Need encouragement and advice

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Hello, I am (or should say was most recently) a second year nursing student. I just recently had to drop out of 2nd semester due to family situation (father ill with cancer) and my own personal stress level off the top. I am having so much trouble with A & P II. I barely passed AP I with a C. It was a constant struggle. Now it's only the beginning of the new semester and I'm already struggling with AP II. Failed my first exam. Walked out of class in tears (and believe me I studied!). I am at this point so discouraged I am ready to totally give up on nursing and not reapply next Spring. I have been in tears over the last week, struggling emotionally with my feelings and insecurities about abilities to do this profession. I know . . . . sounds like a big whinny crybaby! :( But my question is: Should A & P be this much of a struggle for me. Does this mean that I am not smart enough to do this profession.? I realize A & P is generally a difficult subject, but I'm thinking that this much heartache over one subject is not a good sign. I loved doing the clinicals at the hospital and I got good reports from my nurse instructors, but the A & P????? I am still taking A & P II and Math Statistics this semester so I can get them out of the way before reapplying in the Spring 2010. This entire week I've been struggling with whether I should change my major to something else. Has anyone else experienced this? Am I just giving up too easily or being a crybaby? All I know is I feel emotionally and physically drained at this time. The A & P is taking all I've got and I'm not sure how much I have left! :( Also, I've run into some not so nice RN's while doing the clinicals. Is this typical of how RNs like to treat nursing students? I'm not a spring chicken. Just turned 50 in Jan and I'm thinking I'm getting too old to put up with this crap, but it seems like it tends to be the norm in how students are treated. Why. Weren't they nursing students also at one time? I don't know -- I am really rethinking my decision on pursuing this career. I'm sad and frustrated!!! I know I have a lot going on with my father being ill and school, etc. and this is probably adding to my stress level and feelings right now. I just don't know what to do at the moment. I really didn't perceive this to be so difficult when I began (altough I had heard over and over how hard it was!).

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Many have trouble with A+P, some even take it 3 times!! And then they go on and become wonderful nurses!! Keep your head up, you can do it =)

Take a deep breath!! Try different methods of studying, maybe there is someone you can study with? Or peer tutors at your school? Or ask your teacher if he/she can give you any direction!!!

Good luck!!!

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Specializes in Oncology.

nurse2b2010 - it sounds like you are describing my exact situation in A&P. It's to the point where I can't sleep at night because terms and definitions and excerpts from the lectures are floating around in my head. I go to sleep worrying about A&P and I wake up worrying about A&P. The only advice I can give you is to keep your head up high! Have faith in yourself. Use any online or text resource you can get your hands on. I just bought A&P for Dummies today and some Kaplin Medical flash cards. I'm hoping that will help. Just remember that you're not alone!! There are a ton of people just like you and I who are struggling in A&P, and just like NSalvador said, many of them go on to make great nurses! *HUGS* And I'm sorry to hear about your father.

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thank you everyone. I guess I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and a nice long bubble bath (like the rest of the semester long! :) ) sounds nice. Back to hitting the books. Have a statistics exam coming up. :uhoh3::uhoh3:

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Don't feel bad I was in the same situation!!! I had to take A & P 1 twice the first time I got a C and the second time I got an A. It took me a second time to take it to understand it better. Also it didn't help that I was taking micro, chem and language all at once. I suggest you take the hardest classes one at a time other wise you will waste your time by having to take it all over again. Also get yourself a study partner that way if you get stuck on something maybe between the two of you it will get solved. Best of luck to you!!!!!

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I took A&P II 3 times. Believe me I know what you were going through. Like the previous person said take A&P with easy classes. I, myself had to go to a diff. school to take it a 3rd time.

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Most, if not all people have trouble with AP. Honestly, if you are having that much trouble, and by no means am I telling you to quit, maybe you should finish that class and other difficult prereqs before continuing. I didn't do it that way at all and it was a constant struggle. All of your grades suffer because of it. AP just takes T-I-M-E. Our teacher told us that you MUST devote 3 hours/day, every day to studying AP if you wanted to pass.

