This episode focuses on one of the most defining parts of a new nurse’s first year: learning to work with preceptors, charge nurses, and your team. We explore how to build strong relationships, use feedback well, and understand unit culture through Tuckman’s stages — forming, storming, norming, and performing. Most importantly, we talk about staying grounded, well, and human throughout the transition.Guest for the segment, “One Thing I wish Someone Had Told me”: Tiara Beverly, RN, University of Virginia Health traumaMusic credit: "The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans" by Paolo Argento on Pixabay, tagged under royalty-free music and associated with the username PaoloArgento.sustain curiosity, and build a meaningful, enduring career.

This episode tackles a challenge every new nurse faces: navigating the gap between confidence and competence. If you’ve ever started a shift hoping no one notices how nervous you are, you’re far from alone — most new nurses feel exactly the same. Today, we dig deeper into what confidence actually is, what competence truly requires, and why these two rarely develop at the same pace. Understanding their differences — and learning how to build each intentionally — is essential in the transition from student to practicing nurse. This conversation helps you grow both your skill and your self-trust.

Guest for the segment, “One Thing I wish Someone Had Told me” Nakayla Figgins, RN, National Children’s Hospital, Washington DC

Music credit: "The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans" by Paolo Argento on Pixabay, tagged under royalty-free music and associated with the username PaoloArgento.sustain curiosity, and build a meaningful, enduring career.

Episode Three introduced psychological safety and how it shapes learning from mistakes. This episode goes a step further, focusing on what happens after something goes wrong — a miscommunication, a lapse in judgment, or a moment that didn’t land the way you intended. Psychological safety doesn’t mean “anything goes” or “mistakes don’t matter.” It means accountability handled with dignity, clarity, and a commitment to growth. Today, we explore the practice of repair: restoring trust, rebuilding confidence, and strengthening the team rather than fracturing it. This episode is about moving forward together, wiser and more connected.

Guest for the segment, “One Thing I wish Someone Had Told me”: Katherine Krievs, RN, University of Wisconsin Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Music credit: "The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans" by Paolo Argento on Pixabay, tagged under royalty-free music and associated with the username PaoloArgento.sustain curiosity, and build a meaningful, enduring career.

This episode discusses mistakes, guilt, and learning within the context of nursing practice. We go in depth to discuss how psychological safety is critical for all nurses, especially new graduates, as they develop their competence and confidence.

The Guest on the "What is one thing I wish someone had told me" segment, is Frankie Allen, a nurse on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Music credit: "The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans" by Paolo Argento on Pixabay, tagged under royalty-free music and associated with the username PaoloArgento.

This episode explores the source of feelings of self doubt, how some self-doubt is part of the learning process, and how perfectionism can be especially harmful to a developing nurse. Brene' Brown's work on Daring Greatly is discussed as we better understand how we can shift from a "comparing mind" to a more self awareness mindset. The Guest on the "What is one thing I wish someone had told me" segment, is Gracie Williams, a staff nurse on the Acute Lymphoma and Leukemia unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Music credit: "The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans" by Paolo Argento on Pixabay, tagged under royalty-free music and associated with the username PaoloArgento.

Introduction to the Podcast series, with a focus on the first year nurse.

"The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans" by Paolo Argento on Pixabay