Can you guys give me an example of a day in the life of a nursing student?

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Like a first year nursing student? :) Just to give me an idea of how my schedule may be when I start soon. Thank you!

-- Also can you tell me what it was like your first couple of days, what to expect, what to carry with me at all times? What you do to destress? To stay healthy, and fit? Do you stay on campus, or off? How did you work that out?

Thank you again! xoxo

I start on on Monday here is what my schedule will look like:

Mondays 6am-12:30pm for clinical

Tues & Wed 9am-11:30am lecture

Thurs 9am-11:40am skills lab

Fri 8:30-11:20am math lab

Sat 7a-7p work

Sun 7a-7p work

Also one day a week I will be working a short shift 7p-11p.

That is so true. That is what I believe overwhelmed me greatly. I cried my second or third day. I could not keep up with the reading.

Specializes in Informatics, Orthopaedics.

Mon: 7:30 - 3:30 @ work, 4:45 - 9:15 in class

Tue & Wed: 7:30-4:30 @ work then study until I crash

Thu: 7:30 - 3:30 @ work, 4:45 - 9:15 in class

Fri: Study all day

Sat & Sun: Clinicals 6:00a-6:00p both days, and attempt to study

I am trying to quit my job in Feb or March...this schedule is killing me.

Our first semester was this summer and we were expected to have read a bunch of the material already before the first day of class. In one of the classes, we were expected to read 6 chapters (yes I said "chapters," not pages) before the first day, which would not have been so bad if the professor had posted the syllabus/calendar several days in advance of the first day of class; however, it was posted the day before. Since I had been working at a cancer fundraiser the entire day before the first day of class, I did not get the assignment until the night before when I got home. It was an intense class with heavy pathophysiology + related pharmacology content (a two-classes-in-one class) that requires detailed note-taking while reading, not just a quick read-through. Needless to say, most of the students were NOT properly prepared for the first day. That was on a Tuesday and for the next class on Thursday, we were expected to have another several chapters read and notes taken and new disease processes + pharm interventions understood (before we ever got a lecture on it) and then we were tested on the first 6 chapters. Most of us had not been able to read the first 6 chapters before the first day of class, so we were catching up with the first assignment and could not get the next several chapters read in time for the second class. So, we all ended up behind in class and the assignments never let up enough to where we could ever get caught up ... so we stayed behind the entire semester, and our grades all suffered drastically. It felt like a nightmare to me because I am not used to being behind - I'm an A student who usually has the first few chapters read before the semester even begins. It was a very frustrating experience, and most of us ended up failing several quizzes and at least one exam. One of the other less intense classes we were taking at the same time had to constantly extend deadlines and even delete assignments so that we could get stuff done in the heavy, intense class (thank God for that teacher!!). :yelclap:

I did end up passing the class, which sort of shocked me. :w00t:

It was tougher than I can ever remember school or a class being in my life! I cried my eyes out the first 2 weeks just from the overwhelming stress :crying2:

I lost 8 pounds during the 8 week semester (and I am already thin enough), simply because I had no time to do anything except school stuff, and sometimes, I was so engrossed in what I was doing, I just forgot to eat! I think it was also because of the stress level that caused me to simply lose my appetite!

Before nursing school, I was an early-to-bed, early-riser kind of gal, but in nursing school, I rarely went to bed before 2:30-3am, and so I ended up losing massive amounts of sleep. A few times, the lack of food and sleep and the added stress caused me to feel a little nutsy, and I started to doubt myself, wondering whether I was in the right place. But, I just kept telling myself, "If other people can do this, then I can too!!" It was frustrating ... BUT ... now, I feel like I could get through ANY class!! (so maybe that was part of the strategy?? ... we may never know ... but I am definitely prepared for Semester #2!! :) )

I am about to start the Fall semester and, since it is the normal length of 16 weeks (as opposed to the short 8-week summer semester in which you are expected to do the same 16-week amount of work in half the time), I am thinking it will be at least a LITTLE less stressful (I hope!). I also look forward to starting the clinical experience and getting our uniforms, which I think will make us FEEL the part a bit more and may give some of us a little more confidence and enable us to see ourselves as nurses in the future. I think if you can actually visualize yourself doing something or in some role, then it makes it a little easier to actually accomplish that goal.

So ... I say all of that to say that ... in short ... Nursing School is NO JOKE! :eek:

Fasten your seat belt and put on your Big Girl Panties!

Good Luck to ALL of my beautiful sister (and brother) nursing students out there!! I hope we ALL accomplish our goals. :nurse:

Specializes in Wilderness Medicine, ICU, Adult Ed..
That is so true. That is what I believe overwhelmed me greatly. I cried my second or third day. I could not keep up with the reading.

Nursing school is a kind of boot camp; you are not just learning stuff, you are also being toughened up physically and mentally. And, oh mercy, it does toughen you up! You are becoming a warrior. It is a painful process, and you will be a different person at the end than you were at the beginning. You will also be prouder, stronger, and more confident than you ever thought you could be.

