Do Not Underestimate the Difficulty Level of Nursing School
It's easy to become complacent about the difficulty level of a nursing program, especially if you have been doing well in your pre-reqs. However, realize that it's not anything like you have ever done in other classes. Do not underestimate it, expect it to be hard, and most importantly, be prepared.
As I am almost done with my first year of my ADN nursing program, I decided to write this article with some thoughts about where I was a year ago.
I knowI am being overly dramatic here, but hey what the hell may as well put my Composition II skills to use.
I started my journey April 2010, after having mulled over my choices for a career change for an extended period of time and deciding I needed to sign up before anything was going to change.
I spent the first 3 semesters taking classes on another degree I was picking at whilst I tried to finalize what I wanted to be when I grew up. I finally decided my greatest asset was my empathy with people and how much I was willing to give of myself for them. This eventually led me to Nursing.
I have always been a natural student. 4.0GPA without opening books, first one done with tests a few minutes after they were handed out, finishing homework before I even left class. I prided myself on all of this and eventually just expected it.
Pride cometh before the fall.
After signing up for the Pre-Nursing program in 2011, I overloaded my schedule to finish the 40+ hours of pre-reqs as soon as I could. All As, no problem.
In the Spring of 2012, I added the CNA license course to my schedule as it became a requirement for the nursing program. I don't know that I even paid much attention to the course, but I did find that I had an excellent connection with the patients. It made me feel like I was on the right track. It also made me feel like nursing was not a big deal, thinking being a CNA was pretty much like being a nurse, right? Sigh.
I bought all of my supplies, uniforms, and books...all ready to go. In my mind taking the courses were merely a formality at this point.
Then came Fall of 2012.
Like anyone else, I was nervous and apprehensive about doing something new, but quickly found that Fundamentals was a piece of cake, labs were no problem, quizzes were a joke...why the hell doesn't everyone take this class, right?
As the instructor handed out our first real exam, it was just another test after the hundreds of other tests I have taken in my life, no problem.
I got a 56.
Now you can imagine the utter shock and nausea I felt when I saw that lonely number on the paper. I panicked, big time. I can only imagine the inner voice of my instructor "muwahahahha my plan is working perrrrrfectly."
I knew then that I was in trouble, and I needed to pull my head out of my place-that-shall-not-be-named and shift my entire paradigm of thinking. It wasn't easy.
I quit my $20 an hour job, spend 12 hours a day studying, and gave up all notion of having a life/girlfriend/friends/fun/food not from McDonald's. And I am still barely passing. It's not a great feeling getting 79% on everything when you have to have a 77% or higher on pretty much everything in order to proceed. In fact it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I was able to feel like I was going to make it. And I know I am going to have to continue studying 12 hours a day and basically not have a life for another 16 months.
I worry about what kind of nurse I will be when I can barely pass my classes. But I DO know I will be the best nurse I can.
Here are some of the things I wish I had known last year
Commit totally, or find something else to be when you grow up.
Nurses heavily use and are tested using critical thinking skills. I cannot stress that enough CRITICAL THINKING. If you do not have that particular skill, go buy a self-help book to figure out how. Do it now, trust me just go get it. Stop reading I will wait.
If you have any thought whatsoever that nursing school is going to be a walk in the park, slap yourself as hard as you can and wake up. Talk to some 2nd year students to get a good idea of what being a 1st year student is like. Find your school's nursing club, they will be more than happy to share their horror stories.
Go get some books on nurse's stories, there are quite a few but they will give you a great idea of what being a nurse is REALLY like. One of my favorites is a "A Nurse's Story" by Tilda Shalof.
Do your research, make sure that being a nurse is really what you want. Based on what I have seen in clinicals, it's hard work, it's gut wrenching, it's sometimes menial thankless tasks that go on for hours. It's NOT Grey's Anatomy, ER, or any medical drama you have ever seen.
Continuing with the last point, go shadow a nurse, or volunteer at an LTC or hospital, get educated.
When you get actually started in your nursing program READ. ALL. ASSIGNED. CHAPTERS. Then read them again. Once you are done you should probably read them again.
Study groups are for everything but studying.
