Nursing school IS rigorous

[sjalv]

I think this topic has been discussed ad nauseum but I went into this first semester thinking the horror stories were meritless and the result of lazy students, but that could not be more incorrect.

I am just about to finish my first week of the first semester in my nursing career, and I seriously have a headache from all the reading I've been doing. Today, I had my first post-lab quiz and I made a 60%, where 74.9% is required to be passing. Only 1 person out of 8 in my lab group passed. We all have individual appointments with our instructor to do it again. Our first grade stands, but we must pass it to continue on with lab.

I will be the first to admit that it is MY fault I didn't pass. I didn't do all the required readings, and the ones I did do were not thorough enough. I thought I could just look over the skill procedures for sterile technique and pass the 20 question quiz. WRONG! It doesn't help that my instructor spends the 3 hour lab session talking about her experiences as a nurse and allowing small talk between the students. I think that might have to do with our small clinical group size of 8 people. She doesn't lecture over the procedures or material, which.. let me reiterate, DOES NOT JUSTIFY MY FAILURE. It just highlights that as nursing students, we have to carry our own weight. We must be prepared to teach ourselves anything and everything.

This post isn't meant to scare or discourage anyone. Just know that the stories by other members saying how real and scary nursing school can be have validity to them. No, it isn't ENTIRELY life consuming, as I am here writing this topic. Breaks are actually needed lest you stop absorbing information from reading. But serious discipline has to be developed to sit down and read chapters at a time, and FAST. These reading assignments pile up and they do not stop.

Be prepared to tell friends NO, that you cannot hang out. This semester is the first one in forever that I won't have class or work on the weekends, but it doesn't matter. My free Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are not really 'free'. They will be spent strategically reading and studying for the ever looming tests and quizzes. From the moment I wake up, to the moment I sleep, I am constantly studying. If I'm not, I am thinking about how I should be studying. I can't afford to make time for anything but eating, showering, and going to the gym.. and that's only because I need a stress reliever of some sort.

Thanks for reading my rant and I hope it helped someone. Please refrain from comments like "Did you think nursing school was going to be easy?", "Duh. It's nursing school." because no, I did not think nursing school would be easy. I knew it would be difficult. But no one can know what it is like until they are actually experiencing it, and more students to be need to know that.

[Mewsin]

It is really an eye opener. I had already experienced critical thinking questions and nursing labs previously to starting nursing school, so I did have a clue. It is a lot of work though. We just got our schedule for school yesterday, and now the homework starts. I need to have one quiz done for the first day, one for the second and about 10 chapters to read.

[melizerd, ASN, RN]

Things are tough but please don't give up 100% of your "life" You need a break, you need time to decompress. Off time IS as important as studying. Learning to study efficiently is more important than studying more.

I'm starting my FINAL!! semester on Monday and first semester was hardest because you are relearning how to learn and study compared to previous classes. It's that "thinking like a nurse" concept.

I take time every evening to have dinner with my family and watch Jeopardy after dinner I usually don't study on Sundays either, it's family time or do something with friends. If there's a test on Monday then I cut the Sunday short and study in the evening.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Nursing school is unlike anything you have ever done.....I'm sorry you didn't do well on the first quiz.....it will get better from here! It is a learning curve....but it will be alright.

[chrabi417]

Despite my very best effort to prepare myself for nursing school, I wound up as overwhelmed as you are now when I started nursing school a year ago.You know why? Because I don't think there is anything that can prepare you for nursing school! You hear the warnings that it's going to be hard, but how can you wrap your brain around something that you've never experienced before? Don't get down on yourself, EVERYONE struggles at some point in nursing school!

During my first semester I frequently wondered what I had gotten myself into, and seriously considered dropping out. In fact, if it hadn't been for my clinical instructor blocking the exit, I would have literally run screaming from the building on my first full day of clinical.

If you're anything like me, you're going through the worst of nursing school now. It got easier for me once I established a successful study routine. Don't get me wrong, there isn't a decrease in the workload, you just get more efficient at managing it.

Two recommendations:

1.If you don't already have Fundamentals Success by Patricia Nugent get it ASAP! It totally got me through the lecture portion and helped me to get A's on nearly every quiz (not lab, just lecture).

2. Check out the article on this site called How to Survive (and Thrive) in nursing school.

https://allnurses.com/general-articles-about/how-survive-thrive-532725.html

I know you already have a ton of reading you're struggling to keep up with right now, but there may be advice in that article that could help. I wound up printing that out and keeping a copy in the front of my binder that first semester.

Hang in there. And good luck:D

[dmak]

I am actually smiling at your post, because it is soooooooooooooo on point. I'm about to start my third semester of nursing school, next spring will my last for the associates, and i remember how crazy the first semester was. My lab professor is the same, its always a story, and students who works as aides or techs, chime in with their own stories, and then when practicum gets really close then the professor rushing through everything, but hey guys we reach this far, we'll do what we have to successfully finish. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE.

