Not as hard as I anticipated....

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O.k. I am only a first semester student, but I was under the impression from other students that nursing school was going to be insanely difficult. (I am in an accelerated BSN program by the way)

But I haven't found it to be that "difficult". There is a TON of work and information thrown at us, but I have excellent time management skills and read everything before we are lectured and read over my notes after class. But this isn't nearly as difficult as Anatomy & Physiology or Microbiology. And a lot of the clinical tasks are simply common sense tasks with an added bit of nursing/medical knowledge.

Am I the only one that feels this way? I am actually a little disappointed that it isn't any harder, because if it were harder I would probably actually study it a bit more. I am hoping it gets a tad more difficult.

And the most dreaded class (patho/pharm) is actually incredibly enjoyable for me, thus I don't need to study it that much because I am intrigued by it. Furthermore, its basically anatomy & physiology with a little twist thrown in.

Anyone feel the same way as me?? I know this isn't because I am some insane genius, because I am far from that!

Yes, I'm starting in the fall, too, and I'm glad to read this thread. I'm excited about all the new material, and I look forward to putting all those pre-reqs to the test. I think the reason I've come to nursing after other careers and degrees is because it is just going to be non-stop learning. YAY!!

Specializes in L/D.

I agree with the OP. This will be my second degree, so I think that helps. I have only finished my first semester but I didn't find it nearly as hard as I thought I would. I think I freaked myself out before starting school, worrying about how hard it was going to be. I don't think it is hard so much as time consuming. I got straight A's this semester, hopefully I can keep it up.

Amber

O.k. I am only a first semester student, but I was under the impression from other students that nursing school was going to be insanely difficult. (I am in an accelerated BSN program by the way)

But I haven't found it to be that "difficult". There is a TON of work and information thrown at us, but I have excellent time management skills and read everything before we are lectured and read over my notes after class. But this isn't nearly as difficult as Anatomy & Physiology or Microbiology. And a lot of the clinical tasks are simply common sense tasks with an added bit of nursing/medical knowledge.

Am I the only one that feels this way? I am actually a little disappointed that it isn't any harder, because if it were harder I would probably actually study it a bit more. I am hoping it gets a tad more difficult.

And the most dreaded class (patho/pharm) is actually incredibly enjoyable for me, thus I don't need to study it that much because I am intrigued by it. Furthermore, its basically anatomy & physiology with a little twist thrown in.

Anyone feel the same way as me?? I know this isn't because I am some insane genius, because I am far from that!

I didn't find any of the concepts in the first quarter particularly difficult either. Time management was the hardest part. The concepts do get harder as you progress and more is expected of you in clincal as well.

Specializes in school nursing,cardiology,and mental hea.

Nope,found it to be one of the hardest things I have done.I also worked 60 hrs a week and had 3 teenagers.I also was the oldest in my class.It was a fast track program.May you continue to find it easy,please continue your education.We need nursing educators.

Specializes in PCU/Hospice/Oncology.

I am quite a good student myself. However, you just started nursing school. Just dont underestimate endocrine and cardio, those are the sections that fail out the most students statistically. Also I dont know about your program but mine goes in quarters and we memorize 150+ drugs in 9 weeks on TOP of our constant testing every class day and clinical assignments. Im not saying its wicked hard because its not, but it is definitely a good challenge.

Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
I am quite a good student myself. However, you just started nursing school. Just dont underestimate endocrine and cardio, those are the sections that fail out the most students statistically. Also I dont know about your program but mine goes in quarters and we memorize 150+ drugs in 9 weeks on TOP of our constant testing every class day and clinical assignments. Im not saying its wicked hard because its not, but it is definitely a good challenge.

I agree that it will definitely be a challenge. I don't mean to portray that I am this superstar student who doesn't need the study.. :) I was just a little suprised that it wasn't as difficult as some students make it out to be. And I am not too terrified of cardio and endocrine, as they were my 2 favorite sections of A&P (especially endocrine.. absolutely loved it and thought it was beyond amazing).

I too am in a pretty intense program (we do trimesters instead of semester) so we move pretty quick. I think the "hardest" part of this program will be remembing the ridiculous amont of drugs thrown at us to remember. But then again, that isn't at all conceptually hard, it just takes rote memorization (which I don't do well, so that will definitely take some work on my part).

Specializes in LDRP.

First semester wasn't "hard" for me either. As I move into my senior semester, things have gotten much more time consumming and the critical thinking is more involved.

Get those study habits up to par now. You will be using them a lot later on...

GL!

I think part of the consideration for how "hard" the program is would be where you (the student) are coming from: what's your educational background? How many hours a week do you work, and in what field? How old are you, and what are your other responsibilities: parent to how many children, etc?

