Does RN school get easier or harder as the semesters go on?

Nepenthe Sea · Dec 21, 2010

Just my opinion...It gets easier AND harder. You get used to the testing style, so in some ways, that becomes easier. But I just finished the first semester of my second year, and the test questions themselves have become harder. The faculty are trying to prepare us for the NCLEX, after all. Things like patient care, care plans, writing papers, become easier just because you keep doing them. Getting up so dang early for clinicals becomes easier. I myself have found that all of the material I have been learning for the last several years is starting to come together and make more sense suddenly - a few classmates have agreed that it is the same for them. This is only me experience, though.

Nepenthe Sea · Dec 21, 2010

Oh, and IMHO, the content itself does not necessarily get harder. Mental Health may be a little harder just because you've been trained to think in terms of black and white and MH is a whole bunch of gray. However, I will be taking critical care this next semester, and I know that will be a lot more advanced than what we have been dealing with.

CrazierThanYou · Dec 21, 2010

Well, I've just finished my first semester. I've heard that the next semester is harder, then when we start the second year, it gets a little easier. But that's only hearsay.

I would imagine its different for everyone at every school, though.

Charlie0413 · Dec 21, 2010

I agree with the first poster. It was gotten easier in that you should be in the groove of clinicals and classes but it def. got alot harder content wise. They expect you to build on what you have learned and use info from previous classes to answer test questions and in clinical.

Seas · Dec 22, 2010

It gets harder and harder (in my school at least) I think. I jut finished my 3rd semester and it was the hardest semester to me, so far. And first semester was the easiest compared to second and third.

rnintwo · Dec 22, 2010

I think I should have asked to include when your Med/Surg semester is as that seems to be the killer I hear

Nepenthe Sea · Dec 22, 2010

I had med surg classes the first three semesters, so my school may be different. We have covered everything from blood disorders to AIDS to respiratory disorders to liver and GI disease - pretty much everything except for cardiac and neuro, which we will get in critical care. I personally didn't think any of the med surg classes were harder than the other, but I guess not everybody does three med surg classes in NS, so it must be different here.

baldee · Dec 23, 2010

LOL, different programs are different. Even within the same school, straight 4 semesters, Fall or Spring or Summer program start, shorter summers, day or evenings, different professors, ... Now compare that to different schools and type programs and you have billions of alternatives to compare with. ADN's with summers off maybe 1st and 3rd the hardest. Evening Interns sponsored, the second (short summer) and 4th (consecutive information overload). Any accelerated program will be tough, and Fall semesters are always hard it seems.

At one school I went pre-nursing, a successful student one year ahead of you said 2nd semester was a lot easier (and that school lacked one person of a perfect NCLEX pass semester, 2nd if FL)! You made it past the filtering semester (like the first 2 in engineering school), so relax and just keep doing what you are doing! Of course continually tweaking your study systems and worrying do not hurt

:-)

Ash81386 · Dec 26, 2010

I've been wondering the same thing. I did well & came out with mostly B's in my 1st semester, but I know I could have done better, probably stressed less, and hit the gym more often.

I'm thinking next semester the content may be harder (my med/surg rotation is next semester 1st half) but toward the end of last semester I started making copies of the pages of my planner & taping it in my room & kitchen just so nothing would sneak up. I'm REALLY hoping I can get into some better sort of routine & accomplish more.

Sorry I rambled on. I guess all this really belonged in the "what will you do next semester" thread

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · Dec 26, 2010

I ended with an "A" in both nursing 1 & 2 and just ended nursing 3 with a "B". It's definitely harder but like others have said...you get more used to the testing style. Good luck!

mspontiac · Dec 27, 2010

Every school is different. My program has gotten more difficult as we have progressed. We just finished our third semester, and we lost three students (that I know of) due to pediatrics. We have med-surg in our last three semesters of the program.