why is med/surg so difficult?

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I've not actually taken this class yet but I hear it is one of the hardest parts of nursing school, so why is that? Are there a lot of tests/assignments?

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Specializes in Progressive Care: Intermediate & Cardiac.

there's just a whole lot of information.

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Two reasons:to weed people out and it is the foundation of nursing. It's hard but doable. Just work hard and learn as much as possible and eventually all the stuff you crammed into your head in med/surg begins to make sense. To be honest all I did in med/surg was try my hardest to stay afloat; I'd cram stuff into my head in order to pass the test then dump it only to cram more in. It will be ok! Good luck!

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because if caring were enough anyone could be a nurse.

[color=yellow]::looks around:: did somebody think nursing was easy? that nurses didn't have to have an excellent mastery of a lot of solid science and other material? hands?

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I wouldn't say nurses have mastery of a science at all.

But I think med/surg, or what we called acute care, is difficult based on the perception of the student. I liked the material so for me it was one of easier classes. We didn't have any assignments and had a test every two weeks or so followed by a Hesi end of course that I Aced! The OB/Peds one, however, I failed but had enough points to still pass the course fine, lol. I couldn't care less about stuff in OB.

It's like the nurse version of internal medicine.

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Med-surg is our first semester, and honestly...I find it sort of easy. I don't know how it is at other schools, but I've heard our 3rd semester is the hardest. In that semester we do ER, OR, and community nursing I think.

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"i wouldn't say nurses have mastery of a science at all."

seriously?:mad: them's fightin' words, bud. on what body of knowledge do you base that opinion? did your faculty and texts forget to tell you that nursing is based on scientifically-validated nursing diagnoses, that we rely on science for evidence-based practice, that nursing degrees are science degrees (bsn, msn, dnsc)? or did they tell you all that, but you just sat in the back row and rolled your eyes?

so ok, you're in nursing school and you don't believe what you are learning leads to any kind of mastery of a scientific discipline. then what on earth do you think of as a scientific discipline, and what leads you to believe that nursing isn't one?:uhoh3:

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"i wouldn't say nurses have mastery of a science at all."

seriously?:mad: them's fightin' words, bud. on what body of knowledge do you base that opinion? did your faculty and texts forget to tell you that nursing is based on scientifically-validated nursing diagnoses, that we rely on science for evidence-based practice, that nursing degrees are science degrees (bsn, msn, dnsc)? or did they tell you all that, but you just sat in the back row and rolled your eyes?

so ok, you're in nursing school and you don't believe what you are learning leads to any kind of mastery of a scientific discipline. then what on earth do you think of as a scientific discipline, and what leads you to believe that nursing isn't one?:uhoh3:

nursing does have a little science, but a mastery? heck no. most nursing schools don't require anything beyond intro to chemistry..even some of the "top schools". if you go into something that requires biochem, organic chemistry, physics i and ii, real microbiology(not the "nursing intro to micro that a lot of ppl have", thennn that's a mastery.

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I've not actually taken this class yet but I hear it is one of the hardest parts of nursing school, so why is that? Are there a lot of tests/assignments?

I head that, too. But I found it was one of my easier classes. I actually found fundamentals the most difficult.

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Nursing does have a little science, but a mastery? Heck no. Most nursing schools don't require anything beyond intro to chemistry..even some of the "top schools". If you go into something that requires Biochem, Organic chemistry, Physics I and II, REAL microbiology(not the "nursing intro to micro that a lot of ppl have", THENNN that's a mastery.

I'm always amazed by this. It must be other states are like this because where I live its not like that. As pre-req's I had to take organic chemistry, general chemistry, REAL microbiology (now the community colleges require a health something no lab micro-bio which is what I'm assumming you feal is FAKE micro) with a lab and all the fun gram staining you could dream of, advanced upper division pathophysiology and thats all I can think of now. Thats the norm for BSN programs where I live. I do live in a bigger metro area.

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"i wouldn't say nurses have mastery of a science at all."

seriously?:mad: them's fightin' words, bud. on what body of knowledge do you base that opinion? did your faculty and texts forget to tell you that nursing is based on scientifically-validated nursing diagnoses, that we rely on science for evidence-based practice, that nursing degrees are science degrees (bsn, msn, dnsc)? or did they tell you all that, but you just sat in the back row and rolled your eyes?

so ok, you're in nursing school and you don't believe what you are learning leads to any kind of mastery of a scientific discipline. then what on earth do you think of as a scientific discipline, and what leads you to believe that nursing isn't one?:uhoh3:

no, i believe the scientific disciplines are physics, chemistry, geology, and biology with their respective subfields. nursing could attempt to align itself with the biology realm, yet it chooses not to do so and believes that would be too similar to the medical field. medicine and pharmacy seem to align themselves well with biology and chemistry respectively. nursing seems to prefer psychology which seems to be on the fence as a science. the sciences require a basic, fundamental study of each of the other sciences. geology students will take a couple of basic level courses in chemistry and physics. biology students will do the same. chemistry students will take a couple of basic level courses in physics. physics students will take basic courses in chemistry. physics is the mother science. nursing students don't take physics. often, they may take chemistry, but it's often a specific course that only they or less than science majors will take. for example, (don't take offense) the university i attend, at which i am a student and alum, there is a general chemistry course provided for nursing students and students of agri-business. those two fields have significant numbers of students there, and the school found that university chemistry i and ii (the courses i took with my first major) were too detailed for their needs and abilities as a whole. however, they may take university chemistry in place of general if they choose to do so.

the faculty have never mentioned that the nursing field is a science, and i don't think i've seen too many textbooks strive for that either. yes, i do sit in the back, and i would have rolled my eyes if they said that. i will not acknowledge any of the few nursing theories i've learned about as being scientific but perhaps a philosophy instead.

as far as the degrees...well, any field can get a b.s. or m.s. degree. the same university awarding a bachelor of science in nursing (bsn) may give a bachelor of science in education (bse), and education is not a science let me assure you. i know someone with a m.s. in english. the initials of the degree don't indicate whether the major was scientific in nature.

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Nursing does have a little science, but a mastery? Heck no. Most nursing schools don't require anything beyond intro to chemistry..even some of the "top schools". If you go into something that requires Biochem, Organic chemistry, Physics I and II, REAL microbiology(not the "nursing intro to micro that a lot of ppl have", THENNN that's a mastery.

So should it be assumed what you're saying is that some nursing schools have mastery in science and other do not? :confused: Because I've done organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and statistics at my school

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