Need an opinion

liljsmom02 · Dec 19, 2005

On the first day of school my freshman year the seniors were asked to go around and give us one piece of advice. The one I found most valuable was to get to know each other because only the people in this room know what you are going through. this is true so don't ever expect your husband to understand the intensity. i did A&P before i started nursing classes so i am no help there but i can tell you this much. my freshman year i did while working full time with a 2 year old at home and fighting a nasty custody battle for my step son. so far my fall semester, we have won custody so i now have 2 children at home, work full time, manage hockey and basketball season with my boys, my father died and i found out 3 weeks ago that the reason i have been so tired and feeling like crap had nothing to do with nursing school but wuth the fact that i am pregnant. and my husband still doesn't understand. good luck dear and remember, your peers get it.

Annie63 · Dec 19, 2005

Thanks for getting back to me and good luck with your pregnancy and nursing school.

I've heard that a lot that the only people who understand what we are going through are the ones who've done it.

CRNAhopefulguy · Dec 19, 2005

Well i didn't take A&P during nursing classes and i doubt many did considering I am pretty sure A&P is a pre-requisite for many programs in order to get in, at least 4 yrs, i think 2 yr programs it might not be. I can however offer my thoughts which was I took Nursing I, Pathophsyiology, and Microbiology (Dont ask me why i did that) then worked full time 3rd shift(11-7) followed by a part time job on the weekends. So we got two sciences, a nursing, and 60+ hrs equals an equation for destruction. Lets just say, plz plz dont do that!!!!!! I screwed myself royally. I burned myself out working so much that I had no time for classes. I ended up missing a B in both my sciences but passing my nursing with a B+. Dont work a lot, i learned that the hard way, but i passed both classes the next semester and cut my hours down to 40 total between both jobs and was just fine and passed each with a B. So its good not to work alot, cuz ull get far behind, althought im a chronic workaholic. I think i can contribute it to not studying till the night before since i was very tired the rest of my time, but if i studied throughout the semester im sure i would of done better. Just not ever sleep.

Hoozdo, ADN · Dec 24, 2005

Hi, I am new to the board and I've been admiring the support on this board.
I need the opinion from some people who understand what I was up against.
I like to hear from people who took full-time nursing classes and A+P at the same time.
1. What else did you have going on in your life besides that (work, family)?
2. From a scale 1-10 (1 = no problem at all to 10 = toughest thing I've ever done), where would you rate it.
3. How did you do in both classes?
I just got done with doing it, and my husband and I don't agree on the intensity of it.
So, I like the input from some fellow students or people who have done it.
Thank you,
Annie

I took second semester A&P with my second semester of nursing school, (for LPN I went to a diploma school and A&P was not a prereq). answer to questions:

1. nothing going on my life except school until my mother got sick with peritonitis and ARDs and was in ICU. Supportive husband, no kids, no work

2. 6.5 without mother medical problems, 9.0 with medical problems

3. I got a C in A&P (only because I am a cat lover and couldn't stand identifying and disection of cats) and B's in nursing classes.

1Tulip · Dec 27, 2005

That's really hard to quantify. I've had students who worked full time... but on quiet units where they could actually haul out their notes and study. I've taught students who had several children, but their spouse had flexible work hours so child care wasn't as much of an issue.

Don't you think it is what it is? I mean... if the semester felt like it consumed you and bled you dry... then it probably did.

At some level, I think anyone who completes a nursing program while maintaining interpersonal relationships and remaining reasonably sane... has done something truely heroic.

shannonibellen · Dec 27, 2005

Hi,

My only pre-req's were algebra, chemestry and human biology so I took those with sociology my first semester than I got into the nursing program (2yr). My first semester actually in the nursing program I took nursing 1, A&P 1, general psychology and developmental psychology. I also have three kids at home but no job other than my kids. I did very well in all of those classes. I did need to study for A&P. I would rate the difficulty about a 7. Overall for that semester I would say about a 5. That semester ended in Decemeber of 04 then, during winter break, New Years day to be exact my mother passed away of breast cancer. So my little sister and brother came to stay with me, that made the following semester harder to deal with. I took nursing 2, A&P 2, and weight training. A&P 2 was more difficult for me because I found it to be a lot of memorizing. I hate memorizing anything, I want to understand it. I found that semester to be the hardest I ended up with an A- in A&P and a B+ in nursing I rated that semester about a 8.5 it sucked. I just finished my third semester which was much easier than the second. I took micro, english 2 and nursing 3, overall that semester was about a 6. I hope I helped.

Shannon

Doog · Dec 27, 2005

I took A&P + fulltime nursing classes + work fulltime + wife and 2 kids. It's all about time management!

Shawn

ByTheLake · Jan 1, 2006

Hi Annie. My dh didn't get it at first, either. I'm a full-time student (rare in my school), I teach my children myself, and my dh works away from home 4+ days at a stretch (as in gone 24 hours for 4+ days). Pre-req's were no sweat: A&P I & II, Micro, Alg and Eng all at once, no problem. But my first semester (quarter, really) of nursing classes? That's another story, LOL!

About 3 weeks into it, he was moping and whining that I wasn't giving him enough attention. I tried to explain, but he didn't get it. So, I sat down, and drew out a grid, and filled in what hours I was in class each day. Then on another page, I listed all the assignments (quizes, tests, papers, projects, skills demo's, etc.) I had due on what dates. I asked him to help me figure out how to schedule my study and work time, and fit in teaching the kids, and cleaning the house, and take into consideration I was doing it alone on days he was at work. He just kind of stared at it all for a while, totally dazed, eyes glazed over, look up at me, shrugged and said "I guess I'll see you again next summer, huh?" And he finally got it. He started helping out *way* more around the house, took over some of the teaching, and was way more understanding about things not getting done. He gave me more support, was more patient, and helped me make it through this far.

Right now we're enjoying my longest stretch off so far (4 weeks) and only have 2 semesters to go (and I'll have all of next summer off). It's the first break I haven't crammed full with a 3-week mini-course. But we're doing it this way so I can get *done* already and not spend 5 years getting an ADN, kwim? And he's so behind me now. He's only twice since then gotten upset about my lack of attention to him, and all I had to say was "Well, let's look at my schedule, and see where we can fit it in. While we're at it, I could use help figuring out when I can sleep, eat, and brush my teeth twice a day, too!" LOL! That's all it takes.