Ever feel like this...?

RNrural · Apr 20, 2007

As this year winds down I am also finding myself very stressed! Like you I started the year with great grades. As the year has progressed it seems to have gotten more difficult. Clinicals have actually been very easy for me. It has gotten busier and much more difficult to keep up the amount of work expected. I only have 2 1/2 weeks to complete my LPN classes. The problem is the next 2 weeks are my OB clinicals and this has been a more difficult class. I have also been putting 24 hours a weekend in at the hospital. Oh well, I think by this time of year we are all tired! I tell myself everyday....I am going to be an LPN this summer and an RN by next summer!!!

WDWpixieRN, RN · Apr 20, 2007

ldid i mention i go to the most " prestigious" private school in my city? i don't even want to imagine what it must be like for the kids at a community college (in my city)

Nice caveat to the 'community college' statement. I think each school is somewhat individualized from what I've read on these boards...I think each student is the same, also....

I was pretty much a straight-A student going in to nursing school...I got a few B's in prereqs (working full-time and trying to learn how to learn science, lol), and am maintaining a fairly high B average in NS....but I go to a community college and am in my second semester....what I will say we have all noticed is that the information is fast and furious and you'd better be able to hang on, 'cause it's not letting up....we graduate after 2 years of NS and take the same NCLEX as everyone else in this state -- "prestigious" or not. We compete for the same jobs, at basically the same pay.

I chose to go to a CC as I already have a bachelor's in another field and didn't want to subject myself to the rigors of an accelerated program at this point in my life. The fact that I am at a CC is not a reflection of my learning capability nor my aspirations in this career. I highly doubt it's any different where you live. Our CC is considered pretty "prestigious" in our community.

Hang in there; no one EVER said this would be easy!

jjjoy, LPN · Apr 20, 2007

Given that exams and content in nursing school don't always seem to mesh, I sometimes suspect that this is nursing schools way of proving that it's not an "easy" program. They can point at former straight A-students who barely get Bs and say "See how difficult nursing school is?!"

Or maybe it's just that nursing school exam questions are usually modeled after NCLEX questions as opposed to directly based on what's covered in class. And what's covered in class is legally mandated by the state board of nursing for the school to be accredited and there's usually reams of material to go through, which is why so much is assigned for at-home study.

Becca608 · Apr 21, 2007

Our instructor actually addressed this in lecture yesterday. Basically, she wanted to encourage us to look at our study habits and how we've been spending our time this first year since its only going to get HARDER next year. I already feel over-tired and extremely stressed, but the truth is that I don't take care of myself like I should and I've been trying to continue my family life like I always have. I really feel that my studies have suffered and they weren't joking at the end of the year when they told us to put life on hold. I think my instructors hate me for coming across as such a ditzy lady because I've just got too much on my plate...some by choice and some not. I definitely need to go through this summer and get rid of the unnecessary and try to encourage adult family members to participate in thier own lives a little more and quit depending on me to do everything. I've worked too hard to get this far.

Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 21, 2007

Sometimes being an A student reflects being good at taking tests.

I was raised in the "memorize and regurgitate" era of education. I never leanred to think. Nursing school requires being able to think things through and it has taken my brain a long time to learn how to work. I realized that for the first time in my life I'm actually thinking and not memorizing.

The nice thing is that it has carried over into other areas of my life. So while I'm cursing my instructors, I'm thanking them too. The hard work I've put into wrapping my head around new information has paid off. I think I'm a better "thinker" than I ever would have been.

WDWpixieRN, RN · Apr 21, 2007

I definitely need to go through this summer and get rid of the unnecessary and try to encourage adult family members to participate in thier own lives a little more and quit depending on me to do everything. I've worked too hard to get this far.

Good luck and let me know how you manage this....some of the "adults" (read: my kids) verbalize this thought, but have a hard time with the follow-through...Mom, however, is getting much better at this than they are and I think it's hard for them to grasp....there are times it's hard for me to get out of mommy mode, too!

Becca608 · Apr 21, 2007

Sometimes being an A student reflects being good at taking tests.
I was raised in the "memorize and regurgitate" era of education. I never leanred to think. Nursing school requires being able to think things through and it has taken my brain a long time to learn how to work. I realized that for the first time in my life I'm actually thinking and not memorizing.
The nice thing is that it has carried over into other areas of my life. So while I'm cursing my instructors, I'm thanking them too. The hard work I've put into wrapping my head around new information has paid off. I think I'm a better "thinker" than I ever would have been.

:uhoh3: Amen to that!!!!!! :lol2: I am a 39 y/o post-bacc student and I realize after this first year of nursing school that I have NEVER REALLY HAD TO THINK!!! Write stuff to impress professors--easy. Process theories and apply them in a research paper--easy.

Understand biology, psychology, sociology, the laws of physics, the principles of humanity, ethics, morals, the LAW, licensing AND have these ingrained as a part of me so that I can quickly evaluate my patients and take quick and necessary action? That's alot to learn and a whole new of thinking. They teach us the nursing process and I know I'm learning it because I can care appropriately for patients. Ask me to analyze what I'm doing and its 'oh...yeah, I guess that was ADPIE'.

Maybe I'm loopy from too many care plans!!!

MintyKorn · Apr 21, 2007

Ugh your posts are bringing back horrible memories lolz :lol2: . There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah towards the last year, you will notice people dropping like flies and your class getting smaller and smaller. In my class alone we started with about 150 students, but in the end only 10 of us were able to complete the program and graduate. It's quite literally "survival of the fittest." The last 2 semesters just seemed to drag. So don't worry, everybody who has survived nursing school has felt the same, exact thing. I know you feel worn out right now, but all that will feel worth all the blood, sweat and tears you've endured (that's not an exaggeration folks! lolz) once you graduate. You're gonna feel like a million bucks, believe me :wink2:

Hang in there! :pumpiron:

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Apr 21, 2007

bisson- I've been in nursing 20 years, and in nursing school I definitely felt at a few points that I would never make it through. First did the diploma program, and then after graduating and working for a bit I did my degree. If I can feel like I'll never make it through the nursing program while I was already an RN and working, then you should forgive yourself for feeling the same way. The only solution is to just keep going. Do one more paper, one more assignment, as if that's all you have to do. One thing at a time, and eventually it will all be over.

Becca608 · Apr 21, 2007

Ugh your posts are bringing back horrible memories lolz . There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah towards the last year, you will notice people dropping like flies and your class getting smaller and smaller. In my class alone we started with about 150 students, but in the end only 10 of us were able to complete the program and graduate. It's quite literally "survival of the fittest." The last 2 semesters just seemed to drag. So don't worry, everybody who has survived nursing school has felt the same, exact thing. I know you feel worn out right now, but all that will feel worth all the blood, sweat and tears you've endured (that's not an exaggeration folks! lolz) once you graduate. You're gonna feel like a million bucks, believe me :wink2:
Hang in there! :pumpiron:

:idea: Ouch...we've only lost 2 people so far this year (actually in the nursing program). Where I saw people dropping like flies was during the pre-reqs. Out of @ 50 people that I knew of in Spring semester 2005 that were headed for nursing (Anatomy and Physiology I), only 4 + 2 have survived. Two of us are in the nursing program that we wanted to be in (ADN, but the best clinical experience around!), 2 transferred to other schools with BSN programs. One decided to aim for med school, and 1 decided to go to dental school.:balloons:

Becca608 · Apr 21, 2007

And that is the best and most awesome advice!!! Thanks Canoehead!