are you scared you won't make it??

Nurses Career Support

Published

Are any of you scared you won't be able to make it through school? i start my pre-reqs in september and am so happy and scared about it! I am 36 haven't been in school since 10th grade ( got my high school equivalency diploma later), I went to cosmetology school and passed boards with good grades and recently took a dental assisting course and got the highest grade out of my class, but looking at 4 years of school laid out in front of me is intimidating!! I want to do this but am so scared of investing time money and going in debt and then not being able to get to the goal!! how many of you are in the same boat? :rolleyes:

lynn

Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

I worry constantly that I won't be able to finish due to finances. We are on one income (which isn't much because husband works at a prison and they pay crap) because any money I would make working part time would go right back to daycare and then some. We receive $200 a month child support for my 2 stepkids. We don't qualify for anything because my husband makes about $1000 over the limit for any kind of assistance. And I don't qualify for any financial aid, including any kind of government loan. So the entire cost of nursing school is my responsiblity and unfortunately, we live in an area with fairly high cost of living. Our 3 bedroom apartment is $900 a month and that's a cheaper apartment. Thank God we only have one car payment and it's under $300 a month. I have no qualms about making it as a student...it's the money I worry about.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I haven't started school yet and I'm already worried. Then again I come from a long line of worriers! :D

Some of the things I worry about most, besides financing school, are:

*Not having the drive to finish. I have the type of personality that I get a great start.... dive in full force and then loose momentum and end up not finishing. I know that this won't cut it for nursing school and will have to find a way to combat it.

*Not being able to do some of the things a nurse is required to do... Needles... I don't mind learning how to draw blood, but if someone wanted to "practice" on me I'd freak!!! :D

*Getting too emotionally involved in patients, even as a student... I want to care, but I know that if I take it all home with me I'll burn out before I even become an RN. Not to mention what it would do to my marriage.

*Being a FAT chick in a white outfit... the school I'm going to requires the students to wear all white... and the FAT issue will also make the physical demands more difficult...I'm going to try and have that somewhat resolved before I start school next fall.

*Will I be able to deal with it when I make a critical error that leads to the harm of a patient... I'm sure I'll make mistakes, I'm human, but I can't imagine how I'll deal with it if I cause the serious injury or (gasp) death of someone. :o

I could go on forever with my fears, but I hope to find some good people at school that I'll be able to study with, share my hopes and fears and therefore muddle through together. I also hope to find some great nurses to take me under their wing and get me through the rough spots so that I'll be able to make it to the time when someone's life is changed, for the better, because of me.

Let's not let fear keep us from joining all the lovely, dedicated nurses out there...and truly making this world a better place to live.

Believe me, this self-doubt has also been on my mind. Especially when you consider how many years some of us have been spending on completing prereqs. What is making me feel more and more that I can do this is by finding out more about the nursing program I am trying to get into. After talking with current nursing students, this program is really trying to do all they can to help you succeed.

For example, many worry about the math test you need to take (need 100%) to stay in the program. Well, in my school you have 3 chances to take the test and in between each test there is a huge opportunity to get tutoring.

I'm taking nutrition in the nursing building and whenever I go into the building, I say to myself that I will be here as a student nurse, I will be.

and I WILL!

Kris

I to am scared of ot making it but am more worried about not having tried. I went back to school with an 8th grade education and placed college on the placement exams. I am in my second year of pre requisites and it is tough. I have a 4.0gpa but have sacraficed all pleasures to do so. With a 11 unit load Chemistry, English 101 and Speech I average 65 hours of study and class time per week. Dedication is a definiate or don't even bother.

Good luck and it will be worth it in the end.

M:roll

Ever since I received my acceptance letter, I have been worrying about not making it. I am a strong student, so I am not too worried about the academics. What concerns me are the practical skills, such as inserting IVs and drawing blood.

I have never had a job that was "hands on". I have only worked at jobs in front of a computer. I worry that I won't be able to master the physical skills necessary for nursing. I read about students who were great students but couldn't perform in clincals and I worry that will be me.

I am trying not to worry and to believe that I will be able to do everything necessary to become a great nurse.

Don't worry it is scary I went it to a huge debt to finance my business degree, don't think of it as a debt but as an investment in yourself :) You will be surprised at how fast those classes will go by. I barely got past college algebra in high school and when I was ready for college @ 25, I was staring down a path of 6 high level math classes..........ending with business calculus II. I almost backed out, but I found the right teacher, the right people to study with and I made it through. You will too.

I swear you must be my aunt's twin, she got her GED, was a cosmetologist and went back for a bachelor's in nursing in her mid-30's too. She is now close to finishing master's and teaching too. I am sure if you asked her, she had doubts but look at her now!

I am 30, working in finance in a corporate office, but looking to switch gears and become an RN, it is never too late!! That was the best thing I learned, you will be proud of those people in your classes that are 50+ following their dreams, it is an inspiration.

Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

I graduated High School in 1971 and started nursing school in 1991. I was 38 with 4 kids and a husband that worked evenings and didn't even know how to cook or change a diaper. My daughter who was 12 at the time, would put dinner on the table (I had cooked before I left for classes) and call her father home to eat. She also put her 3 brothers to bed. I was so afraid of missing my clinicals at 6:30AM that I stayed up all night. I made it and you can too if you really WANT to be a nurse. I spent all 10 years in the ER until I became Latex allergic. I never went to a floor. So I tell lots of Nursing Students..

IF I COULD DO IT SO CAN YOU!!!!!!!

But be sure you are doing it for the care and not for "money". Otherwise it's not worth the hassle.:kiss

Yes, I know what all of you mean. I am a masters degree person who is completing a BSN now. When my husband retired from the military after 23 years--I just kinda got tired of receiving rejection letters in the mail for jobs and having everyone say to me: you have a masters degree and great experience, you should have no problem finding a job. Well, that along with all the other people applying for those jobs. :coollook:

So, I decided to go back to school instead of being unemployed. I wanted to know that when I got done with my BSN-people would be knocking on my door for a change with the job. Well, good sentiments to all of you and the best.

hty/ :rotfl:

I'm more concerned that I'll get through school, get into the field, and HATE it. I will have wasted all that time and energy, and gotten nowhere.

School doesn't intimidate me. Not knowing whether it's the career for me or not - that's what concerns me.

Here, here Tilly. This is my fear too. Not that it's not the right field, but that the way nursing has to be practiced under managed care will cut my effectiveness, create an intimidating situation, and I'll wonder why I bothered changing careers. :angryfire

Simply put, I'm terrified about all things school related: hating the field, affording to support my family, making decent grades. I am plagued by self-doubt! :o

I am going to LPN school in the Fall. To tell you the truth, I am scared of not passing. I guess the only thing to do is to do my best. And if I fail, I will know that I tried my hardest so that is how I look at it.

I was a nursing student and now I am a student taking two lousy credits pharmacology and career planning. I have no major at the present and took alot of classes to even get into nursing and now it is over for good, I've already been readmitted and failed for the second time. I feel incredibly stupid because I know the skills and was doing well in the class but anxiety grabbed me in the clinical setting and resulted in me basically loosing my confidence and not doing as well as I should have. I will finish out the year and take microbiology and business math over the summer and hopefully find something that I enjoy and can do well. I really thought nursing was right for me too.

+ Add a Comment