Can I hear some positive things about nursing school?

towojoke · May 18, 2006

Hi, its no deal in nursing school. U should count urself lucky to be in this noble profession. Its the best and second to none. Its needs determination especially self effort. I scaled thru and passed at one sitting, u ll do the same by God's grace. Best wishes

blueiwahine · May 18, 2006

I recently graduated from the BSN program @ 42 yrs old...the whole time I was in school...I kept thinking this must be hell on earth...LOL But now that I've had time to look back on it...I would do it all again. The feeling you get once you get your license is awesome. So while Yes...it's going to be hard on you and your family...in the long run it will be worth it. Like others have said...don't worry about the housework, etc...everyone will just have to pitch in to help you...you will need to become very organized with all your school activities...take time to exercise, etc to relieve stress, focus on what you want out of this...definitely stay below the radar as far as teachers are concerned...they can make or break you. GOOD Luck!!!

anaicca · May 18, 2006

I just finished year 2 of a 2 1/2 year program. I was in a serious wreck and missed some school this last semester and was the first time I have missed for 2 years. It is difficult, but is possible, and you will feel as if you have achieved great accomplishments.

Tips: set your priorities. School must turn into number one. That will be difficult for you and your family, but is key to success.

Develop your support system. I had to learn to ask for help, whether it was vacuming or cooking. My mom has been my God send and has been at my home 2-3 days a week, doing things for me that I have had to ignore. I am someone that takes care of everyone and everything so sitting down was VERY difficult and looking at a dirty house. I could not take the time to do those things and achieve good grades (A, B, B, B).

Friends will probably go to the way side, but explain to those important that this TOO will pass. They can help with baby sitting and maybe a meal or two. Support is key. Your husband will be another factor. My fiance tells people that it just isn't me in nursing school, but me, my mom, and him. They have all helped me very, very much!

Study! Not just during school, use note cards (keep them in your purse, read a line while driving and repeat until you remember-pull them out any time you are waiting-red lights, doctor's office, grocery shopping Work ahead, don't let assignments gang up on you. Do your reading and highlight, making notes as you go. Look up anything in your notes that you are unclear on, using the internet when your books don't give you enough info. The internet is very helpful. Pay attention to websites; school sites are reliable as are hospitals.

Eat right, sleep as much as you can, don't over do cafffeine, go to the doctor at the first sign of illness-explain to your doctor you are in nursing school and that you cannot let anything get you down (It took a little bit for my doctor to understand, but now he treats me agressively when I schedule appointments, asking what treatments I prefer, and it has been very important.), get some exercise (walking is great and can be done with family). You will find that people will either abandon you or stand with you. You didn't need those that abandon b/c they just wanted you for the things you did for them, not reciprocating the relationship.

Good luck!!!! It can be done! Most important, you have to REALLY WANT TO SUCCEED! If you don't, no you won't make it. If you do, you will do well and feel good about yourself.

Almost an RN in Tenn

whaley · May 18, 2006

I am just about to graduate after a four year course and although I have loved it, it has been hard. people get cynical and negative and when going out onto the wards, nurses can be bitchy and not necessarily directed at you, but there are always ward politics and best thing is to keep well clear of it.

I have found just going with the flow the best way to get on, and not stress to much about everything you have to do, it will get done, even if you are doing it at midnight!!!

I have absolutely loved and am looking forward to having a holiday and finally graduating to be a proper nurse!! I wish all of you that are about to start training or about to graduate all the best.:yelclap:

towojoke · May 18, 2006

Its a wonderful experience as well as a priviledge to ve scaled thru RN. I am 28yrs of age and graduated from school of nursing last yr November and by God's grace made it once. It was not easy, but it was worth it. Still awaiting my liencense. My belief was total hardwork and keeping unnecessary friend's draws one back. I remember when i kept unreasonable ones my position dropped (14th) I cried and readjusted, but today, am thru. I wish all nursing students best of luck.

lindaobrn · May 18, 2006

I went back to school at age 48 and graduated at 50. It was tough and I (sorta jokingly) say the instructors try to kill you when you are older. I had one I allowed to intimidate me and that was a BIG mistake on my part. I did make friends with all the "kids" in my class and was considered the class mom. It keeps you young and I do miss all my friends. Just study and stand up for yourself and when you are done it is a HUGE relief, but the learning and testing never ends.

nurse01 · May 18, 2006

I graduated from nursing school when I was 37, with a young daughter and full-time job throughout school. It wasn't easy but I made lifelong friends and learned a great deal. Now, I am an administrator in a nursing school, where many of our students are older and non-traditional students with families, jobs, and other commitments.After being a non-traditional student myself, and graduating with younger students,I found that life is experience is a valuable commodity. It does take some shuffling of priorities and schedules to go through school but it is worth it. The best advice I can give is to do your best, focus on your studies, and not get drawn into the day to day drama of other students; and to remember that there is an end in sight. Nursing school is not forever, even though it can feel like it sometimes.