Working and kids and family and social life...forget about it. Make sure everyone is on board with what you are about to undertake. You will not be available, you will be studying. When you are available, you will be sleeping. If you are able to have a life and go to nursing school, I salute and secretly hate you.
Finally, after all is said and done TRY to relax and enjoy and take it all in...this truly is (at least for me) the most rewarding thing you can do in life. The first time I kept someone from choking to death swept away all of my doubts and fears and all the dumb stuff I did before I got to that point.
Great article. I agree with most of it. However, I was in a great study group. We did most things well, and were pretty focused. There were times when we had fun, but fun is NEEDED too. If things got too dysfunctional, we could almost always split off with people whose needs tended more to study than gossip or jokes. We always came back together as a group and functioned anew.
For me, my study group was crucial. These friendships grew to be a second family. They congratulated me when I succeeded, supported and offered encouragement and suggestions when I didn't. They taught me how to do the same for them, unselfishly whether I had the time to or not. Most of all, there were people there who had different perspectives on what we were learning, who could enhance what I was learning, and help to explain what I did not at first fully understand.
So hang on to your study group if you have it and it works for you. Now, several years after nursing school, mine studies the bottom of beer glasses and empty BBQ plates.
Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
I was just telling some of my old classmates (I am a May '12 grad) about a girl in my Ethics class (getting ready for an RN-BSN program) who tells me she won't have any trouble in Nursing school, things come easy for her and she's a slacker. I told her that she has NO idea what she is in for (if she gets in!). I had a 3.5 for my undergraduate degree in Biology and a 4.0 fro my Masters degree. I barely passed Nursing school. We needed an 80 to pass all courses and that was trouble. I think I got one A. I did manage to work part time and I have 2 kids (and a wonderful supportive husband who put up with me for 2 years in school).
You cannot explain to people what it is like. It is something you have to go through to understand. My class of 59 ended up as a class of 32. And we are all nurses now :) We have a really strong bond.
^Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgement...Best Book Ever. Search for it on Google or Amazon. One of my nursing professors gave it to me to assist in my test anxiety many moons ago...made me a better nurse!
I bought this book.
Please, if you do not know what critical thinking is, or know that you are not good at it, PLEASE do you yourself a favor and buy it. I got it for $3.86 shipped at Amazon.
Since I wrote this article I bought that book on LadyFree28's advice, read it, and the exam I just took I got a far better score than I have in the past year. I totally credit the book, I found the exam to be a LOT less stressful than all the previous ones.
If you are unsure what critical thinking actually means...take any truly vexing problem you have ever had, and think about all of the various things you thought of to try and figure it out. You may have considered things that might have contributed to the problem. Maybe you had to solve another problem before you could come back to this one in order to find a solution. Maybe you had to be creative and think outside the box. Maybe you had to go through the problem step by step and check every little thing twice and three times over before you found the solution. There, you have somewhat of an idea of what critical thinking is (though my description is admittedly simplistic, actually doing it as a nurse is MUCH more difficult than I am making it sound) and those are the kinds of the things I have seen/done during clinicals.
Please, if you do not know what critical thinking is, or know that you are not good at it, PLEASE do you yourself a favor and buy it. I got it for $3.86 shipped at Amazon.
Since I wrote this article I bought that book on LadyFree28's advice, read it, and the exam I just took I got a far better score than I have in the past year. I totally credit the book, I found the exam to be a LOT less stressful than all the previous ones.
If you are unsure what critical thinking actually means...take any truly vexing problem you have ever had, and think about all of the various things you thought of to try and figure it out. You may have considered things that might have contributed to the problem. Maybe you had to solve another problem before you could come back to this one in order to find a solution. Maybe you had to be creative and think outside the box. Maybe you had to go through the problem step by step and check every little thing twice and three times over before you found the solution. There, you have somewhat of an idea of what critical thinking is (though my description is admittedly simplistic, actually doing it as a nurse is MUCH more difficult than I am making it sound) and those are the kinds of the things I have seen/done during clinicals.
^Glad you were able to improve tenjuna!!!
That book is sooo WORTH it...still use it myself!!
