I was reading in the student threads about some of the challenges student nurses are facing these days. I'll admit, I kinda had it good: I lived in the dorm, I had a great roommate, and I was the same lighthearted person I am today. My goal in nursing school was to get my education and have FUN at the same time. And I did! I was fortunate as I had some professors who believed that school should not drain your total person and allowed me to show my silly side where I could.
The biggest challenge for me in nursing school was the pediatric rotation. Yes, drug calculations was going to be a bear, but I knew if I could just overcome my fear of math and equations I could get it. But, I couldn't get past seeing the pain of abuse and the pain of death in children. In my entire nursing school experience, I never got lower than a 94% in anything, except for my Peds rotation. I think it was depression and transference (as my brother was the child I thought of every time I had a peds patient) that made me not do as well in that class. I ended up with an 86% - the very first and only final exam I ever had to take. (In our program, if you maintained a 94% average or higher during the year, you didn't have to take a final exam.)
What was your biggest challenge?