A couple of questions concerning difficulty

hypnotic_nurse · Oct 26, 2004

Well, it depends on you and your learning style and how much knowledge you've picked up along the way. :)

Personally I thought Chemistry was the hardest class I'd ever had, bar none. While Nursing was not easy, it was not frustrating the way Chemistry was for me.

twarlik · Oct 26, 2004

Well it's not exactly rocket science, but I wouldn't say it's "easy" either. The thing that makes nursing school difficult is the sheer volume of material that you're expected to learn in a very short period of time. Of course it also doesn't help that the typical nursing test question consists of four correct answers of which only one is considered "the best answer".

If you do well in your pre-reqs and study hard, then you will do well in nursing school. Good luck. :)

landonsles · Oct 26, 2004

I agree with twarlik--there is a huge amount of material to cover. We are supposed to have a vocab test tomorrow--the words were given to us today. Not too difficult, huh? Too bad there's ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY words to know for the test. Other than that, there had not been anything that I felt was completely out of my league.

Also--it's a different kind of learning. You can't just memorize words (except for the vocab tests!!) and do well on the test. You have to be able to "critically think" and apply what you have learned.

Good luck!!

fleasle · Oct 26, 2004

I would say that A&P and Micro were harder than Nursing because the Nursing concepts are easier to understand once you have that A&P & Micro knowledge. It all starts to make sense. Rather than focus on epithelial goblet cells, you focus on skin integrity and what to do about it etc. I would definitely say that Nursing is easier, but there is 5x the info shoved into the same 16 weeks. PLUS clinicals are another story altogether. Good luck! It's not impossible, it just requires less sleep than you are probably used to.

klone, MSN, RN · Oct 26, 2004

I'm taking A&P simultaneously with my actual nursing classes, and I've found A&P to be much harder.

It's just that nursing classes are a DIFFERENT kind of hard. It's a whole new culture and different things are expected of you. That takes some getting used to, but after a couple months you get used to it.

shel_wny · Oct 26, 2004

I'm on the flip-side, klone.

I'm taking A&P II along with my first semester nursing courses and Nursing Fundamentals is MUCH more difficult than A&P lecture or lab.

For A&P I know what exactly to study for and what to memorize. Each body system has a chapter and that is that - cut and dry.

Nursing Fundamentals is a big challenge for me. The questions are foreign, the reading is immense (350 medical textbook pages in 2 weeks for an exam), the exams are anything but straight forward, and when you ask what you should study the answer is always, "Everything!"

Yuck! I miss my prereqs already!

Shel

chilloutrelax · Oct 26, 2004

Nursing is more time consuming and there is more info than in your first 2 years of prereqs. It feels so hard and stressful b/c there is so much to do, to learn...you'll often feel like you can't do it, and it's a new experience. But, if you can pass the 3 prereqs and you're willing to put time into nursing school, it's not hard. The material itself isn't difficult. The material in micro and chemistry are difficult to me....but when you go to nursing school, you are prepared for it. So..not bad, just stressful and time consuming....lots of studying.

maire, ASN, RN · Oct 26, 2004

I'm probably just reiterating what has already been said, but here's my $0.02.

I don't find any of my nursing classes HARD per se, they are just massively, WICKEDLY time-consuming.

There is always reading to do (hundreds of pages a week), a care plan to write, a presentation to complete, a teaching plan to finish, a discharge assessment to turn in...a lot of BUSY WORK. Then there were the lab check-offs, necessitating hours spent in the lab at school practicing skills...which faded after the second semester into doing patient research assignments the night before clinical...which can take over an hour when I'm looking up 4 patients...

Add to this the fact that I am constantly studying for quizzes and exams...

There is never really a minute when I'm not doing something nursing school-related (unless I'm here at allnurses.com reading about it :rolleyes: ).

So...no, not hard. Just takes over your life if you're anything like I am (*cough*analretentive*cough*). LOL :chuckle Truthfully, I found microbiology to be harder than any of my nursing classes have been.

mariedoreen · Oct 27, 2004

Agreed (from what I'm seeing first term anyway). If you can handle the difficulty of A&P, Micro, Chem and Statistics you can handle the difficulty of nursing subjects. But here's the question: How do you handle A&P, Micro, Chem and Statistics all at once? If you can handle that kind of workload... well then you'll feel right at home in nursing school ; )

XIGRIS · Oct 27, 2004

If most of us had done it, so you can. I took A&P, Microbiology, Nursing Core Courses, Organic Chemistry in one semester. I had a minimum of 24-27 credit hours in a semester for 8 semester. If I can do it, so you can.

Also, I know you are planning to go to CRNA school. If you have any questions about TWU's program, I can help.

I am taking A&P, Pharmacology and Advanced Chemistry right now and in God's grace I am doing well.

XIGRIS · Oct 27, 2004

If most of us had done it, so you can. I took A&P, Microbiology, Nursing Core Courses, Organic Chemistry in one semester. I had a minimum of 24-27 credit hours in a semester for 8 semester. If I can do it, so you can.

Also, I know you are planning to go to CRNA school. If you have any questions about TWU's program, I can help.

I am taking A&P, Pharmacology and Advanced Chemistry right now and in God's grace I am doing well.