Do you remember the day you graduated from nursing school? What about your first day working as a nurse or when you took your boards? This issue of NURSEWEEK features the first installment in a series of articles that will help you relive some of those days and see the same events as they happen today through the eyes of 2002's nursing class.

Earlier this year, as we began to analyze the results of the nationwide survey of nurses done by NURSEWEEK and AONE [www.nurseweek.com/survey] to see the differences in how various cohorts of nurses view the world of nursing and their work environments, it occurred to us that it would be interesting to study how new nurses graduating in the spring would view their passage into the profession. Thus was born our latest project, "A Nursing Odyssey." Thirty-six new nurses from across the country have graciously agreed to tell us what their first year is like.

In the first phase of working with the new grads, we asked them what motivated them to go into nursing. In a number of cases, someone important in their lives had had an intense experience with the health care system and nurses. Most surprising was the direct and/or indirect influence of significant others who are nurses. One-fourth of the participants have mothers who are nurses and one participant's father is a nurse. Three have spouses who are nurses. Twenty-a little more than half-have one or more other relatives or significant others (sister, brother, aunt, cousin, grandmother, boyfriend, mother-in-law) who are nurses.

In many cases, the participants told us, it wasn't necessarily their relatives or significant others telling them to become nurses that influenced them; it was observing the joy and rewards these nurses experienced from being nurses and the caring they gave. One generation of nurses has clearly birthed the next. Now, we need to nurture them.

Our participants' stories are filled with eager anticipation of their nursing careers and of reaching the time when they can put all they've learned into work-helping others. They are wavering at the edge of their tomorrows. Behind them lies the security of the student experience. They feel ready, but they're still a bit unsure. They see a vast horizon of opportunity, but the word they most use to describe it is "scary."

As experienced nurses, we can ease their path into our profession or make it more difficult. We can teach them what we know and listen to their ideas and new information, or we can discourage their sometimes naïve inquiries and stifle their creativity. As little "extra" time as we may have, we can make the time to mentor them into our peers or we can take care of the patients without their help after they leave for greener pastures.

As you read our participants' stories, I encourage you to remember your own first tenuous days as a nurse and think about what these new nurses have revealed to you as you meet the new grads in your organization. America's newest nurses are ready to join us. We only need to help them become the nurses they believe they can be.

Discuss this and other topics with your colleagues at www.nurseweek.com/rnvillage.