First Semester of Nursing School!!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Whew!! I haven't been on here in a long while but rightfully so because nursing school is no joke. I know many other people are expressing their feelings about their first semester of nursing school and so I thought I will share my experience. I have one more week left. I take my final on Tuesday! (Wish me luck!!!)

I knew nursing school was going to be hard because like many others, I came to this website for guidance and what to expect! All the stories you are reading are TRUE....LOL!

A couple of things I want to hit on:

1. As many people stated, being a A student doesn't mean a thing. I was a straight A student throughout elementary, middle, high school and college. But in nursing school, you will find yourself "settling" for a 75 on all tests.

2. No matter how much you study, you will still be a little under prepared for those tests

3. You will find yourself crying A LOT, so stack up of tissue!

4. By the end of the semester or even mid way down the semester, MANY people would have drop out but you will survive..... hopefully :)

5. Mentally prepare yourself for clinicals because its not for everybody, one of the students in my class drop the day after her first clinical. Speaking of clinicals, you might as well get use to care plans, you'll find out about those when you get in nursing school.

6. Say goodbye to your family, friends and weekends.

7. You will make alot of friends in the nursing program. They will become like family. You will car pool, study, share and many other things with these people.

8. Never give up and most importantly make sure that you are doing nursing for the right reason because trust me you will be tested on whether you really want this or not!!

Whew!! Got that off my chest! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ON THEIR FINALS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!- Chiquitap

Jay -

I too come from a BSBA and MBA background --- I'm just finishing my 1st semester of nursing in a traditional BSN program as there are no ABSN programs near me. Nursing reminds me a lot of graduate school.. but our classes meet once a week and all the material is of course new and foreign. The biggest challenge is to develop the thinking skills necessary to do well on the exams... As you can read on many of these posts it is not rote memorization rather mostly given a short scenario and you must figure out what wrong with the patient then what would you do... That being said.. I have finals next week and am going into them with all A's. Hoping that I can keep it that way seeing as our finals are actually HESIs.

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I start in January,and have this huge stack of books, where should i begin? Understanding Pathophysiology, Care plans? Pharmacology?

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Tiger -

I would suggest that unless they have sent you something specific that you are to have prepared prior to the start of your program that you bush up on math and A&P and not worry about the specific classes.. our professors jumped around a lot in the books to cover the material in the order that they wanted in patho and pharm.. and you will find out that every instructor has their own specific way that they like care plans to be prepared.

Breath deep and enjoy the holiday's.

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Specializes in ICU / Urgent Care.
@lorirn2b The program I'm in, requires you to have at least a 75 to pass! A 75 in my program is consider a C! But I feel for you...LOL!

@malenurse69 If you are lucky enough to get an "A" in the nursing program then that's good for you but I'm saying ALOT of students comes into the program as straight A students but feel down on themselves because they can't maintain an A! The program can stress you out to the point where all you want to do is pass! A nursing student with an A doesn't mean they are better than those making a C!

Um objectivley it means exactly that. Who do you think graduate schools will take if you were to arbitrarely choose between the A nurse student and the C nurse student? And we are talking about both applicants having great references, worth ethics etc.

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Um objectivley it means exactly that. Who do you think graduate schools will take if you were to arbitrarely choose between the A nurse student and the C nurse student? And we are talking about both applicants having great references, worth ethics etc.

All grad schools require high gpa. No master degree unless you work really hard in your bsn program.

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Thank you @chiquitap for your nursing school tips!! I'm about to start this January and I'm super excited! I know it's going to be tough but I'm going to give it my all and if I don't make the A's then I'm preparing to be happy to have done all by best! But A's on my mind A's on my mind A's A's It's okay to set the bar high for yourself ;)

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Haha i completely agree! I am also 1 week away from finishing my first semester and I am sooooo drained. I actually just finished crying too lol. Im an emotional wreck lol

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Awe hang in there @ Rosy! You can do it !

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
So i'm wondering just how different nursing school is from undergrad and grad school...I start my program in January 2014. Can someone tell me is it more so the material itself or the amount of material that is so difficult?
It's neither the material itself nor the amount, really. I actually found most of the material pretty logical and easy to understand: something wrong here causes these things to go wrong here, etc.

The thing that throws off good students (me included) is that nursing exams are a whole different beast than the ones we are used to. Like someone else said, it is not rote memorization. You have to use your Critical Thinking skills. You'll hear this over and over again in nursing school.

Questions will have multiple choice options that are ALL right. You have to pick the one that is "most" right or is the primary intervention among the others. There are questions like: "The nurse knows that the client needs further teaching on his condition when he states...," and you pick the statement that's in error. Then, there are the dreaded Select All That Applies questions. Remember your ABCs - Airway, Breathing, Circulation. That'll serve you well through nursing school, as well as patient safety being a primary consideration.

Once you get over the shock and awe of those first few tests, lol, you'll realize the best way for you to study and prepare for these exams. It's all in preparation for the NCLEX, or so they told us in school. I guess I'll find out in a couple months. I just passed my final exam of nursing school last Tuesday. Woohoo, I'm outta here! Good Luck to the rest of ya!

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Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.

Hey guys, as most of you learn, no answer is very straight forward in nursing school. I'd advised everyone to get a NCLEX book like Saunders or review and rationales or any similar book you prefer as long as it includes rationales for all answers. Find the topic using the index and start doing questions and reading the rationales for ALL answer NOW...that's the only way to get to critical thinking. I'm a 3rd semester student. I 'm but no means a "straight A" student but A's are achievable if you put the work in.:yes:

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Thank you and best wishes!

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Wait..... 75? Dang...... I'd fail if I got 79 on exams. 80 is a C. Below that is failing. :cry:

You're lucky! In my program we have to get a 76 or higher or it's failing!

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