What semester is the hardest?

[blueberry21]

:gandalf: Some friends of mine that already graduated from the nursing program both agreed that the 2nd semester of nursing was the most demanding. Is this what you have experienced or is it different for everyone.

Im sure I will find them all very demanding!!

Just curious.

I start my 1st semester in August for my ADN.

:penguin:

[tangmo]

I see that you go to school in North Texas. Do you go to Grayson county college? Your description of the semesters sounds like how ours was.

[weasie]

I was just wondering why the students say that the 3rd semester is the hardest. Have you heard anything about what makes it the hardest? I am going into my 3rd semester at Grayson, and I am just curious about what to expect. I know we will cover psych 1st, but that's about all I have heard about it so far. I don't have a syllabus....which I did!

Thanks for any tips or suggestions you have to offer.

[Soon2BPaeds]

Im in 3rd semester right now and I think its the hardest. We are doing psych and community nursing. I think its the hardest because the material is kinda dull and some of the theories that go along with it are a little nuts. I have no interest in these areas so I am a little biased but many of my classmates think this is the hardest term so far as well.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

For me so far it was the second semester. Mostly because they spoiled us in the first semester by making it too easy and we got majorily shell shocked when semester 2 hit. I wish my program would have made better use of that first semester by teaching us SOMETHING rather than just basically having courses that you didn't even need to show up or read to get A's in.

Hey, don't feel so bad. My first semester consisted of Fundamentals and clinicals and we (my class) were still babied! I know from reading the posts on here and talking to both students and instructors at my school that second semester is going to hit my class like a ton of bricks (though it will still not be as hard as third semester for some reason I do not know of at this time)!

I agree that it is sad that your school and mine did not use first semester as a reality check. I suppose when I become an instructor some day (yes, people I am one in the making), I will either have a better understanding of why first semester is constructed the way it is and accept it or I will be able to help make changes! GL.

[weasie]

At the risk of sounding silly, I have to ask....what is community nursing? Do you have a particular book for that, or is it actual nursing in the community? Thanks

[frez]

I would have to say the semester yet to come is the hardest. I take it one semester at a time

Frez

[stpauligirl]

For me it was the first. I guess it was the newness of it all. I found 2nd semester more interesting. But it is where you get beyond the basics and start learning pharmacology, patho., etc. and it all starts to come together. But to me it wasn't "harder".

That's good to know, I will also have pharmacology during the second semester and am a little worried

[future L&Dnurse]

I'm in my second semester right now. My first semester seemed hard, simply because it was all new and very overwhelming. This semester seems harder. I get mixed reports from the third semester students on whether it's harder or easier, and it seems to depend a lot on whether they're in the clinical sites they wanted or not. It seems mostly agreed upon that the last semester is easiest, because it's almost all clinical and hands-on experience.

[kasia2]

Im my school everyone says that the second semester is the hardest because we have to take 16 credits hours..we will have four classes, and couple of tests each week, this is the semester of either you make it or brake it, however the third semester is hard as well..and the first is doable because we only have 9 credir hours..only two classes to complete.

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

I was just wondering why the students say that the 3rd semester is the hardest. Have you heard anything about what makes it the hardest?

I know we cover psych, peds and cardiac, and I don't know what else. I understand the toughness comes from the quantity of material and the amount of studying and work involved, in addition to the fact that we go back to 2 days of clinicals each week. Man, I HATE those early mornings!!

I agree with the statement that the semester coming up is always the hardest, but I honestly felt that second semester was a dream after the newness and stress of first semester. It just sailed by!!

[edisonnurse]

For me, it was fourth semester. I was so burnt out by then that just studying became an overwhelming task, and I think the fear of "Oh my gosh I am about to graduate and become a REAL nurse" scared the daylights out of me. Part of me wanted to be able to go to school forever and the other part of me couldn't wait till the day I would never have to see that school and those instructors again. I think it's different for everybody, and each person has their own unique set of strenghs, but my fourth semester was...babies!!!!!! YIKES!!! hated it!!!!..good luck

[momathoner09, BSN, MSN, APRN]

I thought fundamentals was the hardest because it involved completely changing the way I had ever studied and learning the best way. Also clinical writeups used to take me all night but now I knock them out in a few hours tops (thank god for templates-copy and paste:)