Does anyone enjoy Nursing School?

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I have been recently accepted into a ADN nursing program and am very eager to get started. I attended my orientation and was throughly disappointed. It seems all of the comments and information provided was so negative. Listen, I am not blind to the fact that Nursing School is HARD work. I understand it will take a lot of studying and time away from my family. I know I can expect to probably make B's instead of the A's I have made thus far and that's okay.

It just seems that most of these posts are so negative. Is it really that bad? I feel if I manage my time correctly and study what I need to I will be okay. I didn't say I will be at the top of the dean's list but I will manage. I really feel discourgaed about the whole process at this point.

I guess I feel as though I need to be the judge of how long to spend in a skills lab or how much time to spend studying vs basing my habits on someone else's success/failure. I am my own person and know how I learn and study but it seems everyone only insists to quit your job, divorce your spouse and put your children in counseling because you will NEVER be around.

I unfortunately cannot quit my job as I need to make money. I have a small son who I know needs me and a husband that supports me. This is really just me venting so sorry if I went on a rant!

To sum this up: does anyone have any encouraging stories about nursing school? Words of positive wisdom? Anything positive?

-A Discouraged Student.

I don't mind school itself - and I like the material we're learning. My frustration lies with the adminstration, disorganization, cheating, poorly communicated expectations and bad communication overall. It is what it is...just do your best to learn what you need to know and don't let the background stuff shout you down.

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Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.

I liked nursing school. I enjoyed being challenged and learning new things. I made wonderful friends and was inspired by my patients. It was a ton of work, I had to sacrifice, but it was worth it to me.

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NEVER feed into the negativity! Do not listen to anything they tell you, about the difficulty yada yada yada... Yes, it is difficult. But life is difficult and we all get through it every day. Everyone responds differently to workloads and stress.. It's 100% about time management. The better at time management you are, the more successful you will be! I work full-time and am in a BSN program full-time as well... and it's do-able to say the least. I still have plenty of time to separate my school/work life form my social life. Congratulations on your acceptance and good luck! and don't feed into that nonsense! :)

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Specializes in Hospice.

I freakin' love nursing school. Even with the difficulties. It's a huge challenge and I love challenges. Setting my sights on Trauma nursing so it's a good thing I actually thrive on chaos. :eek:

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I love nursing school! I work my but off but I also find time for family, friends, and myself. I wasn't able to quit my job either so I work too. If you have the right study habits and keep to a schedule it's not as horrible as people say. The only time I literally spend days on end studying is the two weeks before finals- I don't work those weeks FYI. I think some people let school take over their lives and that doesn't work, at least for me. Nursing school is my priority, but not my only focus.

As far as your orientation I think they just try to scare people. I remember communicating with admissions while applying and every time I'd call with a questions I'd get ":sigh: you know it's very unlikely you'll even be accepted right?" Followed by orientation where we were told only 1/3 of us would actually make it. THANKS! I get it but I'm going to be in that 1/3 so shut it! :)

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Thanks so much! This helps! I know nursing school is hard but I don't want to feel like I will be meeting with a divorce attorney and my son won't even know who I am. This is encouraging! Thank you!

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Specializes in psych/dementia.

I am nearing the end of my first semester and had very similar thoughts to you prior to starting. I'd read through the posts on here and listen to what admissions office said, and I was worried about my sanity. I do not have a family but I did choose to continue working PRN every other weekend. I have not regretted that choice.

You bring up some really important points re: time managements and study techniques. I cannot say I have felt "overwhelmed" this semester. I have felt like I have a lot of work to get done/studying to do/papers to write, but not to the point I was crying, thinking I couldn't handle it, etc. I think your time management, as well as the difficulty of your previous schooling/degrees if you have any makes a big difference. I also think having a background in healthcare, ANY type of healthcare makes a big difference as well.

Studying techniques definitely vary between people as you said. Once you figure out what works FOR YOU, and the heck with what works for anyone else, things can go quite smoothly. Yes, some, if not all, of your classes are going to word questions differently and you will need to think differently in order to choose the right answer. It gets easier as the semester goes on.