But talk to the people who are doing well in the class. Do the flash cards. Do the online study things. Get the analogy study manuals. Worksheets. Find out what works best for you as a student. I had a hard time in nursing classes because I have never been a reader. I have always been an auditory learner. Tell me, teach me, show me..... I will remember. Make me read it and give me a test over it..... huge F.

Balance out your time if you can. If you are doing great in other classes, spend less time on them. You may end up with a bunch of C's, and you may not want that at all, but hey thats how it is sometimes if you want to pass all your classes. I know it sounds insane, but if thats the only way to get thru it and graduate for you... more power to you. You will still end up a great nurse eventually.

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I don't think you should give up...you've got a lot going on right now, between the struggles with studying and with your father's health issues on top of it. Take the break, but don't give up...

And I'll share my favorite "secret study tip": tape the lectures. Spend the money to get one of those really good digital ones, and tape the darn things. Listen to them while you're driving, while you're exercising, while you're cleaning the house...but listen to them. It gets in better that way somehow...

And my favorite "stay sane at all costs tip" is to take ONE day a week - only ONE - and make it a book free, study free, stress free day. Sit on the sofa, and watch your toenails grow. Go to the mall and watch the people. Do anything other than struggle and stress. I guarantee you, you'll be more able to get the stuff you're studying to stay in there...and come back out when you need it, if you take the time to have YOU time.

And I'm old, too...we can do it. We can so completely do it.

Best-

Lovin' Learning

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Please do not let your age hold you back! I will turn 50 in May and just applied to nursing school, and my sister, who is tackling A&PI and II, just turned 63. Coming from a 22-year elementary teaching career and switching to nursing, I can tell you that your difficulties in A&P probably stem from the way you are studying. We all learn differently, and there are tests out there to help you determine whether you are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic in your learning. Google learning styles, and you will find lots of info on this area. Once you adjust your studying strategies to match your way of learning new information best, you will see a huge difference in your grades. I am so sorry to hear of your father's illness. That must be throwing your entire family into chaos. May God bless you and your family through this difficult time.

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Specializes in Oncology.

Great advice Oorah, LovingLearning and Emptynstr2!!

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I'm actually considering looking into a different school for the A & P. I don't like the way this professor teaches. I've had her 3 semester now (had to take A & P I twice!). I'm still trying to process it all -- still trying to decide if nursing is right or accessible for me. Thanks for the encouragement! I need it!

I took A&P II 3 times. Believe me I know what you were going through. Like the previous person said take A&P with easy classes. I, myself had to go to a diff. school to take it a 3rd time.
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Hey there, nurse2b. I know it is easier said than done, but try to not let your mind psych you out of a good grade. The first time I took A&P, it was at a school that didn't have I and II; they did it ALL in one semester. With a lot of detail. And, two weeks into the semester, I got mono. I freaked out, cried, raged, worried, etc. all the way through that semester. And wound up with a D+. Seriously, who gives a D+? I was ONE POINT shy of a C-. And the teacher KNEW how sick I'd been all semester, but wouldn't cut me a break. Needless to say, I was frustrated and FURIOUS.

So I gave myself a semester off from A&P, and then retook it somewhere else. (That broke it into I and II like all the other normal schools!) And I had to shake off the D+, tell myself this is a new class, new semester, clean slate, all that good stuff. And that time I made B+'s on I and II. To be honest, I didn't even study half as hard the second time as I did the first. I really think it was more about having myself mentally in a good place.

I wish I could tell you how to conquer A&P, or anything else, mentally...but then again, if I could do that, I'd be making millions on infomercials selling my 5 CD set for just 3 payments of $19.95 plus S&H with a FREE GIFT! ;)

Good luck! You CAN do it!

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