Is Nursing School Hard?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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How hard is nursing shcool? Did many of you have difficult times when you went to nursing school? What motivated you and how did you make it through?

Yes, its hard.

Well, I don't know what nursing school everyone else went to...but mine is hard! I'm going through a 2 year program...and I'll graduate in June! It's very demanding. There's been several times these past two years that I've said "Alright, I've seriously had it with all this stress!!!" But I've just kept on working hard, and it's paid off. I'm 21 years old, so I jumped right from high school into nursing school. Some of the frustration has come from my friends (who have no clue what they want to do in life, and don't understand me at all) call me and tell me how much fun they're having partying, etc. It takes a lot of self control to do my homework all weekend rather than go out and have fun with friends. But I'll be graduated with a secure job before they even pick a major, so its worth it. I've held onto the quote: "Lots of people limit their possibilities by giving up easily. Never tell yourself this is too much for me. It's no use. I can't go on. If you do you're licked, and by your own thinking too. Keep believing and keep on keeping on!" Bottom line is...if you want it bad enough, you will make it through. Just keep thinking about how awesome it will be when you're finally finished. And make sure you save all your paperwork...it'll come in handy for future reference. :heartbeat

Specializes in Operating Room.

I don't think it was hard necessarily as far as coursework...what was hard was time management because I worked while I was in NS. Many of my classmates both worked and had children at home. Nursing school instructors still see students as mostly young and financially unencumbered(ie parents pay for everything) so this could be hard.

How did I get through it? I learned to get by on 5 hours sleep a night and coffee and Red Bull became my best friends.:lol2:

People vary as far as academics, some struggle, some don't. That's just the way the world works. I have always been a strong student, I take good notes, and I test well. I was already working in a hospital, I was comfortable in that environment, so clinical wasn't bad either...But,I am someone who loves her sleep so getting up at 5am 3 days a week was hard, having to bite my lip when the instructor treats you like you're 5, that was hard.

I believe that's what most were driving at when they said NS wasn't hard..they may have meant academically.

Specializes in Peri-Op.

I actually thought it was pretty easy. i am a good test taker though.... I never study and had worked in health care for quite a while before doing nursing school so alot of it was kind of second nature to me...... If you are a good student, dedicated to what you do, you will be just fine.

Specializes in LPN student.
How hard is nursing shcool? Did many of you have difficult times when you went to nursing school? What motivated you and how did you make it through?

School is difficult. I pray all the time. I study hard and i'm in a study group.

Yes, nursing school is hard! Those who say it's easy can go ask half the class that failed out, see if they will agree with you! What kept me focused was keeping my mind on short goals and to not get overwhelmed. Also, when there are persons who say you can't make it... some how that can drive a person (like me) more into completing my goal.

Hard.

Im amazed at all these people who say it was easy or not hard. I have been told that only half the people who entered the LPN program graduated this year. If its not hard, than I dont know what to think because after putting in all the hard work of the pre-re'qs I cant imagine people not putting forth their best effort.

Im confused, some say not hard and others say it consumes their life. I guess we just have to find out for ourselves.

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

Nursing school theory classes were not hard for me at all. Clinicals were another story. Clinicals were hell on Earth to me because I had such anxiety and terror that I was going to make a mistake and hurt someone and/or fail out. Now that I have RN behind my name I'm not so terrified.

So for me, it wasn't that nursing school was complex or challenging subject matter wise - it was my own mental hangups that caused me such fear in the clinical setting.

On another note, I'm taking an upper-level psychology course that blows away any nursing course I've ever taken as far as workload and complexity.

Nursing school is more stressful than hard. The actual reading is not very difficult to understand, however the AMOUNT of reading makes it stressful. Basically what makes it "hard" is the amount of material you are having to retain, combined with the tests. Nursing tests are not black and white. They are gray, with many different types of gray to choose from. All of the answers are about a particular subject, 2 of them are really good answers, however ones is just a little better then the other. The tests do not really test your knowledge of the material (because they already expect you to know that) they test you on how well you can apply what you know to ANY given situation they can think up. The books do not prepare you for that, or the notes you receive. A great portion of the tests are critical thinking based. Basically, even if you took the test and know 100% of the information, even if they let you have the book when you took the test (haha yeah right) you would still have to rely on your critical thinking skills.

as long as you read the information and while your doing so are thinking of how you can apply it, then nursing school is 100% doable.

promise.

It IS extremely hard for me, personally. I am studying, applying myself, using good time management, and I still barely have my head above water (academically) sometimes.

It might depend on the specific program that you are in a.k.a. the specific teachers/curriculum covered. I'm in a BSN program in Texas. In my program, a lot of people have failed out, at least half of the remaining people ARE on anti-anxiety meds, and we don't get to sleep much. It's not uncommon to see crying people after a test. (Because we're worried that one test could fail us out of the program. Because, unfortunately, it could.) We study all of the time.

This semester I've started relaxing a bit, giving myself breaks, and NOT beating myself up about test grades. You'll go crazy if you don't. The tests are hard, and, at least in this particular program, you can walk into a test knowing "everything", and still fail.

I think a lot of graduate nurses block it out. A lot of them don't seem to remember how hard it was. It's definitely hard, but it's also definitely do-able. If I can get through this, I think I will be MUCH better prepared to get through other hard challenges in life, and I've already started to see my critical thinking skills pay off in every day life. (I'm noticing that sometimes I "get" simple things that other "non-nursing-trained" people do not.) A positive attitude, and good time-management skills are vital for getting through nursing school.

And, as far as instructors go, just remember that they were PROBABLY "helping" people a long time ago, or else they wouldn't have gone to nursing school in the first place. Try to pull that "helping-ness" out of them again. Don't view them negatively. That will get you nowhere.

After reading these post, am sitting here with tears in my eyes !! am not in nursing school yet and i feel the stress (oh goodness) ! i have been a CNA for 3 yrs and am ready to take it a notch ! i already made a mental note ! HARD BUT DOABLE !

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