I hate nursing school (and it is not because it is hard)

[baleen]

I am in one of the top nursing schools in the country, and, coming from the interesting pre-reqs like chemistry and A&P, to the nursing model, which, I am sorry to say, is devoid of any real medical knowledge.....is heartbreakingly frustrating.

Pharmacology is not about pharmacology...its about a few specific drugs and memorizing things about those few specific drugs.

Pathophysiology is barely about physiology at all, its about how to nurse someone with a pathology more than anything.

My issue, is, I am 32 and afraid of getting back out there to get pre reqs for PA school or med school. What if I run out of public loan funding halfway through...I'm stuck. (I cant get private loans)

How do I pay for my life while I go back to school for a year for pre reqs?

All of this momentum and fear has kept me in a nursing school I hate more and more.

And no, it is not hard at all. I get straight A's. And god I wish I was bragging, but it just feels sad.

Its a rant. I am frustrated.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

I am in one of the top nursing schools in the country

My pharmacology teacher uses sock puppets.

Technical terms are avoided for us.

I have to agree with others that this may not actually be one of the top rated nursing schools in the country (sock puppets???).

I would check the school's accredidations(many are eligible to take the NCLEX without major accreditatons) as well as their NCLEX pass rates. This would help you know if you are in a top school.

I don't know how far you are in your program, but as you move further it does get more in depth. Fundamentals was agony for a lot of us, but it's necessary to move forward to the deeper subjects.

I wish you best

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

I had some similar feelings about nursing school... and in retrospect, I still do.

It all changed when I started working at an academic medical center. Docs and pharmacists and RTs galore, and all willing to teach me as much as I cared to learn. I started attending grand rounds and was even fortunate enough to present at grand rounds. I attended case studies and participated in training programs for the residents. It was really quite fantastic and satisfied that part of me that was left wanting in nursing school... and I formed some wonderful relationships with some of the most interesting people my life's path has had chance to cross.

Hang in there. This path may yet yield the fulfillment that you seek.

[staphylococci, NP]

Hang in there, man. I felt very similar to you during my BSN program. It does get better. I really like working as a critical care nurse as the in depth knowledge of the basic medical sciences comes in handy. However, I still crave being in the provider role. I'm back in school to become a FNP, and I love it! My school is light on the fluff and focuses primarily on diagnosis and treatment. I really enjoy being in the provider role during my clinical rotations. It's very intellectually fulfilling. I think I finally found my niche! Maybe you should look into becoming an APRN.

[direw0lf, BSN]

Well that hurts...

Whether this was sarcastic or not, I apologize. I got my feathers ruffled when you wrote about "your people" not being nurses because you're too smart for them. I was asked one too many times why I "settle" for nursing and told in various ways how the nursing profession isn't full of smart people like other bachelor degree majors need to be. Nursing is a professional career, however perceptions like yours (that all nursing programs must be in a sorry state because of your dissatisfaction in one of them) is incorrect and just adds to the misconceptions.

If you read my pathos book (by McCance and Heuther) I think you'd enjoy it. It's a nursing class for pre-med, pre-PA, and biology majors also btw.

[elevatorbakery]

Hey,

I'm currently in an accelerated program which pretty much feels like back to back to back summer classes. That said, I wonder how much easier or harder school would feel if I wasn't sprinting through it. Bruce Lee once said, " before I learned how to punch, a punch was just a punch. When I began in class seemed pretty straight forward. some of my peers may have even say it is easy (I won't go that far). However, when I started clinical, everything vastly more complicated. I'm not sure if you started clinical yet, but if you haven't I suspect you might find more satisfaction in the difficulty of working with the human condition.

[LessValuableNinja]

What's wrong with you? If one of my instructors used sock puppets, it would be on Youtube already.

[cattitude11]

Honestly, I say quit. Bite the bullet apply to MD/DO or PA school if you think that will be more your speed. I won't even suggest that you look into other specialties in nursing because you do not seem to want to be a nurse. I do apologize if this comes off as harsh. I am a nurse that never wanted to be a doctor so it kills me to see nurses that got into nursing because med school is too expensive or they weren't accepted. However, I am firmly against wasting time doing something you do not think is challenging you. I will say that having been a nurse for almost five years, there is tons of stuff I learned on the floor that I never learned in nursing school. Nursing school only reflects a small portion of what real world” nursing is. Nevertheless, if you're not happy then you're not happy.

Life is too short to be looking back and asking yourself what if” and wishing you had not invested the energy without the return. If the medical knowledge is what you are after and you think nursing will not fulfill that need, then save yourself the time and money. Those pre-req's for med school or a PA program are never going to go away so if you chose to do it now or ten years from now the path is still the same.

As far as the money goes, I completely understand being hesitant. It may sound flippant but, whatever you decide is really for you, you will not let anything keep you from making it happen and that includes the cost. I know, not the most practically advice I believe it to be true.

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

At the risk of sounding cliche, nursing school prepares you to hit the ground running as a novice practitioner and hopefully not hurt or kill too many patients. You start learning when you start working.

Much about my course was just boring. Not that I negate the need for things like cultural safety our third year course was taught by one of the most culturally unsafe nurses I have ever met.

I had a great pharmacology lecturer who was a complete mad scientist and encouraged us not to just settle for books like pharmacology for nurses because he felt that they had a tendency to dumb down the pharmacology principles as if nurses couldnt handle the whole theories.

Teachers make a vast difference to how students learn and I'd be spitting if one of my tutors had bought out sock puppets.

As others have said, nursing may not be for you. Depending on how far through you are, I'd stick with it, because if you do decide to go the MD route, you'll earn a hell of alot more money if you work part time. That said dont ever undervalue the role nurses play in health care, you will find your job becomes very difficult if you manage to piss off the nurses

[sara567]

I had the option of going for PA or RN. I decided my RN with the end goal being an APRN with my own pediatric practice (something that I can do in my state). It will take about 2 years longer than as a PA, but I really want to be my own boss while working in the medical field.

You also need to remember that nursing school is literally the basics. They don't have time, or need, to teach you everything because realistically, you won't use a lot of the info they give you beyond basics. I won't be working in L&D (EVER!!!) but I obviously needed to learn about them and do that clinical rotation. Your job, while in school, is to learn independently all the items you need for when you do get to the real world. I will need to know a lot about chemotherapy in the field I am going to, so I made sure I do.

I have a feeling you are doing the bare minimum, or only what is listed on the syllabus. Nursing care is not medical care, but nursing care will make your medical care 1000 times better in the real world.

[Helenegusa]

Why don't you just enjoy the Easy ride to a good paying job as an RN and then you'll be able to continue with your education and become a PA?

Or you can just quit altogether if you're that bored...

[LessValuableNinja]

I am also sad, because my public administration degree did not adequately prepare me to be POTUS, and IT graduate school did not prepare me to be the CEO of Cisco. I mean, with a 4.0, I figure I should have been ready to handle anything. I had to learn things after school on my own. It is very upsetting to me.

[db2xs]

Baleen, I take it you are in a BSN program. I felt that way about school too when I was there, and I too went to one of the "top" nursing programs. I think the professors were catering to the possible lowest common denominator, and to the fact that a grand majority of the students were in their early to mid-20s (I was in my mid-30s). We "older" students used to complain amongst ourselves all the time about this.

If this makes you feel any better, I talked with an alumnus from my program who told me he barely attended any of the classes and only showed up for exams and received excellent grades, particularly during the last semester. What he would do in his free time was attend classes at the School of Public Health. He is now doing some amazing things, and yes, he is still a nurse.