I am so upset, a classmate who has become a friend has decieded to drop out of nursing school! We are in our second and final year of a ADN program and only have 21 more days of class and clinical combined before the semester is done and then we have over a month of vacation.
Now a little background- This woman is in her late 40's and has struggled some and lately feeling inadequate. The instructors AND the nursing dept are willing to do ANYTHING to help her stay in. She is NOT failing and is even ahead of me as far as classwork, having already turned in our only major project that is not due until November. Learning is difficult for her but she has done it so far and isn't even close to the bottom of the class- probably about average really. I know her frustration is d/t her having not such a good support system and just wanting to start her career but she is sooo close!
If she drops now, she will lose the 12 credits for this semester. She will still be eligible to sit for her LPN, but will have to do a whole year if she wants to be an RN someday which I know she truly desires.
What I told her was one day at a time and told her I counted down (she had no idea it was only 21 days!) and every week I think of wanting to stop too but trudge on. I told her to try to stay thru this semester so she can then earn those 12 credits and then have a whole month to decide her future. I also encouraged her to talk to her doc about meds for anxiety/depresson as I know other classmates are taking a med and it seems rather common for nursing students.
Can you think of anything else I can do/say to help her thru this semester???? I just KNOW she will regret this later on and she will make a really good nurse soon.
