About
Nick Thomas
I am from Northern Kentucky with 4 beautiful daughters. I did not follow the typical pathway for college education. As a traditional student, I started at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). After the birth of my first daughter, I temporarily had to leave school. I returned to start at a local community college that I recognized was not a great fit for me at the time. Then I finished nursing school at a local private college. Nursing schools really affected me personally and how I wanted to help students, in addition to my patients.
Since nursing school, I have completed my master’s degree in nursing education. I am an AHA (American Heart Association) BLS (Basic Life Support), ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) certified instructor. I used these certifications to train thousands of student nurses, ED, OR, ICU, TCU, and critical care RNs to run codes. I worked 10 years in the ED of a 4-hospital system that employs more than 10,000 employees. Later I was asked to collaborate and teach for the hospital's first EKG class launch. For the first 2 years of the EKG class, I taught nearly every RN that started at the hospital on a floor where there was telemetry.
After nursing school, I could never get complacent with one area. I started on a med/surg floor before spending the rest of my time in the Emergency Department. After I was in the ED, I volunteered to pick up shifts everywhere. Inpatient mental health, ICU, and all the different floors in the hospital. When that wasn’t busy enough, I worked a second job at an (LTAC) Long Term Acute Care, and later a rehab facility.
Then I transitioned into education (best decision of my life). My college-level experience started as a clinical adjunct educator where I taught nursing students within the hospital I work for. After a significant amount of time, I moved on to teach Pharmacology labs, and later became a full-time Pharmacology didactic professor at the private college I graduated from. During my time as a collegiate professor, I also gained experience teaching Med/Surg, Fundamentals, Leadership, and some Critical Care. I was considering accepting a dean position for the nursing program when I was offered another opportunity.
Now I work as an Education Specialist in a large hospital system supporting education for multiple departments like the ED, OR, PACU, SDS, Endo, and clinical research. I still get to pick up shifts in the ED to provide patient care and help my friends, the hard-working frontline staff. There is a large focus on kinesthetic learning and interacting with state-of-the-art simulation with what I do. I am thankful to interact daily with leaders, educators, and leadership about current processes, protocols, and staff education. I am extremely blessed to also share my experience to support hard-working students pass the NCLEX. Seeing students become an RN after multiple unsuccessful NCLEX attempts or graduating college more than 8 years ago is amazing! I love teaching and the interaction with each student I work within small group and large group settings.
Code Breaker
These days there are a lot of barriers to learning. COVID moved many students quickly to online learning platforms, missed clinical days, and supplemental learning with ATI and HESI. I also remember my own negative experiences with professors that were not student advocates, disorganized structure, and regular staff changes in the nursing program. Nursing school for many students is a constant state of confusion, schedule changes, and intimidating information. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT. Students need to be regularly reassured that you can do this! The NCLEX is a difficult test like many others that you CAN be prepared for!
I love getting the nursing students fired up when they recognize they are smart enough and motivated enough to prepare. You just need the support, encouragement, structure, and wisdom from someone that has seen and done this multiple times as an educator, and in the ED. After I establish trust and you recognize this is going to happen, it’s over. The train is moving and we’re not stopping until you have earned those initials. And then we start the journey.
The weekend prep courses and 6-week remediations share the same wonderful experiences. After trust is developed, I get to know you individually during breaks and fun interactive class time. The struggles, disappointments, hardships, anxiety about testing all become apparent and supported. Stay motivated, you can still do this. The days we work together accumulate and I see the spark in your eye for the momentum you have, and the commitment to succeed. Confidence and certainty become more abundant with each new day. With a confident shift, there is new anxiety about the fast-approaching date. But it feels more like excitement now instead of fear. Now there are a few more conversations with a little uncertainty, but we are in a group with a full hype squad that are bearing the same struggle. Soon I will get the call/text the day before, or morning of the test when we reinforce confidence and get rid of that negative voice in your head. You are worthy, intelligent, confident, and this is achievable. You just worked hard for it! You are close to graduating nursing school, or you already have. Then I get to refresh my screen the next morning with your name until your initials pop “RN”! Current students usually message me about the Level 3’s on ATI or 200-point increases on their HESI.
The struggle is over, the fear is gone, and you’re still pinching yourself. My wife that just graduated says she feels like an imposter sometimes. The dream is real because you made it a goal to succeed. We get to have at least one more conversation now that you are an RN. You are congratulated and I tell you how proud I am to see your commitment and goals become a reality. You were always capable this whole time. You just needed me for a strategy, clinical experience, and my ability to explain things in a better understandable way.
My greatest hope is you stay in contact and message me about work experiences, references, and new achievements. You are the people in my daily life I relate to the most. Friends that take the hard road, overcome obstacles, flex against adversity, and make commitments instead of excuses. It’s ok to ask for a hand up instead of a handout. You are decision makers that will stay positive when your patients are at their worst. I haven’t even met you yet. But I know you, and I respect you. That’s why I do this. I have never had a more rewarding job than supporting nursing students pass the NCLEX and become nurses.