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

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I just finished my 1st semester and while I passed, I struggled the entire time, passing by the skin of my teeth. Dont get me wrong, I am happy that I passed but freaking out at the idea of going back next semester bc Im scared Im going to fail if it gets any harder! My question is, does it get harder, stay the same or ease up as the semesters go on??

Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

It got easier only because the course load got lighter. During the first summer we took 21 credits!!! After that we had a much more manageable 12-13 credits per semester. The last semester was a breeze -- only psych and community health, and nursing leadership which was an online course.

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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.

last I heard we had lost 19.

Somebody told me the number was now 23, but the last number I actually heard a teacher say was 19. Crazy!

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last I heard we had lost 19.

Somebody told me the number was now 23, but the last number I actually heard a teacher say was 19. Crazy!

Holy cow. How many students did you start with?

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It got easier only because the course load got lighter. During the first summer we took 21 credits!!! After that we had a much more manageable 12-13 credits per semester. The last semester was a breeze -- only psych and community health, and nursing leadership which was an online course.

21 credits! Is that legal !!!!:eek:

We have 14 Credits, at the most, per semester.

I just completed my first semester and have been told that each semester becomes harder. I'm going to review the fundamental material before next semester, for sure.

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I've heard that the second semester is the hardest at my school even though after that, the material gets harder and the expectations rise, because you're more in a groove and more comfortable second year.

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It really, really depends on the program. My program averaged 21-23 credits per quarter, but the first quarter was a cakewalk compared to the 2nd and 3rd quarters. 4th quarter was easy material but everyone was so tired by then it was challenging enough.

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Tough question because there's definitely more on your plate - juggling both lecture and clinical duties, etc...however, although I'm still in our second semester, looking ahead to what our instructors have told us, each subsequent semester will have many repeat topics, but diving into greater detail....for example, we just finished cardiac but didn't have to learn how to read the graph...but will have to by next semester.

So given that, I would guess that if you get a good handle on the subject matter now, it could get easier as they go through the same material in greater depth...at least from a lecturing perspective...but as I say, this is just a guess on my part and I'll go into each new semester expecting the worse:) And as I said, this is how our school has set the schedule - I have no way of knowing whether the same applies at other schools

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