Got my acceptance letter - NOT excited

Very excited, then the reality of actually having to get my schedule made, get my FAFSA done, get my scholarship apps in, figure out how else to pay...all while still in school half-time and working (supervising a bunch of babies and working for a bunch of jerks-sorry, very bad week) full time. Still excited, but reality is tempering the excitement.

My nursing school acceptance letter came six years ago, but I will never forget it. I opened the letter outside at the mailbox and read the first line indicating that I was accepted to the program, I burst into (happy) tears! I was still crying when I brought the letter inside to my husband (then boyfriend). I couldn't talk; I just handed him the letter. He said, "I knew you would get in." :kiss I still have the letter in my file cabinet. :)

Preface: im hammered. That being said when i got mine it was a thank ******* god and oh **** the real world kicked into gear. I have to deal with real pts lives real pt that I have never met etc etc. I found the hardest part to be dealing with the inside drama of my life. I love love love clinical and really shine in it. Lecture is not my strong point and i recognize that and work extra hard to try and fix it. You really have to buckle down and see what you are good at what you are not.

I felt pretty much the same way that you are feeling OP. That's pretty normal. I will tell you that I am almost done with first semester and you can do this! I still feel excited to this day and can't wait to move on to next semester.

The only thing that I would add is that you are going to have to get into the habit of studying everyday, or almost everyday. The nursing program is VERY time consuming. Good luck to you!

Preface: im hammered.

LOL! I get myself in trouble here sometimes, posting after several beers or glasses of wine. Glad to see I'm not the only one who surfs allnurses after several drinks, before I hit the sack. Rock on, That Guy, rock on.

I graduated LPN last August, got my license in October. When I got my acceptance letter for the LPN-RN program that starts in August I wasn't all that excited.

I know its going to be 3 semesters of studying, long days and working weekends.

I can't wait to be done with school.

I could just imagine - me standing in front of a patient during clinicals.. and not knowing what to do. The tuition that I have to pay. The drama. The stress. It makes me want to vomit just thinking about it (I don't mean literally). I have this tendency of getting extremely anxious that my mind just goes blank. It's making me nervous just thinking that it's 4months away from stepping on that school and wearing my clinical uniform. I am ready, I hope I am. I'm a person that don't study everyday. I'll probably need to change that attitude. Also, I will be working during the day and going to school at night (until 10:30pm.) I think I am going crazy.

Just imagine yourself in 4 years, standing in front of a patient and knowing EXACTLY what to do. Every time I'm in a situation where I don't feel I performed up to par, I reevaluate it later. What did I do right, what should I have done differently. And low and behold, the next time the situation comes up, my mind doesn't go blank, I do what I need to do, and I feel good about having learned from a previous experience.

You will need to learn to study, a lot. Particularly since you have a full day schedule. You may do fine working full time (I did); or you may find you can't work full time after all. You won't know until you are in school.

It's so worth it. You can survive anything for a couple of years. Look back to what you were doing two years ago....does it really seem that long ago?

Congrats OP! It's OK to be anxious all your fellow classmates are too. Just remember this and help each other out and it makes it a lot easier to get through. I am finishing up my first semester now and am in the same boat as you. I also was not a big studier and I work fulltime and go to school at night. It can get crazy stressful and the days sometime can feel never ending but it is totally possible to do. You will definately need to pick up the studying though. I don't study everyday, but it is almost everyday (you need a mental break some days :)). Hopefully you will have a great CI and classmates to support you. Good Luck!!

As a few have mentioned above, you should be excited about where you'll be when you're done - sure, it's daunting (heck, I'm in the middle of my first semester as we speak)...But as my instructor often says - 'at this point, 'you're all just novices...don't expect to know everything in one day'.

I wasn't excited at all. I questioned whether or not this is really what I wanted to do. I'm still not excited, and I still question it everyday.

I'm hoping it gets better next semester.

A friend who is a nurse gave me some good advice for nursing school, "Aim low and keep moving."

The course material is easy, there is just A LOT of it. I study hard in the beginning of the semester so that I can slack off at the end when I'm burnt out.

And you'll be fine in clinicals, they don't expect you to know everything at first. They know you have to learn by doing.

Good luck. It sucks, but it goes quick.

It's going to be a long tough journey for you, you should be both excited and nervous. Your mindset will need to change for sure, i started with a group of about 80 students incoming. I am currently set to graduate with about 40 people in a few weeks. Included in those 40 people about half are LVNs who didn't start with us and a good 10 are people who were to graduate ahead of me but failed a class or two. So from about 80 to 30. we lost so many people along the way and i'll tell you right now everyone still here put the time in took it seriously and followed directions. I wish you the best of luck. If this is something you really want to do in order to make it through the program get serious and be flexible. Work hard, this can set you up for the rest of your life!!

I was extremely excited and still am but I am also scared to death. I question whether or not I am smart enough. I know I have it in me to be a nurse, the caring, the compassion that it takes but the smarts is what I am worried about. I am intelligent and have a lot of common sense and life experience. This is a second career for me but something I have always wanted to do. I have invested 2 years of pre-reqs and too much money to give up now though, plus there is nothing else that I want to do and cannot see myself sitting at a desk for another 20 or so years. When I read on this form and talk to some others that are already in the program I am even more afraid. I know it is going to be a lot of work and it will consume me and I not afraid of hard work but well, I just hope I can do it.