Before I get slammed let me point out that by easy I mean easier then expected. Coming into this semester (my first of four) I was scared, anxious and paranoid of managing my time, losing my social life and failure. Halfway through, I have a 92.5 average through two of four tests and passed all of my clinical self-tests (BP measuring, Injections, Calculations) with little to no difficulty. Sure, I study, but not nearly as much as I expected too. In clinical, I'm very comfortable doing all of the tasks I'm trained to do, albeit, it isn't much, just vitals, bed changing, dressing changing, feeding, bathing, for example. Not difficult tasks by any means, but nonetheless, it's all I can do at this point.
The reason I'm posting this is because my brother graduated from the same program as me just 4 years ago and completely lost his social life in the process. I used to laugh because I never saw him without a book. Now my mom (I'm 20, I still live home) gives me a hard time because she says I'm not applying myself because I still frequently go out, and basically live like the 20 year old I am (sue me, I like a drink!). I don't mean to sound arrogant or cocky, just wondering if anyone else isn't stressing over the program like most of this board.
One needs not look any further than the student nursing forum to realize how difficult nursing school is and look toward the NCLEX forum to realize that passing the NCLEX is no walk in the park.
Everybody's experience is their own.
I know a number of people, myself included, who thought that passing the NCLEX was not particularly difficult.
It depends on the school you go to....and obviously yours wasn't very challenging.
In our first year, we rarely had an exam that covered more than 80 pages of material...we were given pre-prepared notes, two weeks between exams.
The second year, our classroom time was doubled as well as our clinical rotation schedule increased by 50%. The amount of material that was covered for exams went from a mere 80 pages of material to well over 300 and in some cases, 400.....we had only 4 lectures between exams..it was a struggle, just to get through the material, much less learn it well enough to master an exam.
Students that were working full-time jobs either dropped to part-time or quit...just to keep from failing, never mind a good grade...we had only lost a few students that first year, during the thirst semester, we lost 30% of our class...these were not lazy students, they were very hard workers.
Our final semester, 9 students that went through pinning found out later that they were not going to graduate.
One needs not look any further than the student nursing forum to realize how difficult nursing school is and look toward the NCLEX forum to realize that passing the NCLEX is no walk in the park.
I was a part of a select few that has thought it was easy. Sorry its so difficult for you, but don't start bashing my program because you have a hard time. Mid curricular Hesi and Exit Hesi I have passed and barely studied... I am expecting the NCLEX to be a breeze. Seriously, if you have not had a difficult time in school in your life, nursing school is not hard and vice versa.
I'm sitting here with my jaw to the ground reading about all the people who just read over their notes a couple times before the test and pass with A's?? Seriously??? I study hard core over 20+ hours the week-ends before my test, not counting all the reading and objectives i complete before i start studying. And I just graduated high school with a 3.7 and getting not great grades are not very exciting. I haven't got a above a 80 percent on a test yet. Its just hard to understand.....
This semester I have read a total of 1 chapter and studied for a total of 2 hours and I have a 92 average in the class. I think the nursing process clicks earlier for some people, but I think we will all get it eventually. I have noticed that some people in my class over think the questions because they have been geared up to think the worst. I don't take alot of notes during class. I listen and try to absorb it during lecture. If I can rationalize it in my mind then I can usually pick the right answer on a test. Each person has different learning styles though.
well, consider yourself lucky. The studying is killing me. I study, study, and then study some more and it still doesn't seem like enough....I wish school was easier for me.
I found nursing school easy but I have always found school easy. I had 2 babies while in my program and worked full time for the first half. I very rarely read the material or studied for an exam. I got A's and B's on everything and our program is considered to be hard! I always hit the 3rd level on my ATIs and got a 99% on my ATI NCLEX predictor. The last semester I didnt even buy books. I did pay attention in class most of the time and in lab and I worked hard in clinical to learn the skills necessary. I had a fellow classmate who actually said that it wasnt fair that I was doing so well with so little effort but I ALWAYS made myself availible to help others who were struggling I hate to see any one fail. I do not think I am the norm by anymeans it is just my nature in general. I took my NCLEX yesterday and only got 75 questions I am confident that I passed (according to the pearson "trick" I did lol) I personally think a lot of what is focused on in class is not what you really need to know the things on my NCLEX were not really things I learned in class and they really were not related to any of the practice questions I did.... I think that people overstudy in nursing school they focus so much on the individual aspects they miss the big picture and make it harder on themselves I think the key is to understand how the body works in general and what to do to keep in functioning at a "normal" level. I do however respect any and all nursing students no matter how hard or easy they find the education to be.
Music in My Heart
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I know a number of people, myself included, who thought that passing the NCLEX was not particularly difficult.