I don't know what new nurse needs to hear this, but I want to give a little insight from being a nurse for 5 years and then going through orientation again in a new position:

They will tell you everything is 11/10 important.

They will not differentiate importance-wise between getting someone a blanket (because prompt customer service is 11/10 important), encouraging someone to walk ASAP after surgery (because preventing bad outcomes through good nursing care is your job and therefore 11/10 important) and initiating CPR (because that's an emergency and is obviously 11/10 important).

And if you're outside of nursing (or medicine in general), you might think "well obviously the CPR is the most important of those things, how could anyone think getting a blanket would be equally important?

But then new nurses have just spent the last 4 years being told that everything is 11/10 important, and that no decision you make is the right one in any circumstance. But also that they'll never make it if they don't learn to prioritize.

And that gives you a really special kind of anxiety. The kind that makes it full-on impossible to prioritize in any meaningful way.

So I just want to say: Despite what they've been telling you for the last 4 years, some things are genuinely less important than other things.

The mnemonic is CURE: Critical Urgent Routine Extra.

CPR/titrating a drip/assessing a change in status/responding to a monitor alarm is Critical.

Taking a call from a doctor/drawing a time sensitive lab/giving a time sensitive med/pain and nausea management/cleaning up soiled patients/assisting patients to the restroom is Urgent

Passing daily meds/doing routine assessments/educating/discharging patients/charting/bringing patients things/basic customer service is Routine

Tidying up a patient's room/calling a pt's family member*/refilling ice water/looking at your care plans, etc... is Extra.

And there will be people- patients, patient family members, people on tumblr who have had bad experiences in hospitals, maybe even your manager- who will disagree with your prioritization choice.

That's okay. They can disagree with you. Your job is keeping your patients alive until the next shift, and prioritization is a huge part of that. And everyone has a different perspective on it, and everyone thinks their choices are the only correct ones. Stand your ground.

For coming up with character names:

Behind the name (my absolute fav)

Allows you to choose the origin of where you want the name to be from, whether you want a more feminine vs masculine vs androgenous name (as voted by users), random surname generator, and clicking on the name gives you important info like if there are any famous people with the same name, where it’s from, how common it is, and how people tend to see it, etc.

You can also search their name database by letter or meaning or origin, so if you know you want a character who has a name/surname that starts with an A from Ireland, there’s a whole list for you to choose from.

Census sites

Especially useful if you’re looking for a name from a specific place and/or time period. Just search “(country) census (year)” and you’ll find a database of real people who lived in that place at that time. No one can ever call your names unrealistic again.

For coming up with place names:

Fantasy name generator

This site can basically come up with any name for any person, place, or thing you might ever need. There are also specific generators for different fandoms if you’re looking to make an OC in an established world.

For finding that one word on the tip of your tongue:

One Look Thesaurus

This is my go-to. Not only can you find synonyms like a regular thesaurus, but you can also describe words like “unhappy smile” or “quiet laugh” to find the more specific word you’re looking for.

For coming up with ideas:

Word cloud

When I need to inspire a new idea, I write down all the things I’m interested in (hauntings, academia, lesbians, etc.) and put them into a word cloud to shuffle them next to each other. Sometimes seeing a concept in a new context can spark new ideas!

WWF Discord

This is my discord channel (shameless plug) for when you need to brainstorm off other people but don’t have anyone irl to talk to. We’re also happy to read and give feedback on writing, answer writing questions, or just chat!

For visualizing places and characters:

Pinterest

Pinterest can at times be a bit too sterile for my tastes, but if you use the right words, you can find more realistic photos of places. For example, adding “aesthetic” after basically any word will bring up a more broad collection of photos to help you flesh out places.

This is also a great way to find photos of people and fashion to help visualize characters. I’m bad at describing clothes, so I usually collect photos of outfits to help me know what my characters are wearing. Searching up “character inspiration” will collect more interesting photos and drawings of people who might not exactly be of our world.

(However, to make Pinterest not show you AI results, you have to go into your settings and check the “reduce AI” box. Luckily, it does mostly work.)

Death to Stock

Like pinterest but completely AI free (hooray!) Only drawback is that you have to pay a monthly subscription (about $20 CAD).

Cosmos

Very similar to pinterest but slightly more "artsy". I'm not super familiar with this one but I believe all the photos are human and you can save them and create collections with a free account.

Dupe Photos

Royalty-free stock image site with very Pinterest-core photos!

Minecraft

If you haven’t built your entire fictional city in Minecraft instead of writing, why not? It’s fun.

The Sims

This one is dual purpose because you can not only create your characters in Create a Sim, but you can design their houses. If you really want to go for it, you can bulldoze all the lots in your town and build your world from scratch.

For checking grammar:

Grammar Girl

Easy to follow definitions and examples, and if you learn better by listening, every article comes with a podcast to follow along with instead.

Grammar Monster

This one is my favourite for checking grammar rules because there’s tons of examples in graphics that helps for any situation.

Reedsy

Among other things, reedsy can connect you to professional editors within your budget.

For writing advice:

One Stop for Writers

This one was recommended from my discord channel and has all sorts of tutorials and resources for the writing craft.

My Blog Directory

Another shameless plug, but if you need writing advice on something specific, you can search through my directory to see if it’s there. If it isn’t, you can always send me an ask about it!

For an alternative to Google Docs:

Ellipsus

Think google docs but without AI. Yay!

I was once in the office and another professor called me over. She was teaching a course on global citizenship.

"I can't figure out what this student is writing about," she said. "She keeps using the phrase 'perspiration stores.' Perspiration stores this, perspiration stores that."

I glanced at the paper and read a paragraph.

no wonder women have such terrible experiences with healthcare. we are treated like a special subtype of a human. I mean it's not like we make half of the population right?