Why I, a Certified Nurse, Dare to Recommend Studying Things Other Than Nursing | The Theory That Nursing Studies Alone Are Enough for Nurses... Probably Not Enough.

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If you want to deepen your nursing practice, perhaps you should look beyond nursing.

Having worked as a certified nurse, there is something I have been thinking about more and more lately.

And that is...

That nurses, of all people, should study things other than nursing! (￣^￣)ゞ

You might think I'm saying something a bit strange.
But please bear with me a little longer...😅

I am continuing to study mathematics,physics,and psychology at a correspondence university.

As I do so, the way I see clinical practice has gradually changed.

How to pick up on patient changes. What to prioritize. How to communicate so that the other person understands and is more likely to act.

I believe that what is truly needed in the nursing field is not just having a lot of knowledge.

1. The ability to organize on the spot,

2. connect,

3. and construct.

I think this kind of thinking is what allows the clinical setting to operate safely and speedily.

And, the foundation for that ability is, surprisingly, often found outside of nursing.

This time, I will try to organize those thoughts.

You are studying nursing properly. Yet, something feels like it's missing.

You're studying nursing properly...👌
You're attending training sessions...👍
You're reading books...📖
If there's something you don't understand, you look it up later...🔍

Even though you're doing all that, in certain moments

"Huh, maybe I'm still a bit shallow..."

Don't you ever feel that way?

For example, when giving a report.
You're observing the patient's condition.
You're checking their vitals too.

But when it comes time to actually tell a senior nurse or a doctor,

"What should I prioritize saying?"

You hesitate for a moment...

Even when asked for an assessment, while the textbook words come to mind, when it comes to phrasing it according to that person's current state, your words suddenly become weak and hesitant...

Don't you sometimes get this feeling?

Actually, this isn't becauseyou aren't doing things properly.

In fact, I feel thatthe more a nurse tries to do things properly, the more strongly they feel this snag.

To put it a bit bluntly, the nursing field is

▶︎ not a place where things progress just by outputting what you've memorized.
▶︎ There are times when just having the knowledge isn't quite enough.

・Picking upwhat you see on the spot,
・Selectingwhat is important right now,
・Rearranging it into a form that conveysto the other person.

That extra bit of effort is needed every day, every minute, and in every single moment.

For example, just saying "There is a fever of 38.0°C" is weak. Just saying "They seem to be struggling" isn't enough either...

But in reality, within you, inside those short words,

1. What seems to be happening,

2. What you are looking at first,

3. What you should prioritize looking into

You have a vague sense of those things, don't you?

However, your thoughts get scattered, and sometimes it's hard for the conversation to move forward.

This is where it gets difficult, isn't it?

It's not that you aren't studying.
It's not that you are cutting corners.
Yet, for some reason, things just don't connect...🤔

It doesn't feel like what I heard in training is being directly applied to the patients I'm in charge of the next day.

Perhaps the reason you are struggling is not so much the lack of knowledge itself, but rather that your knowledge isn't connecting into lines or planes.

You have the dots.
But they don't quite form lines.
That's why you feel a bit lost on the floor...

That hesitation might look small from the outside.

But you should know.

If you are thinking like that, perhaps what you need is not just to pile on more nursing knowledge.

Even if what you are looking at (the condition/situation) is the same, if the way you look at it changes slightly, the way things connect on the floor will also change.

I will talk about that next.

I believe what is truly tested on the floor is the “ability to assemble” rather than just “knowing.”

What is truly tested on the floor is,

• not just “do you know it”,

• “How you can assemble that”

I think that is what it is.

Of course, knowledge is extremely important. If you don't know something, there are things you won't notice. You might overlook things. So, this is a major prerequisite.

However, the nursing field isn't just about pulling out your knowledge and stating it as is, is it?

For example, let's say a patient says, “I feel kind of unwell.”

This one phrase alone is still broad.

• Is it breathing?

• Is it pain?

• Is it anxiety?

• Is it body temperature?