Great article. And so true. It sounds very similar to my experiences. I'm just finishing up my first of two years of ASN at the university. I was always a great student that didn't have to spend a lot of time studying. So needless to say its been a shock. I cannot say how much I underestimated nursing school.
I went to the orientation and listened as the department told us how nursing school was not like any other degree. We were also told things like "go out to eat with friends....no, I have to study. Go to a move on Friday night....no, I have to study". We were told point blank "if you have a job, you'll probably fail....if you have a family, you'll probably fail....if you're married, there's a good change you won't be by graduation". We were then informed that an average of 130 students (of the 260 that start each year) make it to graduation each year. I was so upset after that I cried and thought about dropping out before I started.
I tried working in the beginning. I had to pretty much cut back to nothing this semester in order just to get sleep. Even with that, there are still lots of sleepless nights or nights of only getting 4-5 hours. Several other students have done the same. With the amount of reading, classes, clinical rotations, clinical paperwork, community service projects, papers, etc, I can see why they saying nursing school is a full time job plus more. We started out with 260 people in my class last July. We are down to 135, and most of the people that we have lost are people that worked full time, had families, or were fresh out of high school and didn't take it seriously. At Christmas, the class that's getting ready to graduate in May was down to 93. It really scares me how few people make it to the end. The one really good thing is of those that graduated last year, 97% passed the NCLEX the first time. So I know we will be prepared and make great nurses.
I feel like I barely see my kids and husband. I hate that we seem to be living on frozen dinners this past year. But I keep going by having my husband and friends I only "see" anymore through texts remind me of the prize that awaits me next year when I graduate.
I didn't mention it in my article, but my school's nursing program has a 32% graduation rate. It's only the 4th module and we have easily lost half of our cohort already, and we still have 6 modules to go.
They teach in an NCLEX'ish manner, which I think will be a huge boon at the end, unfortunately it was a shock to the system having to basically think in that way pretty much at day 1. Sooooo not easy, seriously I just got a B on anything for the first time last week, and I felt like I won the lottery.
It also occurred to me this past week that I don't even remember the last time I spent any time with my kids, and that I haven't even seen at home for a while now (they are teenagers, so likely wouldn't be here anyway lol.) I miss them, but after 2 years they totally understand and back me up. So hard giving that up even though it's temporary, but honestly hey I'm 42, when do I get to start having my own life again? 5 years? 10? Not to mention by then there will probably be grandkids and all that so yeah now is the time.
The whole point of changing careers was for me to feel like I actually did something with my life, and I just couldn't wait anymore.
I really needed to read this. Thank you for posting. :) I am only in my first semester and praying that I am going to get the 79.5 I need to advance at the end of this month. I know I am going into the right field without a doubt, and want this more than anything in the world. As I like to say, "Nursing is my calling". Lol. But you are sooooo right. It is not easy. Straight "A" student your whole life?.....Don't be upset if that is no longer the case. It is a whole new way of thinking, and once I can master that, then I feel like I can be on my way. Social life?? What in the heck is that? That is tucked away until December 2014. :) A good piece of advice I was given was this (after a couple very low test grades), "You don't have to be perfect, just be good enough." It was funny how those simple words actually made me feel better, and smile. If an 80 is what you need on that test to be considered passing, don't put that added pressure on yourself to aim for that "A". Because in the end, the student with the 94 and the student with the 80 are both nursing students, passing the course, and continuing on together. Good luck to ALL students. Throw a little luck my way too, I am needing it right now. :)
During my final year of my ADN program I studied wildly and for hours at a time. I made note cards, read over and over, referenced other books, and emailed questions to instructors when totally at my wits end! My closest friend studied occasionally. She would still go on with her life, and seemingly never altered her regular pre-nursing school routines. Once she studied only the night before an exam and I scored higher than her by only 2 percentage points after I studied relentlessly for days! What a slap in the face that was!
Love your post I have printed this to share with my niece who needs the inspiration and motivation you are so right obtaining a nursing degree is stressful and hard but oh so rewarding. Good luck to you it is worth it in the end. :)
doxielover304
135 Posts
THANKS!!!!!