When he was first coming to Michigan State University, Michael Stachelski had dreams of becoming a nurse. Unfortunately, those dreams were deferred when he was not accepted into the traditional BSN program in the College of Nursing.
“This was tough at first, but I still decided I wanted to do nursing,” the Brighton, Mich. native said.
Stachelski carried on, earning a bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences and taking on a home health care job over the summer, ultimately applying to the Accelerated BSN Program. The program offers a chance for students like Stachelski, who have already earned a bachelor’s degree –— usually in a related field — to still get their BSN, but in as little as two years.
This August, Stachelski will proudly be able to say he is, at last, a registered nurse. And he chalks it up to his persistence, which has paid off throughout his program in the college.
“Persistence is extremely important as a nursing student and nurse in training,” he said. “As a student, you’re going to go through a rigorous curriculum, and you have to balance that with clinical time. And as a nurse in training, you need to be persistent with learning new skills, learning how to communicate with patients and their families and learning how to communicate well within a team and work with a team.”
Stachelski has learned plenty in his current rotation at McLaren Greater Lansing, where he works the night shift in the intensive care unit. From troubleshooting different technologies to working with his preceptor to better understand medication dosages for patients, he’s taking it all in.
“What I love about McLaren is everyone on the team values all opinions equally,” Stachelski said. “From the residents, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapist team and everyone else, they all have a fair say in what the situation is.”
It has been rewarding, he noted, to have conversations with patients and their families and to serve as an advocate for them.
“Often times, hospital situations can be stressful and letting the patient know you’re working for them … it’s really, really awesome and rewarding,” he said.
He noted getting through those stressful situations requires one thing, though: persistence.
“Without persistence, you will not develop any resilience,” Stachelski said. “You won’t be able to adapt to tough situations.”
