Too many Negative remarks regarding Nursing School here!! Stop the discouragement!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I can already imagine what responses I'll get....But anyway...I and im sure, alot of other people who are pursuing a degree in Nursing are tired of some of the remarks that are made on this site regarding Nursing school! It's already stressful for many of us who are trying to get into a program and to hear such things like " when will this end," "15 people dropped out of my Nursing class last semester!!,"etc makes it even more stressful for us! Nursing school is not easy , but Im sure it's not "Hell." I have known many people who applied and got accepted into Nursing school with a 2.7.Uhmmmm, thats "pretty average Joe" to me and hey, they're pretty good Nurses now.

Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.
I've been with my wife for 6 years...no kids. I've come to the conclusion that RN school made me sterile. In additon, my hair started to thin, I've gained weight, and became a borderline alcoholic. OTHER THAN THAT, IT'S BEEN A HELL OF A RIDE! GOOD LUCK IN NURSING SCHOOL! :wink2:

My hubby agrees fully! LOL!!!!!!!!!

I know if I talk about RN school, it is typically to help others avoid the situations that I went through that caused probelms. No one can tell you better than someone that has been there, done that! Oh I made my share of things that weren't time managed, tests I screwed up on, clinicals that I was half asleep from studying...been there! But all an all I enjoyed RN school...and will typically say so!

The first thing I thought when I saw this post was "oh dear, if negativity here seems to be a highlight to some, and upsets certain people...what are they ever going to do once an RN!" You will run into collegues you don't mesh with and are negative, other staff members that will frustrate you, policies at work you don't like, staffing issues, and sorry...but patients are not the most happy bunch of folks with a automatic love of nurses for the most part (hard to be happy when you are ill or stressed).

I take negativity not as a downer, but as a chance to learn from someone else's frustration and vent, and try to be proactive and positive about it!

Also, many nurses burn out if all they see is the negativity of their work...trust me, almost got me my third year as an RN. So I had to find the positives whether they were at face value, hidden, or something I mentally had to change within myself. That has made me so much happier in my career choice and I am sticking to it! :)

See beyond the negativity that you see, and learn from it :). And...I sooooooooo agree with the other posters that so many folks don't have anyone to vent to...that is very difficult in this very emotionally demanding job. I wished it had been here when I was in my blue funk...but I found it soon after and much better for it :)!

Specializes in Certified Diabetes Educator.

When I applied for nursing school in Ft Worth, TX in 1992, there were 35 slots and 640 applicants. Going by grade point avg, if you didn't have a 4.0, you didn't get in. I had a 3.8 and didn't get in. So, I went to the hospital LVN school and applied. 30 slots and 413 applicants. We took tests all day long, and the 60 highest scores got an interview. I got in. Out of 30, 21 of us graduated.

To me.......nursing school was a lot easier than the real world of nursing, and nursing school is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

Specializes in LTC.

As a want-to-be nursing student reading the horror stories helps me loads. It gives me a clue of what I'm getting myself into.

Hopefully nursing school wont be too much of a shock for me.

Rn, what many people have said are really the reality of nursing school. People are dropping out like flies in my school. I think you are one of many who are successful and I am proud to hear that. You know so many people quit their jobs to go to nursing school and after one semester do not pass.

I think what many people have said about nursing school have prepared me better.

Nursing school is not a cake walk!!!

I can already imagine what responses I'll get....But anyway...I and im sure, alot of other people who are pursuing a degree in Nursing are tired of some of the remarks that are made on this site regarding Nursing school! It's already stressful for many of us who are trying to get into a program and to hear such things like " when will this end," "15 people dropped out of my Nursing class last semester!!,"etc makes it even more stressful for us! Nursing school is not easy , but Im sure it's not "Hell." I have known many people who applied and got accepted into Nursing school with a 2.7.Uhmmmm, thats "pretty average Joe" to me and hey, they're pretty good Nurses now.

2.7? Our cutoff was a 3.65

Specializes in Med/Surg, Hospice.

As a nursing student myself, I realize that only nurses and those who are in nursing school can understand what I am going through. I can talk to my husband about it but he just doesn't get it, and I don't expect him to. And I expect that once I am a nurse, nobody by my fellow nurses will fully understand my experiences.

Asking nursing students to stop posting about the negatives they encounter would be like telling the nurses on here to only post about the good stuff that happens on the job. It's just not the reality.

That being said, I do recall my initial reaction to reading the stressed out posts in the First Year in Nursing forum. I made the mistake of reading some of those while I was waiting to get into nursing school and I admit that the tales of many of those new nurses scared me. But I came to realize that the First Year in Nursing forum is for new nurses. I can read their posts, but they are not posting for my benefit. They post here because they need to let go of stuff and find some consolation from those who are going through the same thngs.