• Are they not sleeping?

• Did they have an argument with their partner?

• Are multiple changes overlapping?

What is needed here is not just listing the symptoms you know, but

unraveling the information in front of you, lining it up, and reconnecting it.

I think that people who are strong in clinical practice are good at this.

“Nurse A in her second year seems to be moving well.”
“For some reason, Senior B’s reports are easy to understand.”

I think nurses who appear that way don't necessarily have special phrasing, but rather they are quick at assembling things in their heads.

For example, even in a report, while it may seem like they are just stating facts in order, in reality, within that,

This flow is easy to grasp.

That is why it is easier for the listener to act, and the conversation is more likely to move forward.

Conversely, I think the ones who tend to struggle are not necessarily nurses who lack knowledge, but rather those who
have the knowledge but cannot connect it in their minds. It is quite painful, isn't it?

This is quite distressing, isn't it?

You have studied. You have memorized. But when you are actually on the floor, the drawers in your mind open up in a scattered way, and you don't know which one to pull out first.

That happens, doesn't it? 🤔

That is precisely why what is needed is not just increasing nursing knowledge, but acquiring the ability to
organize knowledge and give it meaning. I believe that is what is necessary.

For example, do you just stop at 'the patient has a fever'?

Or,

Can you connect it all the way to that point?

Even with the same information, how you assemble it changes how it is perceived and conveyed significantly.

It might not be as immediately noticeable as technical skill. But,
people who have a logical train of thought are truly wonderful.

Whether it is reporting, observation, guiding juniors, committee work, or nursing research... Once you have that foundation, your words and actions will gradually change.

I think that what you are looking for is probably not just new nursing knowledge, but something closer to the [ ability to construct nursing care].

'So, how do I cultivate that ability...?'

There are, of course, parts that are polished only within nursing.
But I feel that is not quite enough.

That is precisely why it leads to the next point.

That is why I started learning things outside of nursing.

What I want to say here is not that nursing studies are unnecessary.

Quite the opposite! Nursing studies are a major prerequisite. This cannot be skipped.

However, on top of that,
there may be times when you think, "I want to see more deeply"
or "I want to think about this more properly."

Rather than just going around in circles within nursing, there are things that become visible when you look outside for a moment. That is how I have come to feel.

It is not that I was able to clearly articulate from the beginning that "this should be useful for nursing."

If anything, the small nagging doubts I felt in the clinical setting came first.

One time, a patient I was in charge of said this:

"I just feel kind of unwell."

I measured their vitals. There were no abnormalities.

But, something was bothering me.

Their complexion? The tone of their voice? An atmosphere different from before?

Multiple "something is different" feelings were vaguely overlapping.

I started searching for the cause in my head right then and there.

Possibility of fever. Electrolyte imbalance. Gastrointestinal symptoms. Lack of sleep. Anxiety...

It felt like the items I learned in textbooks were lining up as a list in my mind.

But the moment I tried to write an assessment, I realized something.

“...This isn't anyone's own words. It's just a copy of the textbook.”

Was I really seeing the patient right in front of me? Even though multiple changes must have been overlapping, I hadn't been able to assemble them into a single 'this person's current state'.

A nagging feeling of 'Is this really okay?' remained in my chest.

I wasn't being rejected. I wasn't being scolded either.

But I knew it within myself. I had only traced the surface.

I had the dots. But they weren't forming lines or planes.

As those feelings piled up, little by little, I began to think, “There might be hints outside of nursing.”

🧮 For example, mathematics

Rather than studying like an exam candidate, I focus on [Understanding the Essence].

• “Following a logical path,” or

• “Aligning the premises,” or

• “Thinking step-by-step without skipping parts,” and so on...

It is to get in touch with that way of using one's head.

💡 For example, physics

Before difficult formulas, you can learn the sense of breaking down and observing what is happening.

❤︎ For example, psychology

Not to jump to conclusions about people's feelings, but it leads to a perspective of taking a breath and thinking, “There might be a reason for this reaction.”

