Which semester is the toughest?

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Nov 15, 2013

The issue is that not all schools go through the same order and sometimes it's the quality of teachers mixed in. Some teachers are far worse than others that may make an easy subject become the hardest ever. My one friend chose a different rotation pattern than me for our final semester and she has a teacher sent up from the other campus who is horrible. She had barely anyone if no one pass last semester (one girl who graduated from the campus told me about it). We had five people in my class from last semester who drove over an hour to come to class and clinicals to take it with my easy instructor.

She is doing fine, but she is studying her a** off. She has my notes and my instructor's lectures and powerpoints to look at on top of her class stuff.

For me, mine was third semester which a lot of people agree with. However, a third semester here may be different than other schools' third semesters. We had psych and adult health II.

annagirl0604 · Nov 16, 2013

At my nursing school in GA the first quarter was the toughest.I believe we lost 9 out of 39. And the numbers kept on dropping until the end. Med-Surg was so boring. We had one lady that read strictly from the book and in the same tone (lost nearly everyone in her lectures).And if you were caught closing your eyes you were told to leave the lecture. Oh boy you talk about some red eyed people LOL.

bas22 · Nov 16, 2013

Each semester will be difficult for a reason unique to that specific semester. The first semester is difficult due to the 'culture shock' that is nursing school- it's like stepping into a tornado. Then comes the 'critical thinking' component in the second semester- they begin teaching you how to 'think like a nurse'; which is challenging. Third semester is all about prioritization- they will hammer you with your ABC's. And the fourth semester is just a big ole' torpedo of it all- putting it all together and 'seeing the big picture'. With that being said, you will also find things that you enjoyed in each different semester as well.

I am finishing up my last semester and it has by far been the most difficult- hemodynamic monitoring anyone??

It's difficult but it really does fly by!

malestunurse · Nov 16, 2013

I just finished my second year and for me so far it has been my 3rd, we has a combined med surg/mental health paper with placements, law/ethics paper and pathophys paper all in the same semester. Our university did a really good job of easing us into it in our first year so I found the first year quite easy.

nlynrob · Nov 16, 2013

For me it was both semesters sophomore year. Foundations, health assessment, Pathopharm I and II, med-Surg I, nutrition, and growth and development. It was mostly Pathopharm that made it so hard, it's bad enough on its own but combined with everything else it was a nightmare. We started with 78 people and at the end of that year we had 43. But I got through it and so far junior year has been a relief! Still difficult but not so much at once.