First year nursing student

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Hi, I am a new nursing student. It is barely my second week of the program and I don't feel so enthusiastic. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I feel like I don't know what I should know. I also feel like I won't be able to learn everything I am required to learn. I don't know if what I'm feeling is normal or not? Did any of you nurses feel this way when you started out? These thoughts are leading me to think maybe nursing is not for me, although, I do want to become one. Please help me out!

I feel really really bad. I have been working towards the nursing program for 2 years by getting in pre-req classes. I was so excited to get accepted in the program this fall. I was glad to get started, but 3 days in I dropped out. Last week actually. I felt like I had been slapped with a Mack truck! The instructors came in on the first day talking about all this stuff and I am sitting there thinking was I supposed to know this already. I came home the 3rd day and cried my eyes out, and I am not a crier. Now my problem is-- do I reapply for next fall, or what do I do with my life now? I'm 37 and now owe these student loans and just don't know if I can handle the pressure from nursing school.

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab, Gerontology.
I feel really really bad. I have been working towards the nursing program for 2 years by getting in pre-req classes. I was so excited to get accepted in the program this fall. I was glad to get started, but 3 days in I dropped out. Last week actually. I felt like I had been slapped with a Mack truck! The instructors came in on the first day talking about all this stuff and I am sitting there thinking was I supposed to know this already. I came home the 3rd day and cried my eyes out, and I am not a crier. Now my problem is-- do I reapply for next fall, or what do I do with my life now? I'm 37 and now owe these student loans and just don't know if I can handle the pressure from nursing school.

I certainly have an idea of how you felt, jdeshea, being so overwhelmed that first week! I think you should definitely contact your instructors and discuss your situation with them. They probably have had students in the past with this type of anxiousness about the program. If you really want to be a nurse then you might want to check into taking a class on study skills, and if you decide to reapply for next year, you should at least have a heads up on what to expect that first week. In my program, we had our second orientation about two weeks before the first day of class and on that first day we were expected to have a written assignment done. But we did have two weeks to do it (and I needed every minute.) I go back and forth about what have I gotten myself into, but then I just take a deep breath and start doing the work. Only you can make the decision about trying again, but you need a support system.

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Specializes in Public Health Nurse.

You have come so far....I say do not quit!!! We got scared on our orientation, the first semester it was grueling :crying2: We are part timers with full time jobs, family and responsibilities, we looked at each other in dismay, three dropped out, the rest of us just did what we could, we tried our best and only two did not pass the first semester. Nursing school is scary, but remember, you are not less bright than others that have passed, so if you want to you can. I am on my second year, we have three on part time, and I feel right now the same as the first, sometimes, I wonder if I am cut out for this, then I shake those negative thoughs from my head :banghead: You may laugh at this, I have stuck on the ceiling above my bed a sign that reads: "I will pass nursing school on the first try", I see this sign first thing I wake up and last before I close my eyes to sleep. That is my goal, sometimes I do not know how I am going to do it, but I will give it all I got and I am 45 so time is ticking for me. Right now I have a pharmacology exam that I am not sure how to even study, but I will try - perseverance pays.

Good luck, talk to someone in your school, nursing is a rewarding field but one has to have a vocation for it, if yo think you have it then go for it. My best wishes on whatever decision you make.

Bliss soon to be a :nurse:

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i'm also a first year student. it's only been a few weeks for me since i've been a nursing student. our first exam is over 14 chapters...

everyday, i've been studying little by little. it helps. and i practice nclex questions. i have gained confidence. and confidence is very important. you have to stay positive!

my first test is less than 2 weeks. yeah, i'm nervous... but i'm not gonna let it get the best of me. study and believe in yourself.

don't fear. god will help you.

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I feel your pain, but it will get better and by the the last semester it will all come together and you will have the knowledge required to render adequate nursing care. Over studying is detrimental to the overall process, what you learn in school rarely applies to nursing in a acute care setting. Just make sure you have balance in your life, eat healthy, get plenty of sleep and exercise, these activities will enable you to handle the stressors of the nursing program. Many a times the instructor informed the class to study off the syllabus but when it came time to test taking the test rarely contained the information the class was told to study. lastly find a good study group one that doesn't have a dominating person, learn, focus and achieve!:banghead: This is how I felt my few weeks in the program! good luck and remeber you are not alone! I have been in nursing for 12 years and would not trade the experience for any other job.

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I am sooo glad i stumbled upon this website! I am about to begin my 4th week of clincals, and I feel like I am loosing my mind.. I thought it was just me! I am so stressed out and overwhelmed that when I sit down and try to study.. I dont even know where to start! My instructors tell us to study everything.. our notes, the book, etc.. I am having to learn a whole new way of studying.. In my pre-req. classes I always memorized everything, and I always did well. I cant do that anymore because I cant memorize it.. i have to learn how to apply it and know the rationale behind everything. I think this is what I am having the hardest time with. I really hope it starts to get better.. because I am starting to doubt that I can really do this. I am not one to give up, especially since I have worked so hard to get here.. I just hope everything starts to come together for me.. and SOON!! :confused:

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Specializes in ICU/CICU.

stick with it. i felt the same way going into the program because it's so overwhelming. once you get into the swing of things... you'll be more inclined to stay in.

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Specializes in N/A.

I am barely into my 2nd year of a 2 year program, and I still feel lost at times! Every time I start a new class with all new material I feel overwhelmed and excited at the same time! Give yourself time to settle in. You probably aren't even into the nursing classes yet... That's where you will really start to know whether your chosen path is the right one for you! Keep up the hard work!!:yeah:

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Specializes in Oncology.

HI! I have just started my 1st week in the nursing program and I kinda feel like its going to be VERY overwhelming with the assessments we have to complete. Did anyone feel as though they had to read EVERY word of EVERY chapter at first? That's how I feel now. Since nursing is very specific, should you read everything in the textbooks?

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I felt the way you do in my first semester. I don't know about your clinicals, but in mine the instructors pretty much expected us to take over the nurses job...all by ourselves. That is a culture shock to someone that has never done that type of work before. By the time I started my clinicals in second semester, I felt more comfortable. The more you do it, the more confident you get. But i do remember feeling exactly like you do. I really didn't think nursing was for me.

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Specializes in Oncology.

I don't start my clinicals until next semester, but I'm currently in Pathophys, Health Assessment, and Concepts in Prof Nursing. So far, my professors are really GREAT and humorous, which actually lets you enjoy the class. This week in lab we're supposed to be taking vital signs because they asked us to bring a watch with a 2nd hand. I'm really excited, but I'm nervous all the same! I think we're all afraid of failure especially when they call this the "weeding out" process.

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