When I engage in this kind of learning, I don't feel like I'm drifting away from nursing at all.

It's actually the opposite; the way I see things changes a little when I return to nursing. It really does.

Even when observing the same patient or giving the same report, the way I organize things in my head changes just a little bit.

When I think in that way, learning from outside of nursing can sometimes be pulled from a well-organized shelf.

I feel like something is missing. But I don't know what it is. That's why it's even more exhausting...

At times like that, doesn't it feel a bit suffocating to just think, "I need to increase my nursing knowledge"? ...Or is that just me?

If so, go see the scenery outside for a little bit. Try touching upon the ways of thinking in different fields.

That might look like a detour, but it actually helps your current nursing practice more than you'd expect.

Next, I will write a little bit about how mathematics connected to that.
I'll start writing from there.

By studying mathematics, the "pathways" in my head became easier to see.

What I want to say here is that mathematics is not just for finding answers. That is what I mean.

At least for me, it's not just about calculating faster or memorizing formulas.

Rather, what I've learned from mathematics that is applied to nursing is,

It was that those things became easier to see.

In the nursing field, information comes at you all at once, doesn't it?

All of that information seems important. That is precisely why it's easy for my head to get cluttered. (Yeah, I get super cluttered... haha)

For example, instead of just stopping at "this person seems to be struggling with something,"

• What are the facts we know now?

• What are the things we don't know yet?

• What should be verified first?

• Am I skipping any steps in the logic?

By doing this, I rearrange things in order. This flow has gradually become easier to manage.

Math doesn't just jump straight to the goal, does it?

1. You establish a "strategy" from the problem,

2. gather the "conditions" you can use,

3. and connect them step by step.

For example, when you find it hard to give a report. Don't you ever have a lot of thoughts in your head, but they get scattered when you try to put them into words?
I definitely do.

Even in those times, by doing math,

• "What is the conclusion?"

• "What is the basis for that?"

• "What order would be easiest for the other person to follow?"

I have become more conscious of such arrangements.

It is the same with assessment. Before, I would sometimes just list textbook-like phrases and call it a day.

• It probably wasn't wrong.

• But it felt somewhat shallow.

• I even felt 'like I was just borrowing someone else's words'.

That's how it felt.

As I learned mathematics and physics, the way my brain works in clinical practice has gradually changed.

Previously, when a patient complained of 'feeling somehow unwell,' I would list the causes in my head.

Maybe it's a fever. Maybe it's pain. Maybe it's anxiety.

But they remained disconnected.

Changes in complexion, changes in voice tone, and changes in food intake were all kept in separate drawers. They weren't connected.

What I learned from mathematics was the mindset of 'aligning policies and conditions before building a logical path'. What I learned from physics was the perspective of
'breaking down events that appear as one into separate parts'.

That sense has gradually permeated my clinical practice.

When someone said, 'I'm feeling somehow unwell,' I noticed that the way my brain works has changed from before.

'This person's complexion is different from usual. Their voice tone is lower. Their food intake has also dropped since yesterday.'

The changes I used to see as disconnected were now

'what is happening to this person right now'

A sense of things coming together under that single question.

Connecting multiple changes as they relate to this one patient and forming a hypothesis.

Before, I couldn't do that. Or, to be precise, I didn't know how.

It wasn't so much that my 'angles' of observation increased, but rather that the scattered angles began to point in a single direction. That was the feeling.

It was the moment I felt that my assessments were no longer just borrowed words.

Of course, it's not a simple story where doing math suddenly makes you better at nursing.

But I feel that the base board for organizing information in my head has become a little sturdier than before.

Does that make sense, somehow...?

Math feels like it teaches me how to arrange things.

Physics and psychology are also subjects I continue to learn and benefit from based on this way of thinking.

(I will omit the details of physics and psychology as it would get too long.)

The purpose of learning is to raise your perspective and broaden your field of view.