JustaMaleRN · May 18, 2006

i am about to embark on my journey in to nursing school. i have dreamed of this moment for many years and it is finally happening. i am an older student, wife and mother. i know there are alot of students that fit my profile, and i would love to hear some encouraging feelings on the positive aspects of attending nursing school. i have been hearing a lot of negative feedback and it almost scares me. it makes me think i am really heading in to a war zone. please someone out there reply with some positive thoughts on your experiences. :monkeydance:

the majority of my students have been 2nd or 3rd career students. they have all done exceptionally well. they have a maturity that does not appear in those going into nursing from high school. they are able to communicate better with the faculty, patients and staff at the hospitals.

you have to remember that there are people out there who are nursing's own worse enemy. instead of finding what is right about nursing and advertising it, they become doomsayers and just point out what is wrong. they are also missing out on the opportunity to band together and fix what they perceive to be wrong.

i have worked at the bedside my entire career. even as a college instructor, i continue to work at the bedside, as i know it gives me some street cred with the students. besides, there is so much change going on out there you have to keep up or fall at the wayside.

nursing is a wonderful, challenging path. you can change your concentration anytime you want to develop new skills. we don't have to go through a new multi-year residency like md's do if they change.

keep up with your plans. you will make it!

RaElrA · May 18, 2006

I so needed to read this today! I am 54 and doing my pre-req's, still running my own business, and still maintaining a 4.0. There are 3 applicants for every spot in my chosen school, and my advisor keeps trying to talk me into dropping my goal from RN to LVN. I have resisted, and will send her the quote from Michelangelo. Does anyone have any thoughts on why she would keep trying to push me toward LVN? Also, can anyone tell me honestly whether ageism is or is not a problem in this field? I'm giving up a lucrative business because this is what I want to do, and I need to know that I will be able to do it! :confused: Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

hebster2003 · May 18, 2006

I am a nursing student as well. I just finished my 1st year of a 2 yr program. Unbelieveable that this time next year I will be sitting for my boards! Wow... time really does fly.

I wanted to share a link with everyone. It's basically a nursing students blog page, but she has a lot of stories and encouragement for us nursing students along the way. It's titled, " Confessions of a Student Nurse."

Check it out!

Enjoy!

CARCAM75 · May 18, 2006

Hi,

I just graduated from the nursing program at Florida Atlantic University on 5/5/2006 and I like you had been chasing this dream for some time. I am 30 years old and have been trying to get into a nursing program since 1996! It wasn't until God decided the time was right for me that I finally got into the FAU program in 2004. And even THEN I was placed on a waiting list for a month and got my acceptance to the program 1 week before classes started. So I KNOW the excitement you feel about the journey you are about to take. My life's dream is to become a nurse-midwife and I feel so blessed to have completed phase 1 (nursing school). There were 3 men in my nursing class and about 10 in the class coming up behind us. So I am VERY pleased about the promised growth in male nurses. There were also a lot more nursing students age 30-55 in my 80+ graduating class.

The nursing program for me, a 30 yo single person-no kids who sold her home to move back in with her parents for 2 years to complete this full time program, was both challenging and exciting. Challenging because I had to humble myself and become a dependent 30 yo (savings go quickly in nursing school), and also because the information learned in nursing school was not difficult per say, but it was A LOT! Organization is the key. You also have to shut down your personal and social life for the entire program because you just truly live, eat, sleep and breath nursing school. Many a mornings did I wake up reciting dosage calculation formulas or pathophysiology terms. I really commend all the students in this program who had families and small children because I don't know how they managed.

