, Cardillo offers much advice to the beginning nurse about how to advance themselves to their desired position. The reader can learn and become comfortable in obtaining their own business cards, establishing mentors, interacting with health care professionals, and creating self-confidence that leads to success.
Rating: 
Summary: Focus on the Positive!
Review: As a recent graduate, I found Donna's book to be an excellent resource before starting my new career as a nurse. The main theme that stood out to me, is to focus on the positive things that happen each day at work. As a new nurse, if you get hung up on the negatives, you will give up too quickly. This book helps me to remind myself of that every day. The checklists of things to do as you get started are extremely helpful with all you have to remember. And last but absolutely not least, the many quotes from other new grads are inspiring! Definitely worth the time to read!!
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Summary: Secrets our professors and instructors didn't tell us!
Review: Donna Cardillo has done a WONDERFUL service to our profession with this book. By interviewing working nurses, she is making life a little easier for future generations of new nurses! She, (and all those that she interviewed and quoted) doesn't want the new nurses making the same entry level mistakes that have been and keep getting made year after year. On behalf of our chosen profession and it's newest entrants, I offer thanks to Ms. Cardillo! (In the interest of honesty and full disclosure, I was interviewed for this book and I am quoted in it several times. All of my quotes were used in the intended context. Aside from the complimentary copy that I received as a contributor, I have not been given nor have I asked for any compensation for this review.)
Rating:
Summary: "Your First Year As A Nurse" increased my confidence
Review: Donna Cardillo provides nurses as well as nursing students words of wisdom and having confidence in yourself. Throughout "Your First Year As A Nurse", the real-life situations written by new nurses as well as experienced, made me feel like I'm not alone. They also give excellent advise and tips on how to ease tension as you approach your first year of being an RN. I could not put this book down for a minute! I absolutely enjoyed reading it because it eased my worries that I "can't" do nursing or I wasn't "cut out" to be a nurse. After reading this book, I have total confidence in myself and I look foward into becoming an RN. "Your First Year As A Nurse" made me realize that there was a reason why I entered nursing in the beginning and that there is no such word as "can't".
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Survival Guide for Nurses
Review: Donna Cardillo, RN succeeds in capturing the experience of "your first year as a nurse." Her book provides first hand accounts from recent graduates, practicing nurses, and Donna's own experiences. Donna guides you through the steps of getting your first position, finding resources to help you succeed, and communicating with coworkers, patients, and their families. Her comprehensive book even includes a chapter on stereotypes, annoyances, and myths which will resonate with every nurse both male and female. That chapter also provides the reader with some clever ways to respond to stereotypes. Seasoned nurses will find Donna's chapters on staying connected and taking your career to the next level filled with invaluable tools to help them flourish in their career. In a time where the nursing profession is entering a shortage, and working conditions for nurses have been less than ideal, it is refreshing to read accounts of nurses that maintain a positive outlook and can share their coping strategies with the reader.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Survival Guide for Nurses
Review: Donna Cardillo, RN succeeds in capturing the experience of "your first year as a nurse." Her book provides first hand accounts from recent graduates, practicing nurses, and Donna's own experiences. Donna guides you through the steps of getting your first position, finding resources to help you succeed, and communicating with coworkers, patients, and their families. Her comprehensive book even includes a chapter on stereotypes, annoyances, and myths which will resonate with every nurse both male and female. That chapter also provides the reader with some clever ways to respond to stereotypes. Seasoned nurses will find Donna's chapters on staying connected and taking your career to the next level filled with invaluable tools to help them flourish in their career. In a time where the nursing profession is entering a shortage, and working conditions for nurses have been less than ideal, it is refreshing to read accounts of nurses that maintain a positive outlook and can share their coping strategies with the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Choice
Review: Donna did an excellent job with this book. Not only is this book relevant for new nurses, but more experienced nurses could learn a lot from this book. Donna shares her personal experiences, as well as the experiences of others as they journey through nursing. This book will inspire even the most burnt out nurse.
Rating:
Summary: Love it!!
Review: I am not a new nurse, but am making a major change in the area of nursing that I work (I have worked in Behavioral Health for over 8 years and recently took a job as an OB nurse). I bought this book because I have read Donna Cardillo's articles in "Nursing Spectrum" magazine and respect her. I read through the book in the first day- I am really impressed and I think it will help me as I make this change in specialties.
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