A&PI -- sinking fast...

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As we approach the end of the semester, I'm finding it harder and harder to take in all of the info from A&PI. After this, the only remaining prereq I need is A&PII. My brain just can't seem to get excited enough about all of the polarizing/action potential, graded potentials, spinal/cranial nerves stuff, etc... to remember it. I've gone over it and over it and over it -- and it is like I'm reading it for the 1st or 2nd time. (Early-onset Alzheimer's??? ;-P) I feel like a complete idiot that I can't "keep" this info I've read over and over in my brain.

And just tonight my 7yo said, clinging to me as I passed by her in the hallway, that she misses our "together time" and doesn't want me to be a nurse. :( Ugh!

Help! A good mother doesn't lightly dismiss her child's plea for more time with her. I told her there is just 4 more weeks of this, then she has me back (yeah -- like a 1st grader understands 4 weeks!)

Anyway... feeling low, stupid...and neglectful. :(

By the way, I'm at 84% with a B at this point.

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I understand completely. Hang in there. I'm in the same situation, and I think the kids will be quite excited when I'm done, for now. Three and a half more weeks!:)

I try to think of it as one section at a time. Sort of like this--I have only one opportunity to do well on this test...quiz....lab, whatever. If I work really hard now, I will reap the rewards. This moment will never come again, and if I push myself a little more, I will not have any regrets in the future. I don't want to be looking back and wishing I had only studied a little harder, concentrated a little better, you name it.

We're doing muscle contractions now, and the I Bands and A Bands just went right over my head. I am going to force myself to concentrate and understand the material. Hey, if I can do it, you can too, trust me! Best of luck.:)

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Hi, I completely understand. I am a single parent of an 11 year old. He has also made comments about missing our time together, and prefers that I quit school. What worked for me through A&P1&2 is actually involving him in my studying. I would mention muscles etc.. and explained to him where they are and what they do (point to them). We actually made a game of it and he pretended to be the teacher. He had fun and I learned without the guilt of neglect. Best of luck, your not alone.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

I think that any of us that are parents returning to school will have some guilty feelings about the time we have to put into studying. My three kids can't wait until I have Saturdays free again because my A&PII has been all day Saturday this semester. But, kids are young, they're adaptable and when they get older they aren't going to remember these years as times of neglect, they're going to remember that we went to school and finished something important. For me I think it's showing my kids the importance of working hard in school. We sit at the table together, I do my homework and they do homework or they color. I tell them when I'm a little nervous about a test, they were worried that I wouldn't have any friends in my class when I started, so there were good opportunities to talk about lots of things that wouldn't have come up otherwise. I guess for me the bottom line is, my schooling is not a luxury, it's a necessity for not only me but for my family. I could look at it as something that's going to be so awful for all of us and be miserable for the next two years, or I can try to find as many positives about it as I can. For me, I'd rather do it now while they're younger, my youngest will be five when I'm done, and they'll reap the benefits when they're older.

I think all of us have times of less motivation, and maybe brain function. You'll get through it and be fine. Good luck.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

A 'B' in A&P is a solid grade. The thing to do is push for a higher B (or if possible at this point even an A). Never stop striving for excellence, this is a lessen your children will absorb by seeing you live it out.

I do understand how difficult it can be to try and be a mom at the same time you're trying to do this. It's a bit different for us dads but not terribly so, the kids may miss us differently, but we miss them no less. Ocean's point about including them in study is a great one, my 13 year old daughter is fascinated by science and I am constantly bouncing stuff off of her.

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There are some great suggestions here. One way to spend more time with your child is by letting them help you study. Let them quiz you using your flash cards, or if they're old enough to read from your text, have them ask you questions from the chapter summary. If they're not old enough to read, you can be at the same table, while they're coloring and you're studying.

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walomom, I know how you feel. I only have 1 more week left. My 9 year old son said something similar to me the other day and made me feel so bad. I told him that when my class was over I would plan out a couple of things for us to do together. Yesterday I watched Star Wars with him. My 5 year old seems to think that laying down together at bedtime is particularly important. That is when she really tells me all the things about her day at school.

The crainial/spinal nerves and all the AP- Graded stuff is boring. There is a lot of micro in this class.

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walomom, I know how you feel. I only have 1 more week left. My 9 year old son said something similar to me the other day and made me feel so bad. I told him that when my class was over I would plan out a couple of things for us to do together. Yesterday I watched Star Wars with him. My 5 year old seems to think that laying down together at bedtime is particularly important. That is when she really tells me all the things about her day at school.

The crainial/spinal nerves and all the AP- Graded stuff is boring. There is a lot of micro in this class.

YES, I agree!!! (And I had micro many years ago, so it is particularly difficult for me.)

All of you parents who responded: thank you for the wonderful advice. :) I really appreciate it coming from people who know exactly what I'm talking about, as fellow parents.

I am pushing on, reminding myself that I just led an art lesson in my daughter's class last Friday. It's not like she isn't seeing me at all, its just not the one-on-one she'd prefer.

Now, on to slay the dragon!!! ;-)

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Hi I am new here and I just wanted to say hang in there. One thing that helped me with A&P 1 was you know how at the beginning of the chapter where it says the objectives and stuff. Well, I would read the material and then quickly try to answer the questions/ discuss the objectives in a paragraph form.

Also I understand the kiddo situation I took it in the summer and my poor kids were doing 12 hour days at daycare. I was so sad. Daddy would do the night duty and I just wanted to get my 12 hour study day over so I could squeeze in some time. Problem was that once I would get home I just wanted to rest my eyes, crawl in bed and sometimes cry. But hang in there. When it was all said and done I felt guilty confronting my kids but they welcomed me with open arms and I learned that family really is there no matter what as long as you do them right most of the time.

One last word of advice I have found that with A&P the difference between the A and the B or the B and the C when borderline is that the people who stick it out till the very last test push themselves over the borderline. Those that throw in the cards out of fustration at the end drop down. Good luck hang in there!!

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