[Summer Days]

It is a great thing you have come to that realization. The earlier you realize that you'll be teaching yourself 90% of the time, the better you are prepared. My realization was the instructor is there to make clear what is unclear to me from the assigned readings. So I'm better off coming to class prepared with questions. Thus far, all my nursing school instructors have gone about mentioning their nursing careers and all. Some overdo it while others keep it to a minimum. SOME of these stories inspire me and I love them. Readings pile up week in week out. As far as quizzes go there a two kinds of instructors; those who quiz at the beginning of class for lectures planned to be lectured that day meaning you had better have done your readings and those who quiz after they've taught. I've had both. It's a roller coaster either way. I have once failed a midterm with 62% (passing grade is 73%) but managed to pass the class. It can be done, stay focused and disciplined.

[jolie_tasso]

Post like these always worry me, but for a different reason than others. I didn't feel like my first semester of nursing school was too crazy or difficult. It was a lot of work, yes, but I got by, worked full time, and made decent grades. What worries me about this is maybe my school isn't preparing us enough. Maybe this semester will be different, but I'm scared I won't be ready if each semester is as lax as last. Anyone else feel this way?

[nurseladybug12]

The first exam in nursing school is definitely a reality check--you need to study harder than you ever have in your life because the exams are not just pure regurgitation, you have to critically think and apply the knowledge you just studied. I would get a NCLEX prep book now and start practicing questions... I have seen questions from a couple of the prep books word for word on our exams and those couple of points helped out a lot.

[sjalv]

Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions. As for the Fundamentals Success, I might look into it after I see how I do on my first lecture exam, but for now I have this constant nagging feeling that I should be studying or rereading material from our classes that I can't see myself reading something that isn't part of our syllabus And I do have an NCLEX book but I have been focusing on the chapter reviews and skills reviews as opposed to doing NCLEX questions. This is our first lecture test after all, and I don't know if NCLEX questions will be very helpful.

I dunno if I said it already, and if not, I should say it again. THERE IS NO WAY to get around reading in nursing school. You can try just reading paragraphs associated with your objectives, or subjects mentioned during lecture, but you are hurting yourself. Read the ENTIRE chapter page by page. Look at the boxes and tables. In my opinion, there is no replacement for reading the chapter word for word. Of course don't too much reading in one sitting lest you forget it all within an hour, but make use of your highlighters and definitely focus when reading. I plan to go back through the chapters closer to test time and study the material related to my objectives, but at least I will have already read the entire chapter so it is in the back of my mind.

I just finished reading the 5 chapters assigned for my next lab on Monday, so wish me luck y'all.

[pacificoastnurse]

This is a great post! You know what you're getting into, you're expecting nursing school to be hard, but yes it's hard to really know till you get there. This explains it well. And while you're in there with no social life, studying your life away, remember to take breaks, see human people outside the library, and get some sleep!

[fluidelement]

Great post bud, first weeks usually make or break us. Keep up the work ethic and I am sure you will do fine for the rest of the semester.

Tomorrow, I will be finished my "first" week of nursing school. I am in the accelerated program and the amount of material given to me is pretty ridiculous. Last week was orientation week and all we did was go over med term and fundamentals of nursing. Patho isn't as bad as everybody made it out to be and pharmacology seems to be a lot of memorization. The other classes will just be a lot of material to cover. So far this week alone we were given approximately 300-400 pages of material to read for all the classes combined. The post quizzes given in patho were pretty straight forward due to my background in biology. All i know is this weekend is gonna be a lot of reading since i have 3 quizzes right off the bat on Monday and 2 on Tuesday. I don't mean to be a cynic, but its crazy we have to test out on sterile glove technique in skills lab.

[BabyCatchr, ADN, ASN, RN]

I just graduated (my previous experience was not as an RN - the profile options need to be changed so it reflects that). Always stay up with your reading and start your projects as soon as you get them assigned. Try to work on something on your To-Do list each day when you get home. Set small attainable goals for each day and reward yourself when you reach it. Most nights I did not finish until 11 pm, but I took a small break each hour. My reward each hour would be "getting to vacuum the living room" lol, or maybe a glass of wine at the end of the night (wine and doing clinical paperwork do NOT go together!). Plan something fun at the end of the week, Friday or Saturday eve, even if you have to go home early to wake up and start working again the next morning. And always take time to get in some exercise each week. I always went to bed on time before a test, as the extra sleep seems to help more than the extra cramming. I was a single mom of 2 with a lot of responsibilities and numerous personal problems and I made it through with all A's except for an 89.7 in Pharmacology. Take one day at a time and do your best each day. There is nothing impossible about nursing school - just busy busy busy.