It was exciting because this has been my dream for so long that I truly absorbed all the new and exciting things that I learned. I overcame personal fears and feelings about death during my Hospice rotation, I learned more about the "person" behind the AIDS diagnosis during my Palliative and Long Term Rehab rotation. I marveled at life during my Acute Care rotation when I saw my first surgery in the OR. It was an open heart surgery to replace a stenotic mitral valve and the surgeon allowed me to stand on a stool at the head of the bed (where the anesthesiologist is) as he performed the surgery from start to finish, explaining his procedure to me every step of the way. I will never forget the sight of the human heart beating in a chest. (Drs like to teach by the way. You let them know you're a nursing student and they'll teach all day :) ) I conquered my fear of dealing with 2 year olds during my Community Nursing rotation when I had to create a teaching program for the 2 yo class I was assigned to in the Day Care. I taught them how to brush their teeth by creating a cute song to the tune of Row Your Boat. It was truly a joy to see them take off with the song and mimic the routine of dental hygiene. I fell in love with Maternity all over again when I witnessed my first lady partsl delivery by a nurse-midwife and respected Obstetricians more when I witnessed my first emergency c-section and saw a doctor bring a blue baby born with the cord wrapped 2x around it's neck AND a true knot IN the umbilical cord under the umbilical cord membranes (not where the cord itself was knotted but UNDER the membranes- it was wild!) back to life during my OB rotation. I really truly realized that Psychiatric Nursing wasn't for me when a severely schizophrenic and psychotic patient almost physically attacked one of my fellow nursing students when we partnered on that ward during my Psych rotation - but it was exciting to see all the text-book cases in reality.

All in all, I must say that the thing I most enjoyed during these last 2 years was seeing myself and all of the other nursing students grow in attitude, personhood and disposition during the program as we dealt with various patients. We all helped each other through the program, giving extra study help to those who really needed it and giving encouragement when times were hard (like when we had to take our HESI nurse exit exam - and students with A's like me had to take it 3 and 4 times before actually passing the stupid thing). We also really stuck together (despite our differences) when a few of the clinical instructors tried to get 2 students kicked out of the program for foolishness. We all rallied together on those students behalf because we ALL worked really hard to get into the program and we ALL worked really hard during the program and we ALL had this dream of becoming a nurse to help people in need and we ALL didn't want to see anyone get left behind because they did what they were told.

YOu are embarking on a career path that will change your life FOREVER! YOu will meet new people whom you thought that you'd never come across, you'll respect humanity, you'll learn about the walls that people put up and you'll help them take them down. YOu'll have struggles with your classes and classmates cause we ALL did. YOu'll make lasting relationships with a couple of people in your nursing class, but you'll remember ALLLLLL of your nursing classmates because you'll be together - joined at the hip- for the next 2 years! YOu'll have FUN, FUN, FUN and you'll want to come home and share all of your experiences with your family and friends because you'll be THAT excited about what you've seen and learned. Just remember not to break any HIPPA laws in all your excitement! And most of all you'll feel GRATIFIED because you helped someone in some major or minute way every week during clinicals.

Recommendations for you:

1. Leave your opinions at home and open your mind to learning new things and new ways of understanding (Causes less stress and arguments during class!

2. Purchase the latest edition of the Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination by Linda Anne Silvestri - tab the pages by content (Fundamentals, Maternity, Pediatric,etc.) and read those sections when you are learning that area that semester. IE: When you are learning your Peds nursing, read the Peds section. There are WAYYYY too many things to learn in nursing school and wayyy too many pages to read in the text books. This book gives a GREAT content review hitting all the major things that NCLEX needs you to know. That way when you read the textbooks and hear the lectures, it'll be clearer and you'll better decipher a "good to know" from a "need to know". THIS BOOK WAS A BLESSING indeed!

3. If your school requires you to take a HESI exit nursing exam, purchase the HESI review book. Myself and classmates found that the rationales for HESI are slightly different than the rationales for NCLEX. So when studying for HESI, read the HESI review book and practice the HESI CD only! (That's why I had to take it 3 times before passing. I kept studying my NCLEX stuff for HESI and wasn't getting the majority of my answers correct- and my GPA is a 3.8. After using the HESI reveiw book when preparing for my 3rd retake I passed the test with a 950 out of 1000. )

Good Luck and Be Blessed!

-Carrie Campbell, GN

Florida Atlantic University - Christine E. Lynn School of Nursing

neenarae · May 18, 2006

wow... what a nice thread, thanks everyone for the encourragement.... i too am a go back to school "late n life" mom of 3. i also have been hearing negative things although i try to remain optimistic and hopeful. i made it through the prereques..wow and now my journey into rn nursing begins in august of 2006 :balloons: i am so thankful for all of the responses here.. thanks a bunch!

neena