First Year of Nursing is Hard Because...??

[vaileheart]

hi everyone!!! i am going to be starting my nursing program this may so i am not currently in any classes or anything but i just love this website and how all of you are so open to help out and give your advice and expertise. i have read a lot of forums on why things are hard the first year and i am mainly wondering why school doesn't prepare you more for going into the field. is it just because there is so much to know and all the cases are different? if thats true, how does anyone ever get "good" at it? hopefully i worded this question right thanks in advance!! :hpygrp:

[CABG patch kid, BSN, RN]

Oh and one more thing I wanted to add: Where I went to school, the ADN program had a waiting list 2 years long. The BSN program entry was based on GPA. The fact that my grades mattered to someone was a good feeling to me. I felt successful because something that I had worked very hard in was being recognized. That's another reason why I was happy with my BSN program. The university wasn't my first choice of schooling because I didn't have my sights set that high, but that's the way things worked out and I'm happy it did. Sometimes you just go where life takes you :)

[catshowlady]

I would have to agree that clinicals do not prepare you for the real world of nursing because you really aren't able to assume a full patient load, or even full responsibility for even a partial load. The best clinical I had was my seventh quarter preceptorship, where I was one-on-one with an experienced RN/instructor. Even that wasn't as busy as my workload is now.

Honestly, the best thing I ever did was tech on a busy intermediate care unit. I hated it, because I felt we had too high a workload for the acuity we had, but I sure learned a lot. I asked a lot of questions, and tried to "shadow" what the nurses were doing whenever I could. I learned to prioritize, how to do basic tasks quickly and effectively, and I learned a lot about basic nursing care for a lot of diagnoses too.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

I am extremely happy with my BSN program and glad to get it out of the way.

I work as a tech in an ICU and no way can I tell the difference overall between the new ADN or BSN students because all of them are lost and overwhelmed. There are always excellent students who stand out from each and every program though--mainly it is those with a good knowledge base, not the clinical skills (that anyone can learn) that stands out. There is more to nursing school than "who gets the most clinical hours" by FAR. Your knowledge base and understanding of pathophysiology, etc is extremely extremely important! Anyone can learn clinical skills, those just take time and practice. I'm sure there are a lot of LPN students who are better than me as far as clinical skills go by so what? My knowledge base is what matters and what makes me an RN. Why do so many students overlook this and get so caught up and obsessed with clinical hours?

Being a good nurse comes with time, it isn't who is the best right out the door!! The best nurses learn and grow and get better over time. I've seen RNs who were slow and scared at first and unsure of themselves, but 3 years later they are so amazing :)

NO clinical in school is going to prepare any of us for the real world of nursing. I agree with the above poster, the best thing I have done to prepare myself is working as a nurse tech doing direct patient care, starting IVs, learning about rhythms, being in on codes, doing labs, assessing patients, etc.

[pheobes718]

...there's so much b.s. paperwork that you have to do. I suppose, looking back on it all, it was necessary because it helped 'drill in' important ideas, but I'm a fast learner and found it repetitive and dull