When I started nursing school, I wanted to change my profession. During nursling orientation, the instructors warned us to put off life for the next two years. They told us to teach our children how to do laundry and make dinner. They told us that if we were in a troubled relationship, the next two years were going to make it even worse. They put fears in us that went beyond the fear of needles and blood that we would encounter in the technical aspect of nursing. Luckily, I've been able to balance household chores, didn't have any troubled relationships to begin with, and have been able to overcome my fears of using a syringe and dealing with blood. But nursing school has changed me in ways I was not expecting.

My perceptions of people and the way I think in general have been altered. I can now say that my personality has "nursing perks" to it. And every semester adds a new perk.

The first semester, which was basic nursing, gave me the ability to see people, not for their outside beauty, but for their insides — literally. I look at people anatomically, as unpleasant as it sounds. I don't see a mole on beautiful Cindy Crawford's face. I see potential skin cancer. The teenager with the multiple piercing is a walking potential infection. Those long fingernails on a woman might look nice, but I see breeding ground for all types of bacteria. Microbiology gave me the ability to decipher every germ that is out to get me.

When someone complains about a pain and points it out, I immediately visualize an organ. Before nursing school, the only internal organ I could locate on a live body was the heart. Now I can measure the size and location of someone's liver. That has got to look impressive on a resume! And it makes for a great party trick.

I have finally gotten rid of any qualms about other people's toilet use. I'm no longer embarrassed about body functions.  This is actually handy for me at this time, because my 4-year-old is preoccupied with body noise humor. I find I can ask anyone how their bowel movements have been or if they have been able to urinate, and I don't even crack a smile. I can inspect a bowel movement for consistency. I can measure urine and assign it a plethora of colors (amber, clear, yellow, and foggy.) I can catheterize a patient and not get squeamish when some of it splashes on my pants. I can clean a messy "code brown" and sit down 10 minutes later to lunch without even giving it a thought. And this comes from a woman who used to run the water when I was on the toilet to prevent anyone from hearing the flow.

The second semester allowed me to venture into different diseases and interventions. I don't know about all nursing students, but I've become preoccupied with my bowel system since watching a hemicolectomy.  I actually can visualize my food path, and I've become obsessed with choosing foods that will go down smoothly. I find lumps everywhere, inspect my skin often, and worry if my elimination is not regular, or if I do not sleep well. I find myself constantly self-diagnosing and diagnosing my family.  This ability came in nicely when my father complained of chest pain and insisted it was indigestion. I insisted that it was more, and now he is recovering nicely from his angioplasty, thank you very much.

I have obtained a new appreciation for anything medical on television. My ears perk up when drug commercials or a medical show come on. ER has taken on a whole new entertainment factor. I enjoy watching the show and attempting to spot nursing errors, such as not washing hands between patients. I noticed that they all have Littman stethoscopes. I check out their shoes. I am on the hunt for the perfect nursing shoe for my aching feet.

Clinical learning has added a whole new span to my nursing journey. Patient care is wonderful, and I really enjoy it. Though difficult at first, it has allowed me to become accustomed to odors and sights that previously would have laid me flat. Reading about things in books was one thing, but actually seeing operations and doing wound care really put things into perspective. It has also added a whole new realm to my personal and physical paranoia. I admit my worry over my own body has become more intense. I feel older, or maybe I just feel my age (36). I am actually watching the decline from age in people, and it leaves me a little scared.

After pediatrics, I had an intense urge to hermetically seal my child until he is 18. I think that pediatrics was my hardest clinical. I went into nursing thinking that I might choose that as my specialty. But after my short stint, I find that I cannot leave without the child's eyes still in my mind. It makes me even more protective of my son.

Psychsocial nursing has given me some new tools to use on my family. I have had general psych and other like courses. But psych nursing has enabled me to "diagnose" everyone in my family with his or her own personal mental illness. They are not dysfunctional. They are bipolar, manic, depressed, and obsessive compulsive. Unfortunately, it has also made me look at aspects of my own personality and emotional health. I can easily say that nursing school has made some significant impacts on my emotional health, particularly during test times.

When I graduate from nursling to RN, I suspect that these "nursing personality perks" will go in directions that I do not want. I don't want to develop a skin so thick that patient pain does not bother me. I don't want to care for my patient but not care for my fellow nurses. I don't want to find myself impatient with nurses that are not as experienced as I am.

I am hoping to develop one super nursing power that has continued to evade me — and indeed most nurses throughout time. I want to learn how to decipher a doctor's handwriting. Wish me luck.