Just thought I'd impart some world-weary advice from a "senior" LPN student to all you fresh-faced students getting your acceptance letters in the mail right now.
Lemme guess? You're gonna work during LPN school despite the warnings because you've always been a smartypants who picks things up quickly as doesn't have to study much in order to pass tests.
Rule number 1 of nursing school: You are not as smart as you think you are.
It's not about brains or mental acuity, kids. The amount of new information being thrown at you is astronomical. Oh, so you've taken college courses and breezed through them? Don't let the vocational school title allow you to think the LPN curriculum is lacking in complexity; not only is the curriculum difficult, but the pace at which you must learn it can't compare to anything you've experienced before. There is no such thing as cramming for a test the night before -- these are not word association multiple-choice tests. Until the know the horror of select-alls and NCLEX-format questions, you haven't experienced true fear.
Chances are, people have been repeating these things over and over, and you're smiling and nodding along. Inwardly, you're chuckling, because these people don't understand. You'll work hard, but you're still gonna celebrate your birthday week, plan to take a vacation during the school year, and spend plenty of time with your friends. Sure, regular people might have problems doing all this, but you're smart. You're determined. You're special. Well, that leads me to...
Rule number 2 of nursing school: You are not a special snowflake.
You are not too good, too smart or too busy to put your nose to the grindstone for a full year. Kiss the days of being able to cram goodbye. You need sleep. You need sanity. You need a couple hours of study EVERY NIGHT. And most of all, you need to embrace your schooling as the most important thing in your life. This is a unique and special opportunity for you to learn to care for someone at their most vulnerable. Your mastery of skills, your critical thinking, your observation and the quality of your education will someday be the difference between life and death for another human being. Understand it, value it, cherish it, and most of all, respect the process.
Once you start school (and then clinicals), you will most likely encounter instructors with methods you find unfavorable, classmates that are annoying, and nurses in the field who really, reeeeaaaally don't want to help you, except when it is to say something you perceive as rude. You will start to understand why people repeated the mantra "Nurses eat their young" and your emotions will be a merry-go-round of dread, frustration and stress.
Rule number 3 of nursing school: Grow some skin.
These are life lessons you will come to appreciate and treasure. You must be responsible for your own education and not expect to be spoon-fed answers. Tests and quizzes aren't designed for you to get 100%; they are designed for you to fight tooth and nail for an 85%. Know that the response to criticism should be "thank you" instead of "what a jerk." Mistakes happen, and in this field, they kill people, so don't hold out any hopes for being treated with kid gloves. Have classmates that you can't stand? Learn to live with them and co-exist, because you'll be a better person, a better nurse, and a better co-worker in the end.
Hi, I'm about to start my LVN program tomorrow. I'm all jitters because I don't have a job while I'm in school. Doing this on loans. I'm very nervous. I don't know whether I can do this and I'm on this forum because I have no one else to talk to about this nursing career track. And where in the world is the "Start a New Topic" Button???? Am I just blind, but there's nothing like that popping up on my screen at all. Or do I have to post some replies before that button pops up. Someone, please tell me.
Thanks so much. :)
Login and go to any topic I believe and at the top right should be a blue box
cmm4ever
332 Posts
Login and go to any topic I believe and at the top right should be a blue box