God bless you all, comrades! Now quit wasting time reading blogs and get back to memorizing those drug cards, Rookie!!!

That is so true. That is what I believe overwhelmed me greatly. I cried my second or third day. I could not keep up with the reading.

Yes, I know! The amount of reading is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS!! Our class was visited by some seniors one day who were supposed to give us tips for nursing school. One of the tips they gave us was to just skim the reading. They said you cannot possibly read everything you are "required" to read in the amount of time you are given. The teachers agreed with what the seniors were saying. BUT... I do not see how I would have been able to answer many of those test and quiz questions if I had just skimmed the reading. I cannot just skim and expect to learn very much. Maybe others can do that, but I, myself, cannot. I have to really READ and take notes ... and then study those notes ... extensively. Maybe my brain is just slower than others' brains ... but I cannot learn from skimming only.

Hey! I start Monday the 20th at University of Alabama in Huntsville! We are having orientation the first 2 days and then classes start on Wed. I'm so excited to get started! My schedule looks like this.

Mon: Health Assessment 8-10 am

Nursing and Health Promotion 12:15-3:15 Planning to take lunch and use the time between classes to prepare/study.

Tue: Pathophysiology 8-11 am

Professional Practice 11:10-1:10 (Lunch/study)

Wed: Clinical 9am-3pm

Thu: Clinical 8am-11 (Lunch/study)

Fri: Clinical 8am-2pm (Lunch/study)

I am going to have a 1 hour 30 min commute to school so I am glad to have a couple of short days mixed in for studying. I will probably stay in Huntsville at least until 3 even on those short days to study because I have a 3 year old at home and I would rather study away from her! Good luck everybody!

M: Lecture from 10-12, then I have study time at the school blocked out from 12-2.

Tu: Lecture from 10-1, Lab from 1:40-3:30

W: Clinicals from 6:30-6:30, although we get there much earlier to get ready.

Th&Fri - Off, although we do have to keep our schedule open for things that pop up, and I have study time and study groups blocked out on those days.

I love my schedule the more I look at other people's!

Did you start out doing 12 hour clinicals or are you near the end of the program?

I start my ADN nursing program on August 27! So excited :)

Here's what my schedule looks like:

Monday: 8a-12p Health Assessment; 5p-7:20p Dietetics

Tuesday: 8a-9:15 Physiology; 1p-3:50 Physiology lab

Wednesday: Clinical from 7:30a-12:30p

Thursday: 8a-9:15 Physiology

Friday: 8a-12p Health Assessment

Total of 16 credit hours. Next semester I'll only have 8 credit hours. :D

Not too bad of a schedule! I just wish I didn't live 45-60 minutes away because I have a feeling some mornings are going to be very hard to wake up and get moving to make it on time for my early morning classes...

I start on the 27th and was able to pick my own schedule even though it has changed in the system 3 times already. So ever week even though I am enrolled into my section I check to see if something has changed. As for now I have;

Monday-Foundations/ Nursing Practice 8-11; Health Assessment 12-1 & 2-4pm

Tuesday-Foundations/ Nursing Practice 8-11;Health Assessment 12-1

Wednesday- Foundations / Nursing Practice 8-12

These classes are 8 weeks long and then I start clinical my last 8 weeks. Don't know if this is a good thing or bad but I am just going to roll with the punches. I work this hard to get here I am not going to give up that easy.

Specializes in ER.

My day today: Alarm went off at 6am, I slammed a mug of coffee, stopped at 7-11 to buy my lunch since I haven't had any time to go grocery shopping recently, arrived at school at 6:45 to secure a decent parking spot, met a classmate and walked around the track a few times, went to lecture from 8-11:30, 1/2 hour lunch, skills lab from 12-3:30, got home around 4. Slammed another cup of coffee, sat down at my desk to upload the lectures I recorded today, and did several math worksheets. Organized some paperwork, went over today's lecture notes, made a bunch of flash cards, and wolfed down a piece of leftover pizza somewhere in between. My husband is home today so he has done ALL of the childcare, while I have been stuck at my desk studying. It's now 8:30 and I'm about to take a quick shower and settle into bed with my med-surg book. Will probably read until 10ish, then get up tomorrow and do it all over again. Except hubby works tomorrow so I will be picking the kids up from daycare at 5 and spending time with them til 8, then studying til midnight. Lather, rinse, repeat. When clinicals start it's going to be insane®.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I start in 2 weeks.

Monday: Lecture 9-12, 1-4

Tuesday: Lecture 9-11, 1-3

Wednesday: Lecture 9-11

Thursday: Lab 10-12, Seminar 1-3

Friday: Lab/Clinical 8:30-12:30

I also work 3-3 1/2 hours MTWF evenings. I also just figured out how many weekends I will be out of town for work or visiting family. Its going to a rough first semester but I know I will be able to power through.

Seeing it typed out like this looks worse than it does when its put into a weekly schedule in Excel.

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