Hardest class in nursing school

[Beldar_the_Cenobite]

What was THE hardest class you've ever taken in nursing school. Some people tell me "med surge", some say "pathophysiology was the hardest", some say "OB", some say "pediatrics"...

Is there one that tries and weeds out students the most?

What was your hardest nursing class you've EVER taken. Is there one that reminds you of that everyday?

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

The hardest class I took to get my BSN was actually a prerequisite and not part of the nursing program curriculum. I found Organic Chemistry to be mind-boggingly hard.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

JadedCPN said:

The hardest class I took to get my BSN was actually a prerequisite and not part of the nursing program curriculum. I found Organic Chemistry to be mind-boggingly hard.

O-chem kinda did suck..

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

pixierose said:

I don't remember that one, no.

I think there is a difference between being prepared, and being overly anxious.

Each program can be so different, and heck -- the program itself can differ yearly. Like I said, the class before me had a really challenging time with their med-surg prof; however, our class had a phenomenal prof and learned a great deal. I think it's good to have a general idea of what the program is like going into it, but be open to your own interpretations. If I only focused on what the previous class said about the med-surg class, I would have been stressed to the max.

For example, several students in the class before ours said, "you'll have no life once you start nursing school!" Well. That's not helpful to me, and, while they may be trying to be helpful, it's rather fear mongering. I still need that life. Did I have a life? You betcha! Was it altered? Yup. But I made sure I had one.

Being successful in nursing school is also very individualized. Biggest word of advice that is universal, however: don't skip lecture, and don't skip clinical. You'll see posts on AN periodically from posters lamenting that they skipped class and their classmates won't give them info and woe is me blah blah blah. Can you guess the amount of sympathy they receive here?

But as for *how* to study for each class, *if* you should partake in a study group along the way, *what* is the hardest class, *who* are the recommended teachers (you usually won't get a choice on this one btw), you'll find this out along the way.

It's best to enjoy the journey, roll your eyes with your classmates, go wth? with new friends, cry sometimes, laugh a lot, complain a TON, and finally earn your degree. It'll go by faster than you think. And be that person who will answer questions for the incoming class.

One of the very first nursing students at the program I want to go to worked part-time as a front desk person at our school and he said,"In med surge, our instructor is the president of the BON and he's very boring so I just skip class and ask someone for the notes." I don't know what med-surge is like. I think I understand what Pathophys is like compared to med surge probably because pathophys has microbiology and A&P combined and med surge sounds like something exclusively to nursing school. I don't know if he graduated or failed the program but I want this really badly, like I need this, and I would never skip class or clinicals because I might as well skip saving a persons life.

pixierose said:

And be that person who will answer questions for the incoming class. [/Quote]

You missed the post, so you may not understand why I'm saying this but I wish that girl was this person. ^ Someone who would answer questions to someone who has a burning desire to become a nurse. This cheap broke student life is for the birds, not me.

[chtzu, BSN, RN]

I don't think any of my classes were "hard", I just think they were a lot of work. Takes time and effort to pass all your classes but I wouldn't say the concepts are difficult to understand. If I had to choose something though, it would be OB. Probably the most boring class I've ever taken.

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

Honestly you do seem very anxious, and I don't mean that unkindly. I understand how exciting this all is, and how it feels like you can't suck up information to satisfy you.

The best advice I have is to ignore what other people's experiences were like (or their "free" advice) and have an open mind when you enter nursing school. I'm not there yet, but that's my plan.

Good luck.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

The "hardest" class will be the one you don't make enough study time for. In any nursing class, you really must put on blinders and make that priority in your life, period.

[Savvy20RN, BSN, RN]

I would say pharmacology. Med surg was tough because of the skills that had to be learned, but pharm was hard because there was no easy way for me to memorize all of those medications, contraindications, adverse effects and side effects. That class was pure memorization while the other classes were not. I did well in the class, but I had flash cards EVERYWHERE. Haha.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

Med Surge II, by far the hardest.

Pharm was also hard but there were more tests in it so I had more chances to do well I think. I got a B in Pharm (90) and C in Med Surge II (86)

OB was also hard too. The first test I did crummy but by the end of the semester I was blowing the doors off of them because I understood the material better.

[Bubbly26, BSN, RN]

Critical Care/Med Surg 2 was by far the hardest for me. I think I cried after every single test in that class.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Quote

Wow, I thought pathophysiology was just by itself and I didn't think it spreads across or builds up in the other classes.

Yeah, not true. You have to apply patho to every other class. In the case of pharm, all those drugs you have to learn are treating pathophysiology. (Side note: it was this class that gave me so much respect for pharmacists. I took one class...they took a doctoral program!!)

Patients in hospitals and nursing homes, rehab, etc are experiencing pathophysiology. I mean, nobody is hospitalized for being well, right? So in nursing classes, you have to consider the pathophysiology to know what interventions the pt needs.

[VerticalHorizon]

Pharm and MedSurg I was the hardest for me and I think most of the people I graduated with would agree. The pharm class was a disaster from the start because they changed the curriculum and was taught by professor who had never taught it before. The difficulty was further compounded by having every pharm and medsurg test on the same week one day apart. Almost everyone was drowning that semester and we lost so many people. This was the 2nd semester of a 4 semester 16 month ABSN program and the two semesters after that were a breeze in comparison.

[Janelly]

Well aren't you lucky! Maybe you should consider Rocket Science!