How do you get through the last few months of nursing school?

myty23 · Jan 29, 2011

I don't have any suggestions, but I am right where you are...just can't seem to find the motivation. I guess knowing it's almost over it makes it hard to put as much into it. I'm just so burnt out on it all. I am set to graduate in may and will start preceptorship in march, but I also feel the same as you. Clinicals just have not given me the experience or exposure that I need to be a confident, good nurse. I really hope I get a good and patient preceptor who is willing to really teach me. I still have not gotten to do an IV, foley.....and many other skills that we learned forever ago, there's no way I could remember what I did on that plastic dummy one time! I hope some other people have some good advice,because I'm really interested also!

ShantheRN, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2011

I have my last day of preceptorship tomorrow (yay!!!!!!!!) and I can honestly say.....it feels like I learned more in the past 12 weeks than the last year and a half. It's not true, though. Once you're actually working as a nurse with your preceptor, you get to piece together the lessons of the last two years. I was bored in most of my clinicals because it felt like I was a PCA with the added bonus of doing assessments and passing meds. There are still some skills I haven't had the opportunity to do, but I plan on learning/perfecting those at my first job. Our last day of class, a few nurse recruiters from local hospitals came to talk to us about landing our first interviews. I voiced concerns about being rusty on skills and all three said the same thing: you bring the right attitude and willingness to learn, and we can teach you everything else.

So basically....keep plugging along! Hopefully your preceptorship experience will be as awesome as mine. I went from "gawd this is never going to end! Why am I bothering??" to "I can't wait to actually be doing this for a living!!!" within a matter of weeks.

anon695 · Jan 29, 2011

I'm in my last semester and what keeps me going is that I've worked so hard for this that slacking off and failing (then having to repeat and not graduate until a year later) would be devastating. I want to be a nurse so badly, and I know I need to work as hard as I can EVERY semester to make sure that happens. Also, I've paid for this program out of my own bank account, no financial aide - so not giving class & clinical 100% would seem like "wasting my money" to me.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Jan 30, 2011

Clinicals are nothing like real nursing (and that's a good thing). Get through it day by day, know you are almost there, and the best thing about nursing school is that it doesn't last forever!

CrazierThanYou · Jan 30, 2011

I'm in my second semester and I already feel burned out....

Cyan8181 · Jan 30, 2011

This could so be my thread, word for word. I have 10 weeks left which comes out to be 20 lectures and 20 clinical days. I just keep telling myself that I can do anything for 40 days. I've been successful in school; my grades are good and I have a good rapport with my instructors and hospital staff, but I honestly would have to think long and hard about repeating the semester if something crazy were to happen and I didn't graduate this year. Nursing school is exhausting and demanding and I don't want to do it again which means I have to suck it up. And if I have to suck it up...then you need to suck it up. lol

inProgress · Jan 30, 2011

I felt the same way! The second semester was killer...buuuuttt... the third and fourth were easy.. and now that I'm at the end it's like a week by week count down!!

Hang in there and enjoy your breaks... Stay strong!

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2011

Repeating in the future is not worth the slacking off in the present. If you want to be a nurse, you have to get through it whether it's now or later. For me, I graduate in December of this year and I'm NOT going to watch my graduate date slip farther away!

If you need more than that, give yourself one mental health day about halfway through the semester that doesn't fall on a critical day (test, lecture before test, or clinical) and work towards that. Although I find that because of Spring Break, I have less trouble being motivated during the Spring semesters because I already have a halfway point

idahostudent2011 · Jan 30, 2011

I feel the same way, I have 13 weeks til I graduate, and wow is it hard to get motivated....especially journaling, that is the worst...but the one positive is that I only have 3 more weeks of mother baby...great I have a lot of stuff to do in the next couple of weeks..yikes! Looking forward to the end of this semester...and graduating...that is what is keeping me from completely cracking...

NC-RN2011 · Mar 1, 2011

I have 9 weeks left of the ADN program!!! I am excited and nervous too. I have just started precepting in Labor and Delivery. I can't wait until I am a "Real Nurse" (haha...just kidding...I heard someone say that before). My school has just started teaching "concept" nursing this program...we are the "test dummies" I guess you can say. Everyone (except one)failed the last test and even that one student admitted she just guessed the answers. So my next test is coming up on Fluid/Electrolytes and I have been studying my tush off. Does anyone have any suggestions to help get through these 9 painful weeks?

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Oct 13, 2011

8 more weeks until my ADN program is over. So demotivated. I can barely stand it. It takes all I have to crack open my books to study. ugh. Lord please give me the strength.