Nursing school verses Pre-nursing student

Dratz · Aug 10, 2006

What a great question..

For me, the wait to hear about being accepted was long long long and agonizing. I won't forget how I felt about that lol. Then when I finally heard the news and that is only because I called to pester them ...then the PANIC set in lol.

Up until that point I had been merrily rolling along doing my pre-req's at my own pace, working, taking care of the family etc etc. No biggie, Feeling great that I am passing Anatomy, Physiology etc etc...

Then first year comes...HA!. I won't get into details about my first year here but it was challenging to say the least. For our class, we had many many challenges to get thru, new school, new instructor, new program. It was very stressful but we managed to get thru it. Did I want to quit!! Yep, I sure did, many many times. I was not the only one in class who wanted to quit.

What propelled me to hang in there? Well...the first thing that comes to mind is how long I had to wait to get in for one, then how much it was costing me and what I had spent thus far, how much very very hard work I had already done, and thinking how dissapointed I might be if I give up...

Can't really say clinical has been my best class so far. That has been the most overwhelming part for me. Not sure if I have had a "best" class yet, but I have had heartwarming moments with patients that more than makes up for all the other @$$$@@@@...if you know what I mean. And that to me is what keeps me going...

The only difference in my life thus far is it is more stressful and hectic. I am way busier than I have ever been and still have a while to go.

What I am looking forward to is the chance to breathe again.

Hope that answers your questions.

allthingsbright · Aug 10, 2006

I second much of what Dratz said (hi dratz!)

The biggest difference is the thinking--clinicals and clinical lecture req. critical thinking skills. Everything you learn has to be applied. In science class, I tended to memorize then "dump" some of the info--of course, you need lots of that pre-nursing stuff for later, too.

You cant do that in clinical--dump the info I mean. You have to remember from class to class what you have learned and it all integrates.

Also, you are dealing with the lives of real people--your patients. It is a huge responsibilty and very stressful--from bedbaths, to vital, to meds, to codes (havent done/seen one yet)--it is freaky.

The stress ups quite a bit, yet I love clinicals and the interactions taking place. Honestly, I love it much more than pre-reqs. It is hard in a diff. way--but GOOD!

GL! :)

firstyearstudent · Aug 11, 2006

Nursing school has been so much harder and so much more rewarding than I ever expected. But the thing that has suprised me most is how supportive and wonderful all my classmates have been. (I'm on break and I miss them so much!)

smk1, LPN · Aug 11, 2006

The biggest difference is the fact taht you can never know "enough". There is always more to know about any given subject that can only make you a better nurse. Nursing school is also far more time consuming than the prereqs. The journey to getting there is such a big one that you almost have this big let down once you've gotten over the fresh excitement of getting your acceptance letter, then you have to rev yourself to tackel pahse to of the process. I was so excited to start and I learned a lot just in the first term and am looking forward to starting again in September. It is a lot of work but it is interesting and rewarding so far.

HididiScribbler · Aug 11, 2006

Well, I technically took more UNITS of classes before I got into nursing school, but I calculated it and my 9 units of nursing classes should be counted as 20 units! I'm at school/hospital more often, and the hours change... I can never really rely on having the same schedule every week. Fortunately, we have a calendar to show when the schedule changes, but it's kind of frustrating to not have a completely set schedule...

I'm not a morning person, so I also had to adjust to reaaaally early mornings.

It IS rewarding, though... frustrating, sometimes scary (that would be clinicals) but rewarding...I've had some wonderful patients, and they are really what makes me think, "Ok, this is going to be worth it...I can do it."

As far as the wait goes, I got in right when I applied... but I had 3 semesters of pre-reqs before I COULD apply... It sometimes bothers me that I'm still at a community college, but the three semesters were pretty necessary...

And I liked Micro and A & P So much so that I was very close to being a bio major... of course, nursing school has a looot of A&P in it, so I really like it.

So, yeah, it was worth it, I think. Right now, I'm enjoying my vacation before I have to get back to it I like nursing school, despite how frustrating it can get sometimes... and I look back to how I was at the start of last semester, and realize how much I HAVE learned, and how much more confident I am, since then. That's what keeps me from freaking out about how much I still don't know...

ShockerGirl07 · Aug 11, 2006

I'm like dratz, when i was doing my pre-req's, it was all good, easy going (i still had to work hard but i was really "destressed") then on Oct. 1 i took the entrance exam, and only had to wait 18 days and found out i got in, then got really happy then started to freak out. I had NO clue what to expect i didn't know anyone that had gone into nursing school in 20+ years so i was clueless. You will do fine though if you really want to do this. We have a class of 60 and we are all pretty close - i wouldn't trade them for any other class i love them!