How was your experience in nursing school?

moodyred01 · Sep 10, 2009

You might want to pop over to the student forum. You'll find lots of info there!

I think your lifestyle and the school you attend can influence your experience. It was amazingly time consuming but once I got used to that it didn't feel so time consuming. I was pregnant during much of my school and already had a toddler and a husband who worked and went to school full time as well so these things made a big difference in how stressed I was.

I would recommend talking to students from a particular school/program before committing to anything. Our school was amazingly disorganized and I wish I'd known that before I started. But I made it through feeling well equipped so that's a good thing!

twopointohhh · Sep 10, 2009

You might want to pop over to the student forum. You'll find lots of info there!

Thanks for the reply, Sorry If I posted this in the wrong part of the forum!

Annisme · Sep 10, 2009

The eleventh commandment reads:

Thou shalt not have a life while in nursing school

Work hard, plan well, live!!!

JenniferSews · Sep 10, 2009

The eleventh commandment reads:
Thou shalt not have a life while in nursing school
Work hard, plan well, live!!!

That about sums it up for me. It has been incredibly stressful. I worked and had a baby in between semesters (was back at class 3 days later.) The stress has been overwhelming at times. I would plan to really devote yourself 100% to nursing school. Good luck!

Tait, MSN, RN · Sep 10, 2009

I went to nursing school after being convinced that massage therapy school was not quite the niche I was potentially looking for. I later thanked that adviser in a Faculty Appreciation speech in front of over 300 faculty.

Nursing school was an interesting life change for me. I went from meandering around life, waitressing, and not really knowing what I wanted from life to finding this amazing path to adulthood that filled me with hope and fear all at the same time!

Nursing school was a challenge but not in how to complete work, or how to talk to patients, but really in how to discover what nursing wanted from me.

I always describe nursing school as follows: Imagine someone gives you a box of car parts without a picture or hint as to what it makes, and then tells you to put the car together.

There are so many intricacies and nuances in nursing that don't even float to the surface until you are out of school it is amazing. This being said I do feel my experience as a technical school ADN graduate was amazing, experience filled and really helped me grow as a person and nurse.

My advice is to dig in, ask to see everything you can, ask to perform anything you can get your hands on, and don't be afraid to ask MD's (when appropriate with your preceptors) to see any and every procedure you can. This applies to your first and all jobs as well! (My first few weeks nursing here in GA I got to cardiovert my patient!!)

Enjoy it, revel in it and celebrate the heck out of it when it is over!!

Best of luck, and bravo on finding a very positive path out of a difficult family situation!

Tait

R.NICU · Sep 10, 2009

like another person said...no life outside of nursing school. i have school monday thru thursday and then work as a tech fri, sat, and sunday. very exhausting and time consuming. And no matter how you try to explain this to people (friends and family), they don't understand. Only nurses and nursing students do. Can't wait to be done :-)

SamiRN · Sep 10, 2009

I just posted a comment on LPN-RN concerning this...I am not pleased...

Becoming an LPN wasnt the nicest thing either but when I entered the RN program...I found it to be a horrible experience....I dont want to deter you...the real world of nursing is nothing like nursing school.....If you can make it through the school the job security is there but Im starting to question if I can make it through!

Good luck!

diane227, LPN, RN · Sep 17, 2009

I graduated from Texas Womans University in 1978 with a BS in Nursing and a minor in biology. Nursing was not hard for me. I went to class and took good notes. I did very little required reading. I did very well in all my clinical rotations and I understood what sick looked like. Before a test I looked over my notes. I made B's and C's on tests and A's in clinicals. I worked part time in a hospital as a CNA while in my senior year and learned more there than I did in school. No one ever asked me about my GPA after graduation. For the most part, it came easy to me.