Beyond that, the actual program will of course vary from school to school: I know for a fact that people who have failed out of my alma mater went on to get A's and B's in another school (known for a much easier curriculum). Then again, their board passing rate was nothing to brag about, and ours is :)

The focus of instruction may make a difference in how hard the program is: for instance, the hardest thing to survive in my program was the skill evaluations. It didn't matter how well you performed then in clinicals, if you didn't do it to the Gold Standard in the practicum exam, forget passing. Two attempts at the same skill, fail the second and it doesn't matter if you got A's in everything else up until then. So, A students didn't feel that the program was easy, either: getting past the clinical instructors for these tests made the difference in passing and failing, regardless of grades.

I hope for your sake the program you're in remains less stressful for you than most others find them to be. But please remember that at any time, all that can change: be on top of your game at all times, and do NOT slack off on anything!

I just started too, and I feel the same way so far. We've only had one exam, and I didn't miss any questions (class average: 78). I was trying to prepare myself for the fact that everyone who got into my program had at least a 3.5 and a previous degree, so I would have to get used to not always being the best student or getting the best grades. Now, I too study A LOT. I try to put in at a minimum 2-3 hours at least 6 days a week, and on days I don't have work or class I might study for 8-10. That allows me (so far) to cook dinner every night, watch a little TV (usually with my book in front of me to read a little more during commercials), go out every now and then, and take a day off here and there to go somewhere with my husband. Today is Sunday, and I've done all the reading for next Friday's classes. I have another exam Monday, and I've done the reading, listened to my lectures a second time while typing up my notes, and started working on NCLEX questions. I know it's still early, but so far it's just a lot of work more so than difficult work.

Sorry it took me a while to get back to this.

Sister Mike, part of the reason it was hard for me was lack of study skills. The methods I used in high school and pre-reqs did not work for nursing school. And I had to learn to think on my feet. I already knew how to do that to some extent because I was a CNA doing home care, but it got harder in nursing school.

Also, you just finished your first semester. You may be one of the lucky ones who breeze right through nursing school, but first semester is the easiest of them all, fast track or not. In first semester you learn the basics of nursing. It gets harder. You will have more information to remember and put together, including more of the "ridiculous drugs".

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.
I am quite a good student myself. However, you just started nursing school. Just dont underestimate endocrine and cardio, those are the sections that fail out the most students statistically. Also I dont know about your program but mine goes in quarters and we memorize 150+ drugs in 9 weeks on TOP of our constant testing every class day and clinical assignments. Im not saying its wicked hard because its not, but it is definitely a good challenge.

I'm about to enter the 4th semester out of five. The second semester was endocrine and cardio in adult health, so I've already done that. What do others find so hard about those two systems? I have yet to figure that out. They are what they are, nothing tricky. My advise is to not memorize, but learn how things work. My pet peeve is people who won't go back to the A&P book to learn the pathway of blood through the heart or the chambers. I suggested this to a few students that kept asking me how I was passing the tests and not freaking out and they were like "we sold that book a long time ago".

I can figureout almost anything in our nursing classes by referring back to A&P and anatomy. I don't see what was hard about that either. That WAS mainly memorization.

I'm like sistermike; a positive attitude will take you far. If the instructor sucks, I just go home and get out my nursing journals and read away or get on the internet. I don't freak out about anything and if you don't read before class, well you are just hurting yourself.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.
Sorry it took me a while to get back to this.

Sister Mike, part of the reason it was hard for me was lack of study skills. The methods I used in high school and pre-reqs did not work for nursing school. And I had to learn to think on my feet. I already knew how to do that to some extent because I was a CNA doing home care, but it got harder in nursing school.

Also, you just finished your first semester. You may be one of the lucky ones who breeze right through nursing school, but first semester is the easiest of them all, fast track or not. In first semester you learn the basics of nursing. It gets harder. You will have more information to remember and put together, including more of the "ridiculous drugs".

I think that really is the problem. I was one of those people in high school who could just go to class and listen a little and get an A. I still did that in pre-reqs, but I did bother to study some.

Before nursing school, I got some good advice about reading before class, consulting other sources, and eating the nursing school elephant one bite at a time. I NEVER sit down for hours and study. I study at the red light, while my kids sleep or are in the shower. When we go to the park. After 5:30, my kids are home and on the weekends, so I can't study then because I have to take care of them. Other than than that, I'm just reading over things. No notes cards, no outlines, just reading. I do some weird things too. I'll have my daughter pretend to be a patient and have her give me symptoms. Then I pretend to care for her. She's a great CHF patient! I reviewed my bones by teaching her. I did health assessment on my son. You can really hear heart sounds great on kids.

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