Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaiza Saqib.
Shaiza, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Nursing was something that I always had in mind, but becoming a doctor was a profession that was drilled into my mind from the time I began high school. People would say, “You should become a doctor because you love learning.” Or my favorite was, “You did well in high school so you should think about becoming a doctor…doctors make a lot of money.” Never once did I have anyone come up to me saying, “Nursing is the profession you should go into…nurses care for patients by…. you can become a Nurse Practitioner and prescribe.” It was always about the title…the money…not doing the “dirty stuff.”
Therefore, not knowing much about different roles health care professions held, I began my freshman year of college as a biology major at The University of Texas at Dallas. One semester in, I gained more insight about the role a doctor held. Very quickly I knew that I wanted to provide bedside care for my patients. After going to a career advisor at the university, I was matched to several professions (one of which was nursing). I sat there, looked at the list, and knew at that moment-nursing was where I needed to be. No shadowing-just one night of researching a nurse’s role is all it took.
I changed my schedule around a week into my second semester of college, applied to two universities in the DFW area with a nursing program I was interested in, and began my nursing journey at UT Arlington. I took 16hrs a semester knowing I wanted to graduate with my BSN within 4.5 years and applied as soon as I became eligible. A few months went by from the time I submitted my application, and I received my acceptance email after much anticipation (I still remember every detail of that day).
Beginning nursing school, I was moved. I knew that the program was tough, but I did not know all that it required right off the bat. However, that just gave me more of a reason to tell those who found it easy to say, “Nursing is easy. You chose the easy way out…being premed is much harder,” that it in fact-is an earned position; it is not simply handed to you (just as any other healthcare profession). Today, I am a senior in nursing school graduating December of 2018. Experiencing what I did these past few years, I wanted to raise awareness of my profession to others who do not know the role of an RN. I also wanted to help current/future nursing students be successful by offering advice/motivation to PUSH THROUGH the program. I wanted to show them that they are not alone in the journey and it IS possible to get to where you want to be. And with that idea in mind, I created an Instagram page (@shai.rn) dedicated to nursing/lifestyle/fashion and currently am in the works to create a Nursing Mentor Program at UT Arlington.
Overall, nursing is a profession that drives healthcare and without it, no healthcare team would work. I want to be a nurse that raises awareness to our society about a nurse’s role and the level of education he/she has to receive in order to become licensed. Healthcare is a team. And nurses are the last check between a doctor’s orders and the patient. We work together to find the best solution and are advocates for our patients. There should not be a competition between the two, but collaboration. And I hope that through my social media platform and a leader in my organization at UTA, I am able to instill that perception in those who come across me at any point in time.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but I can say it has been very rewarding. Nursing school is very fast paced, but unfortunately life happens. Something as small as getting sick can set you a week behind in school, making it tough to catch up.
Being a nursing student often means prioritizing everything and anything in your life. Sometimes putting a hold on other things in life that are important to you as well. And sometimes it can get difficult to explain to your family/friends why you can’t make it home for thanksgiving weekend because you have to work and need to study with any time you have left.
And as with any healthcare field, comes the emotional heart ache of losing your first patient. I have been fortunate enough to not lose a patient thus far, but I know that it is going to happen one day. And when it does, I know that I have to contain myself for the family member(s) that may or may not be in the room. If we don’t do it, who else will?
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about shai.rn – what should we know?
As I mentioned earlier, my Instagram is not only dedicated to nursing, but it is also dedicated to fashion. I want to be able to show others that a nurse’s identity is not ONLY nursing. I want to be able to show others that a woman can be more than just being a fashionista, she can be more than just being in a ‘cute relationship’ online, she can be more than a daughter, a mother, a nurse, a doctor…she can be her whole own confident being. And that’s the beauty of finding yourself. Nursing pushes you to another level and in a way, shows you how much you can actually handle. It shows you, you can do so much more than what you thought you could.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The most important quality or characteristic that I feel is most important to my success is being persistent. Whether it is being persistent in posting new posts on my IG page or being persistent with my study plan; I believe drive is what truly gets you far in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shaizasaqib.wixsite.com/mysite
- Email: shaizasaqib@hotmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/shai.rn
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2QcFmfYv19hRqYHL-O19hw
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