First week- will I die of boredom?

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This is my first week of ADN nursing school and already I'm wondering if I will make it. Not because its hard or overwhelming, but because the intro to nursing classes are so unbelievably boring. Today we role played communication situations and I felt like I was in kindergarten. Nursing theory? That **** has to be BS. Someone tell me that it gets more interesting. Even hard would be good at this point. Yes, I have 20+ years of CNA experience and aced my pre reqs, have walked through the medical system with critically ill family, and have taken a ton of other college courses but I wanted to come into this humble and willing to learn. I want a challenge. I'm suddenly more worried about being bored than about being challenged. I don't have the option of another program or PA school or whatever right now. Advice appreciated. Anything so I don't fall asleep in class and never wake up. :dead:

Communication is huuuge! You're bound to see questions about it on exams in every class you take. One simple word can make or break the statement and it's definitely important to understand the nuances because it will get challenging

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Yes, it gets harder and more interesting. Don't write off this fundamental and communication stuff though; it's a tried and true process and everything builds on what came before. You're only a week in, did you expect to start off with critical care level information?

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I guess I generalized when I said communication. The worst is the nit picky theory. Communication is important, but today's class was not helpful for that and the theory class definitely isn't. Also- relevant it may be- interestingly presented it was not.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, Ortho-Trauma.

The idea would be to trust your program, trust the process and learn as much as you can. You have 20 years of cna experience, that can be a limiting factor in your case, because you think you know what your doing as a professional cna. As a nurse you don't know anything yet and to assume that what you are learning is not applicable is short sighted and narrow minded.

THIS ^^ is good advice you have received here.

hang in there.

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Just give it time. Initially I thought the nursing process and therapeutic communication was all ridiculous. However it is essential when it comes to answering NCLEX questions where you have to determine priority. Have you had your first test? Second test? That is often the wake-up call for most people especially if your program starts right off the bat with NCLEX questions.

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Enjoy the time to be bored while you have it because it will get much, much more challenging once your through with fundamentals. The beginning can give a false sense of security that school will be a breeze. There's a reason why a lot of schools recommend not working full time during school if you have the option-because between the two you will have very little time to do anything else (such as sleep)due to the countless hours of studying needed to succeed.

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My suggestion is to suck it up and get through it. We all had to get through it. At least if you're eyelids are closed they can't see you rolling your eyes.

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I hope so.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

If you're in a good program that has a great retention rate and great NCLEX pass rate, just trust the program. I was annoyed, confused, and bored with the trajectory of my courses when I started 5 weeks ago and now it's vaguely starting to coalesce and I'm seeing why things are done the way they are.

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Thanks for that. Its what I need to hear. I hope it gets better. Day 7 and I still feel like I'm in kindergarten with training wheels, only if kindergarten were taught in a stuffy classroom with no light or color.

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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

I spent a lot of nursing school wishing that they would realize that four hour lectures on any subject are not conducive to learning, that reading power points is a mind-numbing waste of everyone's time, that half of the NANDA diagnoses are nonsense, and that being a good nurse and being a good lecturer do not necessarily go hand in hand.

That said, there is so, so much information to learn. Yes, it will get challenging very soon. And to echo what someone else said above, while I personally have my doubts about the utility of most nursing theories in most peoples' practice (my current nursing theory is "whatever it takes to get through the shift and keep my patients alive while still meeting management's insane expectations" and there's not a lot of time for more nuance than that) but you do actually have to have a decent grounding in them to get through both school and the NCLEX, which is based in fantasy-practice-land and cares about nursing theories and principles of communication.

If your school is STARTING OUT with nursing theory and principles of communication, there's a very good chance you'll be expected to regurgitate all of this regularly until graduation, so try to listen and internalize whether you think it's valid and interesting or not. Having direct patient care experience can actually be a liability when it comes to the NCLEX, since there's a temptation to answer what would *really* happen, rather than what the NCLEX authors think should happen, so consider these lessons the foundational layer in learning a new (and occasionally silly) system of thought that will determine whether or not you get a license.

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I spent a lot of nursing school wishing that they would realize that four hour lectures on any subject are not conducive to learning, that reading power points is a mind-numbing waste of everyone's time, that half of the NANDA diagnoses are nonsense, and that being a good nurse and being a good lecturer do not necessarily go hand in hand.

That said, there is so, so much information to learn. Yes, it will get challenging very soon. And to echo what someone else said above, while I personally have my doubts about the utility of most nursing theories in most peoples' practice (my current nursing theory is "whatever it takes to get through the shift and keep my patients alive while still meeting management's insane expectations" and there's not a lot of time for more nuance than that) but you do actually have to have a decent grounding in them to get through both school and the NCLEX, which is based in fantasy-practice-land and cares about nursing theories and principles of communication.

If your school is STARTING OUT with nursing theory and principles of communication, there's a very good chance you'll be expected to regurgitate all of this regularly until graduation, so try to listen and internalize whether you think it's valid and interesting or not. Having direct patient care experience can actually be a liability when it comes to the NCLEX, since there's a temptation to answer what would *really* happen, rather than what the NCLEX authors think should happen, so consider these lessons the foundational layer in learning a new (and occasionally silly) system of thought that will determine whether or not you get a license.

Thank you. Its what I need to hear. I know I can do whatever it takes to get through this but I don't have to like it and needed to vent. Glad to know I'm not alone in thinking its sort of BS

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