difficulty

jjrodriguez, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

I'm a Senior 2 now, graduating in December (yay!) and I honestly did not find my BSN courses hard at all. They were pretty tedious in terms of assignments and load of new information, but as long as you manage your time wisely, prioritize and seek out resources, I would say you can excel in your classes.

I will say though that getting an idea on how to take a nursing exam is crucial. Much of the questions on our exams are higher level thinking (analysis, application) so you not only need to know the content, but also how to apply to a certain situation. But once you succeed in figuring that out, I would say the hardest part of nursing school would be staying on task on all your assignments.

JonB04 · Jul 16, 2012

What would you rate them from 1-10 compared to your pre reqs

Music in My Heart · Jul 16, 2012

In terms of content, I would rate the nursing classes as equivalent to the prerequisite courses. What made the program harder was (a) the unrelenting pace and (b) the high stakes of the finals (in my program, one C, D, or F and you're out... with no class behind you to join)

Overall, just not the big deal that it had been made out to be.

JonB04 · Jul 16, 2012

That's good what you rate in numerically if you can. I see that you say its equal to pre reqs

jjrodriguez, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

Compared to pre-reqs, maybe a 7? It's hard to compare, because it's dependent on the individual. I would rate it about as equal to the pre reqs, whereas others may find it easier or harder.

PNicholas · Jul 16, 2012

I had all A's in my pre reqs with very little study time. I didn't have to spend extra time at school either. So, I would rate them as a 5. I'm entering my 3rd semester of my ADN program and I would rate them as an 8 because 1) it takes at least 15-20 hours a week of study time 2) there are a lot of things I am expected to do outside of class times such as validations, sim lab 3) 12 hour clinicals on Saturday and finally 4) learning to take NCLEX style questions. It's not so much the information is hard to learn but, the amount and nursing is not the same as pre reqs. It's very much like trying to compare apples and oranges! :)

JonB04 · Jul 16, 2012

Thanks guys all of this is opinionated. I just want to see how it is individually for you

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

Well AN is a public board and you asked for opinions. Nursing is a whole different animal. It is like comparing apples to oranges.....their only similarity is that they are both fruits. Nursing is a speciaity all of it's own. Whether or not it is difficult varies in the individual.

Comparing nursing courses to the prerequisite is like comparing apples to oranges. They are both college courses but the similarity stops there, nursing and the testing in nursing is a completely different way of thinking from other disciplines. Some people find it easy, some do not.

OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2012

I definately think my pre-reqs were easier just because itw as so totally different. Even our nursing grading scale is different and adding clinicals makes each nnursing class kind of like 2 classes. Also not having as many options with scheduling makes it much harder for me.

BetterThanFiction · Jul 16, 2012

Prereqs were a cake walk; nursing courses are a tightrope. They are two totally different things & ways of thinking. I had two semesters of nursing courses before I transferred to another school where I have to start all over. The first test for fundamentals was a real eye opener; lots of critical thinking and choose the BEST answer out of 4 correct ones.

I was a straight A student who'd never really had to study, but nursing courses changes all that. In a good way.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

QuarterLife88, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 16, 2012

The pre-reqs in hindsight, were a walk in the park compared to nursing school. Mostly because they required study only. No care plans, no clinical, no lab, no extra time required than what you would put in for any other class. I had to get A's so it was a different kind of pressure though.

Nursing classes are harder because of time constraints and everything else.Remove the everything else, and nursing classes are not that hard. The content is no more advanced than a science course; heck it's less advanced than a science such as chemistry which is way more abstract in its concepts. You just have to learn it, and keep up with mountains of paperwork, at breakneck speed. Oh, and there's also that pesky 80%. Eight percent is easy to achieve with 50-100 questions. With 25, and a course total of only maybe 200 pts (if you're lucky) not so much.