To the OP: You are not in nursing school yet. Don't worry now about how hard it will be or how you'll handle it. When it's time to deal with it, you'll either handle it or you won't. How someone else is handling it now has no bearing on whether or not you will make it. That is for you to decide. And when you need to vent, your fellow nursing students will be here for you.

Fact is there are many "negative" aspects of the nursing program. Truth be told however, we are absolutely blessed to be having such strains and problems...especially considering how hard it is to get into a program, and what the program has to offer you in a road to success in life.

And so, it is good to hear these "negative" comments and posts...people need to hear this, and if they become discouraged then that is GOOD.

Why? Because if that is all it takes for someone to become discouraged, they wouldn't have cut it in the nursing program anyhow.

And that is a complete waste of a spot some deserving individual would have had instead.

Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.

To me.......nursing school was a lot easier than the real world of nursing, and nursing school is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I think you just summed up the reality of it all!!!:monkeydance:

Specializes in OR.
2.7? Our cutoff was a 3.65
Some programs, unfortunately, don't go by GPA to get accepted. It's first come, first serve on a waiting list. This is bad because they are accepting some people who cannot do college level work and these people don't do well and end up failing out. In the meantime, that spot could have gone to someone who could have done very well. My school was like this and when I suggested that they should go back to using GPA's and test scores(or at least an interview!) to select students, I was told I was "elitist". Funny thing, though, just recently, they've started raising the standards and they may go back to an entrance exam to determine who gets in first.:rolleyes: Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that some people don't test well etc but when you have people who cannot do 5th grade math, write a proper sentence, or have little to no reading comprehension skills, it's a scary thing.
I can already imagine what responses I'll get....But anyway...I and im sure, alot of other people who are pursuing a degree in Nursing are tired of some of the remarks that are made on this site regarding Nursing school! It's already stressful for many of us who are trying to get into a program and to hear such things like " when will this end," "15 people dropped out of my Nursing class last semester!!,"etc makes it even more stressful for us! Nursing school is not easy , but Im sure it's not "Hell." I have known many people who applied and got accepted into Nursing school with a 2.7.Uhmmmm, thats "pretty average Joe" to me and hey, they're pretty good Nurses now.

Why stop telling the truth. The educational model stinks. Doesn't 1/10th what it needs to in order to prepare you. Half the instructors are nimrods or worse yet bullies. Then there were the people who dropped off. They just didn't work hard enough except for the ones who were obviously targeted by the instructors for elimination. That part of it was a crock. Had one set her sights on me and I attacked back ferociously. I am sure that was the last thing she expected.

There are a lot of bad experiences in nursing school and I lay the blame on the poor administration involved in some of these programs. For some reason those special people want to muck things up and make nursing school difficult for the students.

I had a pretty good time in nursing school except for some of the a-h that I had to deal with. I liked the hard sciences and some of the clinical experiences that actually were preparatory for what I would be doing on a day to day basis.

Specializes in school nursing.

I am a senior in a BSN program. I can bluntly say that NOTHING has prepared me for the feeling of getting a "surprise" pt assignment one morning in our clinical. This new pt was one of my own classmates, in a coma from a suicide attempt a few hours earlier - complete this picture with her 4 year old daughter tagging along as child services had not yet been called. Unless you are a nursing student or have survived the "program" and earned your license you never will really understand the effect this had on my own desire to be competent and provide "best care" under any circumstance. School is tough - life is tough - but we are each other's angels if we choose to be.

Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.
Some programs, unfortunately, don't go by GPA to get accepted. It's first come, first serve on a waiting list. This is bad because they are accepting some people who cannot do college level work and these people don't do well and end up failing out. In the meantime, that spot could have gone to someone who could have done very well..

There are times when this is a blessing, however..something you fail to see. People fail out for a number of reasons, from family issues to poor curriculum, and everything in between . I've seen plenty of nursing students with "average" GPAs go on to become incredible RNs, and some with GPAs MUCH HIGHER not function well at all once they graduate. So to say that GPA is or should be THE determining factor in admitting people to nursing school is like saying the space shuttle would fly better if it were covered with chocolate - it just isn't true. Many factors should be considered.

And that was a pretty elitist remark. Many people work hard in college and don't get A's...that doesn't for a second mean that they're not nurse material.

That being said, you are correct in your assessment of those who "can't do fifth grade math or write a complete sentence"...Send 'em back to elementary school!!:wink2:

Ugh...gotta get down off that soapbox.

vamedic4

nursing student, one of my many hats.

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