We had a panel of students talk to us before starting. They basically told us to ignore admissions. Some of them DO work, they DO get involved in outside activities/organizations, they DO have enough time to spend time with their families/have a social life/etc.

My best advice for you is to stay on top of your school work. I look about 2-3 weeks ahead and see if there is anything I can start doing NOW (such as researching articles) that will help me get a head start on what will be do in a couple weeks. If I don't have anything due in the coming week or any tests to study for, I will start working on things due 2-3 weeks ahead just because I never know what's going to happen in life. There have been some weekends I did absolutely NOTHING, including studying for a test I had on Monday, because I was sick. I was fine because I had done what needed to be done earlier.

Everyone is different in nursing school no matter how much we have in common. Until you see what your program is like FOR YOU, ignore everyone else, including the good. You just don't know until you get there.

Oh, and I LOVE nursing school!

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OMG!!! We share the SAME discouragement. I have not heard not ONE positive thing...and its gotten so bad i don't even hear the positive things about life after nursing school. :down::unsure:

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Hmm, I would say that you need to learn now how to be your own person. Everyone's experience is different and some people have a harder time with things. Time management is really important and so is learning what works for you. Perspective is huge, and what one person hates, another person could be indifferent to the same thing. Learn to tune out complainers and negative Nell's now, or nursing school is going to be a long ride.

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Anything positive?

I have loved about 99% of the patients I've had.

Not working for the facility has allowed me to interact with patients on a different level and they are more forgiving because I am a student. Some of the most encouraging words I've heard have been from my patients.

I've made awesome friends who are worth their weight in gold. Plain, old, everyday superwomen and men who are balancing the stress of life and school and are amazing.

I've learned to really enjoy wearing tennis shoes.

I've had some great clinical instructors who are really interested in teaching me, and the ones that didn't want to teach had some great real world stories and lessons.

I've learned to always seek the positive no matter what.

I've learned to appreciate the fine art of sterile gloving.

And I've learned more about myself in the past few years than probably the five years previous to starting nursing school.

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Not working for the facility has allowed me to interact with patients on a different level and they are more forgiving because I am a student. Some of the most encouraging words I've heard have been from my patients.

Oh yes, this! The patient who needed a blood draw from her PICC and said "why don't we let Krisiepoo do this, she'll be a nurse one day and have to do this and needs to know how." or the family that was so excited for me to be graduating, more so than some of my own family and I'd only met them for a couple hours... or the lady who had tears in her eyes because I included her grandkids in her care and she told my instructor what an amazing nurse I'd make soon.

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Dont fear monger I know plenty of nurses who had plenty of time to spend with their kids and spouse while doing their bsn. Its all about time management

You know, I think I finally get it. You're talking about BSN degrees, right? Now this may not be the case for everyone, but I attended an accelerated program (22months). That's eight week semesters, instead of sixteen. Perhaps that's why it was easier for you to manage? Am I wrong in that assumption?

The OP is in ADN program, so it too will be accelerated (stop me if I'm wrong here). Now I'm not going to sit here and say that accelerated programs are harder than traditional 3-4 year BSN programs, because at the end of the day (program), we all take the same NCLEX-RN.

However, seeing as you said BSN program, and if I am correct in my assumption, then can you see why, now, that people say it's terribly difficult to make time for anything, aside of nursing school? I mean think about it, 8-week semesters, to learn what some may take 16 weeks to learn. That's intense.

That's an exam nearly, if not every week. Of course with studying smart, and following lectures, and organizing your time efficiently, it isn't like you're going to be stuck behind a book 24/7, but it certainly felt like that for many of my classes!

I am now graduated, studying my orifice off for my NCLEX-RN, to be taken this month on the 17th. I found it incredibly difficult to spend a lot of time with family (aside of my immediate, wife/kid). That's because they live 20 minutes away, and other factors as well. But, as nurses, we should never sugar-coat information, nor should we down-play others' concerns, i.e. "Everything's gonna be fine."

You have some very valid concerns, OP. I agree with the many that say this will be an arduous journey. But again, to agree with the many, it's one definitely worth taking! I had an absolute blast in school! I'm truly going to miss everyone, faculty included. We all are staying in touch via the Facebook, and they, along with the program, have changed my life (for the better).

Good luck to you!

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