Extremely anxious about final nursing prerequisites

[AW92]

Hi!

I have been a stay at home mom for the last six years. I have been interested in nursing for the last 12 or so years and in high school participated in a shadowing program at a local hospital. After having kids I decided to stay home with them and then I completed a BA in English Language in Literature in January of 2019.

I need 5 classes to be able to enter the nursing program in my town and I finally feel like it’s the right time to pursue this dream. I am taking a medical terminology class that gives an intro to terminology as well as an intro to anatomy and physiology. Then I will need to take chem, micro, food and nutrition, anatomy, and physiology. I plan to take one at a time (including taking food and nutrition this summer) and hopefully apply in 2 years with taking these classes one at a time.

Math and science have never been my particularly strong points and I am so worried that I won’t be able to succeed at these classes. I am worried since I’ve been staying home and have little ones (6 and 3) that I am not able to retain information as well as I used to. Does anyone have any advice or tips for studying and getting through those courses? Was there any method of studying that worked better for you? How did you retain the vast amounts of memorization? And how did you believe in yourself and your success? The voice in the back of my head is continuously telling me I am not good at these subjects and won’t be able to pass.

Thank you for reading this and for any advice you might have!

[stamf03]

Before signing up for classes, I recommend going on sites such as ratemyprofessor to see what students say about the professors teaching the class you are registering for. A lot of times, there will be pros/cons & tips past students have to offer. This could really help you in choosing a professor. I’d also recommend talking to other students to see if they could recommend someone. IMO, having the right professor really makes or breaks the class.

I would bring a copy of the powerpoint lecture to class with each slide taking up half the page (so I could take a lot of notes) and I would record the lecture. As soon as I had a chance, I would listen to the lecture and take detailed notes on the powerpoints. I then rewrote my notes. I used different ink colors for things that were important and made acronyms to help myself memorize different things. From there it was a lot of repetition. I would simply read through my powerpoint notes then my rewritten notes a few times a day and quiz myself on areas that weren’t sticking.

I think you will be surprised on how much you will be able to retain as soon as you find a study method that works for you.

I always struggled with math & science in high school and college. When I decided to change careers and start with my prereq coursework, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed them and that I did well in them.

I am a stay-at-home mom as well and my confidence and self care taken a dive. I know everyone is different, but being a SAHM has been the HARDEST JOB for me. I will say that when I was taking my prereqs I felt more confident and capable of my abilities. I think talking to adults, spending some time on things other than kiddos, getting dressed really helped me.

Good luck to you. You can do this!!

[AW92]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me! I really like your ideas of studying and will definitely be implementing those as I really dive into my coursework. I also agree that teachers are so important and have been speaking to people who have already done the nursing program about which teachers they learned well from.

I agree that being a SAHM is so difficult. I’ve seen a nose dive in my confidence as well, so it’s interesting you mentioned that. I hope to feel more confident as I go through my pre requisites.

I had a harder time with math and did okay in science but haven’t taken any science classes of this caliber and my math is definitely rusty.

You made me feel a lot more capable and I appreciate your time!!