Reading this far, you might feel, 'So, I have to study a lot more things, then.'

But that is not what I am trying to say.

What I truly wanted was for my way of seeing things to change.

Even when looking at the same patient,
even when hearing the same handover,
even when seeing the same lab results,
the way I perceive them has changed a little from before.

That change is much bigger and more important to me.

This is the 'purpose' and 'goal' for why I continue to learn things other than nursing.

✅ Purpose: To raise your perspective ✅ Goal: To broaden your field of view

To be a bit more specific,

When these two change, the scenery at the workplace looks quite different in meaning, even in the same situation.

▼ Instead of looking at what is happening now only from a single point in front of you or from your subjective view at that moment,
・Think by stepping back a little.
・Think from a slightly different angle.
・Think by including the flow of time.

▼ Instead of jumping to one answer,
・"Is there another way to look at this?"
・"Is there another approach?"

It feels like adding just a few more windows to look through.

None of these are nursing textbooks as they are.
But that is precisely why I think they changed how I see nursing a little.

Learning isn't just about stacking things on top of each other, is it?

Rather, it might be about noticing the horizontal expansion that you couldn't see before.

Since noticing that, my worry of "what should I study?" has changed like this.

• Will this change my perspective?…🤔

• Will this broaden my current field of view a little?…🤔

I think it is perfectly fine to choose that way.

Every time I touch upon ways of thinking from other fields like that, I feel like one new window is added to my mind. That is one of the meanings of "learning" for me.

Raise your perspective and broaden your horizons.

It's not that I'm studying because I want to get away from nursing;rather, I'm studying because I want to see nursing a little more deeply.That order feels more natural.

Perhaps you, too, don't want to remain shallow precisely because you love nursing.
You want to see it properly. You want to think about it properly. Isn't that what you're thinking?

What you need, if you think that way, isto gently reach out for something that might broaden your current perspective a littleperhaps.

I will write a little more about what lies beyond that.

I'll write just a little more at the end.

If you want to deepen your nursing, perhaps you should look outside of nursing as well.

Having written this much, the thing I most want to convey is, after all, this.

If you want to deepen your nursing, you should look outside of nursing as well (that's what I think, lol).

Of course, this is not about reducing your nursing studies.

Studying nursing will continue to be important, and it is a major prerequisite. As long as you work in the field, you cannot do without it.

However, on top of that foundation,
"I want to see more deeply,"
"I want to think more properly,"
"I want to be able to put things into words more,"

when you think like that, rather than just continuing to circle within nursing,I feel that there are things you can see if you step outside a little.

That doesn't necessarily mean it has to be mathematics, physics, or psychology.

For some people, it might be:
・History.
・Sociology.
・Language studies, such as English or Chinese.
・Statistics.
・Travel or child-rearing.
・Feeling the scenery and the air while taking a walk.

What is important,I think, is whether the ways of thinking outside of nursing can shift your current perspective a little.

Perhaps, the more seriously you have worked, the easier it is to think, "I have to study more."

But that"more"doesn't have to mean just piling things up in the same direction.

Perhaps it is okay to think about that a little more gently.

What you need right now might not be the amount of nursing knowledge, but rather the way you view the landscape.

So, if you are currently feeling that "even though I am studying nursing, something is missing," wouldn't it be a good idea to turn your attention to learning things outside of nursing?

In fact, it might be because you realized that, the next door is starting to come into view.

I feel that hints for deepening your nursing practice are unexpectedly placed outside of nursing.

Which door to open is up to each individual. It is exciting, isn't it?

If I could say just one thing,

Reach out for something that seems likely to broaden your current perspective a little.

I think that level of thinking is more than enough.

I want to keep loving nursing.
I don't want to end up shallow.
I want to be someone who can think properly.

If you have those feelings,
perhaps at that very moment, your next learning has already begun.

🏥 In closing

If you felt this article was even a little bit good, I would be happy if you could give it a like or leave a comment. It would make me happy!

And anything else is very welcome (^-^)v

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