First year student

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · Aug 3, 2011

It all depends on the individual. In my first year, there were quite a few 19 to early 20 somethings, living at home with parents, no kids, no jobs who failed out; while those with jobs and kids did well. We have one woman with 2 jobs and 4 kids and she's doing fine.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 3, 2011

hello people,
I have just recently been accepted into a Nursing program at CSM. I am very pleased and excited to start the program, but I am not sure how difficult nursing school is. I have heard people passing the program who have kids and a job. I do not have a job nor kids, but I'm worried that nursing school will be too difficult for me to pass. The most concerning part of nursing school is the math because I'm not great at it. I am just wondering if any of you have any advice and your maybe give your experience in clinical, lab, and lecture.

Most of the math is about medication doses and the ability to measure a wound. :) I don't know what CSM is - but nursing school is taxing- mostly because of the volume of material, and the number of things to memorize. There's also a lot to write - care plans, med cards, etc. If you were accepted, I am guessing that they have standards you have to meet in order to get in- that is a good sign !! :) You really won't know until you get there- it's not something you can really prepare someone for :)

**LaurelRN, MSN · Aug 3, 2011

The math is not hard...math is definitely not my strong suit and I passed nursing school no problem. Nursing school is ALOT of reading and self motivation...you'll only get out of it what you put into it. Hope this helps

Coulter630 · Aug 3, 2011

Nursing school is pretty tough. I've never been diagnosed, but I think I may have a little bit of a learning disability. I have been in college since 07 and have had very close to a 4.0 until nursing school. I still have a 3.25, if that tells you anything. I start my last semester in Dec. and have gotten decent grades thus far. It's been tough and I feel as if I have to read and pay attention that much harder to understand everything. I doubted myself and still do sometimes! But really I can't too much if I've gotten this far right? It's tough, but if you really wanna be a nurse, you can do it! Congrats on your acceptance, you're very lucky! :yeah: Good Luck. And if you need help with dosage calculations, feel free to inbox me and I will try my best to explain the way I've done it the whole time I've been in the program. And you have to pass with at least a 90 to go on to the next level....that's only missing 2 problems. Dimentional analysis.....get your instructors or a math tutor to show you that. You will never get any wrong with this way! :)

asiankid520 · Aug 3, 2011

thank you guys for all your support! I hope I can succeed because Im afraid that If tried hard and fail, I would really hate myself and think im not smart enough to be a nurse....

asiankid520 · Aug 3, 2011

I also have another question about math and when you guys are in the field working....Do you guys get to you a calculator to make sure you are correct or do they expect you to know it off of the top of your head? I'm sure when your working in an emergency room or something, the dr will not wait for you to do your math while someone is dying...

tech1000 · Aug 3, 2011

You use a calculator for the math. Even in nursing school we were usually allowed calculators. In the ER, there are enough nurses in those situations where one is usually doing meds and there are others doing the other tasks. I've never seen one nurse in a room on a critical patient.