African American male here. I have some questions for my fellow nurses

[Shack502]

For the past 6 months I have been so stressed out about getting into nursing school. My GPA wasn't the best, but I made a 93% on the HESI Entrance exam. This ranged from crying, yelling, and overreacting to everything. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the mailbox and saw this letter. (It was kind of creepy sitting there) I picked it up and there it was, "You have been accepted". I made the weirdest sound when I saw those words but happiness filled my soul with excitement!

Right now I'm going through the "Nursing School is going to kill me" phase. I've heard so many horror stories about Nursing School that I'm actually getting very terrified. People are saying how I'm not going to get any sleep, I will loose all my friends now because Nursing is going to take up so much time, and the dark terror of the dreaded "care plans". I know this isn't a big deal but I do feel that since I'm a black male, I might have more eyes on me than usual. (I live in the South so bear with me) I know that shouldn't be a factor in my education, but that's the stigma the south portrays unfortunately...

Now that the sad stuff is out the way, I have some questions for my fellow nurses!

What was the biggest obstacle you experienced while being in nursing school?

What would you have done differently if you could do Nursing School again?

Other than studying and time management, what is the most important lesson I should learn before I go to Nursing School?

Any help would be appreciated!

[C.A.S]

I would like some advice on a career path and figure here is the best place to start. I am a 42 years old male student in 2nd semester in an ADN program at a Community College in MA. I have done a little research pertaining to careers within the nursing field and kind of like CRNA, but my concern is how long will/does it take to get to that point (RN to CRNA). I am willing to commit the time and effort into it, but at the end of I would like to know that I have enough time to "enjoy" this career move before retirement.

I would really appreciate some thoughts or posible choices.

[ImKosher]

What many have come to realize is Nursing school takes a lot of your time. Your not only obligated to your schedule, but time at the hospital or clinic to pickup your assignment, care plan writings, lab time to practice your skills.My schedule runs like this. Mon: 3 hr of class, hospital: 2 hr. to pick up my assignment, research:2-3 hr looking up all information for my care plan, study: 3-5 hr for study.Tues: Clinical 530 to 330. Care plan 2-4 hr. study 3-5 hr.It's an investment of time. Don't expect to plan strictly to your class schedule.