The Nurse I Am Becoming: A Guided Reflection Companion for Nursing Students Developing Clinical Judgment, Confidence, and Professional Identity

Nursing school does not just teach you how to care for patients. It forms you.

It asks you to develop clinical judgment under pressure. To advocate when it is easier to stay silent. To show up with composure when everything around you feels uncertain. To carry the weight of responsibility — for a patient, for a profession, your family, and for yourself — all at the same time.

And what you build in nursing school does not stay there. The discipline, the discernment, the courage to ask questions and advocate for yourself and others — these qualities travel with you. Into every clinical environment. Into every leadership role. Into your life.

The Nurse I Am Becoming is a guided reflection companion that walks alongside you through 34 weeks of formation — from the first uncertain days of nursing school to the professional identity that quietly builds through every hard moment, every clinical experience, and every week you chose to continue.

Each week offers a structured rhythm of affirmation, reflection, and purposeful prompts — designed to help you process what you are experiencing, recognize how you are growing, and develop the clinical judgment, professional presence, and self-awareness that define an extraordinary nurse.

This companion does not measure you. It witnesses you.

Grounded in more than two decades of nursing practice, healthcare leadership, and nursing education, this companion acknowledges what no textbook fully addresses — the emotional weight of becoming, the integrity required to show up even when it is hard, and the way nursing shapes not only the professional you are becoming, but the person you are.
For nursing students, CNAs, new graduate nurses, phlebotomists, medical technicians, and every healthcare professional on the journey to becoming — this companion is yours. It may be used independently or incorporated into nursing programs as a reflective resource alongside coursework, clinical preparation, leadership development, or nursing residency programs.

These pages were written for you — before you ever knew you needed them.

Nancy S. Ferrell Jones, DNP, RN, is a Nurse Executive, healthcare consultant, and Academic Clinical Nurse Educator with more than 25 years of experience across clinical care, population health, and health system operations. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership from Capella University, with doctoral practicum training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She also earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Spalding University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Natural Science from the University of Louisville. Her clinical foundation includes nearly a decade as a Certified Nurse Aide across skilled nursing, long-term care, emergency, and mental health settings, followed by registered nursing practice in cardiothoracic step-down and multi-specialty surgical services. At the health system and corporate level, Dr. Ferrell Jones has led clinical program development, care coordination initiatives, and quality improvement strategies for complex populations across multiple states. Her work includes designing clinical workflows, policies, and operational frameworks that support safe, effective, and compliant care delivery. She has also served as an Academic Clinical Nurse Educator, teaching in classroom, laboratory, and clinical settings, integrating real-world clinical experience with foundational nursing education. Dr. Ferrell Jones is the Founder and CEO of beePrestige Healthcare Consulting and the 2024 recipient of Spalding University's Caritas Medal, the institution's highest alumni honor. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, the American Nurses Association, the National League for Nursing, the National Society of Leadership and Success, the American Legion Auxiliary, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. The Nurse I Am Becoming is her first book, informed by decades of clinical practice, leadership, and nursing education.