Hi everyone. I hope you are all having a very good day so far!
I am currently a Pre-Nursing major who aspires to gain admission into the competitive Nursing program at my University. First, I know that Nursing school is no walk in the park and that it requires significant hours of dedication, studying, and commitment. However, what makes me nervous are that I have heard that some Nursing exams have comprised of 500+ pages from the textbook, and that many students may not have time to actually prepare for exams like that because of the immense amount of reading material assigned in a short amount of time...and this makes me nervous.
For those who passed the system, what advice do you have for someone like me? I am a very good student - I study, work hard, and I am unfortunately "one of those students" who are obsessed with getting an A in every course...And I know this type of attitude will certainly break a Nursing student as perfectionism is one of the worst qualities a Nursing student may carry.
One example of how I possess perfectionism as a quality is when I aimed for a 100 on every final, and it worked but at the price of my mental sanity. I remember studying for one English final for 10+ hours straight just so I can "get a 100"- but I had other courses to study for as well. Yeah, you can say my perfectionism is that bad. I ended up scoring a 107 (because I got the bonus right) but I will admit: it was absolute hell but it did pay off. I also scored a 100 on my History final, Biology final, and Math to name others and of course I made sure to get no less than an 'A' on regular assignments. Sometimes I work too hard and I just feel like giving up. It's either a 100 or nothing in my brain, and oddly enough: I had never developed this attitude before entering College (I am now an upcoming sophomore).
I am not trying to in anyway showcase my success as a student, I truly believe every student can succeed through hard work, dedication, and commitment. No one is ever stupid or intellectually challenged to the point where they cannot succeed in their academic or professional career. However, but it makes me sad, discouraged, and disheartened to discover that a Nursing student failed Nursing school and was kicked out. I do not like hearing that, I don't think anyone does. And of course, I feel as though if I do gain acceptance into the program: I will fail out too as a result of perfectionism and burn out.
So, what I am saying is: if a Nursing professor (or a difficult, tough professor) assigns 1,000 pages to be read by the end of the week: I will make sure to read it all, and know absolutely everything.We all know it's nearly impossible to know absolutely everything in a 1,000 page textbook - but for those who may have scored A's on exams that contain such volume of material my question for you is: how did you do it?
I look forward to these responses, and I truly think Nursing is one of the most rewarding, professional, and best majors out there. Thank you Nurses (and current Nursing students) for all of the hard work you do: in my eyes, every single one of you are heroes.
Thank you all for your thoughtful and helpful responses. It really helps. Sometimes I hear of stories where previous stellar students end up flunking out of nursing school, and that makes me nervous. I guess I will just try my best. I really hope it does all work out!
Thank you all for your thoughtful and helpful responses. It really helps. Sometimes I hear of stories where previous stellar students end up flunking out of nursing school, and that makes me nervous. I guess I will just try my best. I really hope it does all work out!
I think that was the worst part for me also, the students who were great in high school and couldn't handle nursing school...but honestly I never met those people. The people who did really awful in my school were the ones who slacked off and got argumentative over everything, thinking they were right and trying to catch the professors in any small errors. I agree with one of the posts above that said to get friendly with professors. Not only will they be more likely to help you out, but also it's great to have them for reference when you're looking for your first job.
Best advice I can give - Work SMARTER not HARDER! I graduated from a top 15 nursing program... I maintained good grades, worked PRN, and still had a social life. It's all about time management and knowing what your teacher wants you to know, if that makes sense.
You can be a perfectionist in nursing school, but my god, will you be miserable.
The best piece of advice I was ever given, and one I will take into my LVN-RN transition program in a few weeks, came from a Clinical instructor:
Study and learn the material in order to take care of your patients. Don't study to pass a test, don't study to make a grade. Study the material with the understanding that what you are learning will assist you in saving lives. Once I was able to do that, the grades just fell into place for me.
I do really well in all my classes, but I have learned to just relax and do what I can. It's good to be motivated but there's a difference in reading those 1000 pages and actually learning from the assignment. Figure out what those pages are meant to teach you and focus on learning the main points then trickle down to more detailed information.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
Re: earning A grades....
I was determined to earn A grades in my prereqs.
In the first 3:4 quarters of LvN/PN school, I continued to earn As.
In RN school, I was satisfied with simply passing, period. I'd come home after an exam with a 78 and would tell my kids: "Yes! I passed!! But don't you ever think a 78 is a good grade....unless you go to nursing school!" [emoji23]
Specializes in Nephrology Home Therapies, Wound Care, Foot Care..
My recollection of orientation a vast 12 months ago!) is that it was an entire day of being told the 9000 ways to get expelled, interlaced wit the 1000 ways to fail, and one brief mention of being best of the best-oh, but 5% would flunk out. Needless to day, not inspiring, and oh you're not going to see your family for the next 2 years. I had the opportunity to speak at orientation this time, and told them my experience, which is that it's a lot of hard wiek, have FUN, ands focus on learning to be the best nurse possible, not on being an A student.
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
In my prereqs I got a 4.0 and averaged 95-105. I'm at the end of nursing school now, and I'm averaging 88-95. You will need to learn to manage your time. You will not be able to learn this stuff by memorizing everything and focusing on details. You will need to learn the major concepts instead, and be able to connect the dots between those concepts. Sometimes that is hard for the very detail oriented perfectionist types, but you must adjust this.
You will at some point probably be assigned more reading than you can actually do. Do you know how to skim a chapter? If not, learn this now.
Before you start nursing school, check your A & P textbook for a chapter on fluid and electrolyte balance (homeostasis) and read it. Also review the heart: blood flow, electrical conduction, etc.
Focus your goal on your comprehension of the material rather than your letter or number grade.
I never believed in the saying "C's get degrees" until starting nursing. I thought I needed A's in order to be successful. I now have the mindset of "I just want to pass!!" The thing with nursing is the classroom grade is not the only factor. You have to not just memorize the material, but to apply it on the clinical floor and know your skills as well. So there are many different aspects of things to learn in nursing school, not just reading material. There is a lot of material to be read each week, but you don't have to know EVERYTHING. If you can understand the basics of each topic, you can generally work through your test questions to find the correct answer. For example, you will never learn every single medication and their side effects, actions, interactions, etc. However, if you understand how, beta blockers, for example, work on a basic level, you can work through what the use of Bisoprolol is for by categorizing meds (beta blockers generally end in "lol"). (Just make sure you understand you sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and pharmacology will be much easier!!)
I know that personally, my first month was completely overwhelming and my first clinical was terrifying. Everything my professor said was Greek to me. I never thought I would memorize my meds and didn't think it was possible to finish my care plan AND get a few minutes of shut eye before clinicals. Many weeks I had three tests in one day covering 4 chapters each. If you plan out your time and try not to procrastinate, you will be able to learn what you need to know about the topics. The first semester is extremely overwhelming. It is a lot like learning a new language. You will hear a lot of words that you have never heard of before. But once you learn your "foundation," you will continue to just build on it each semester.
My class is extremely close and we rely a lot on each other! If someone is struggling, try to help them out. Because you never know when you will be the one needing help. We have a Facebook group that we will post things to remind one another about deadlines, a youtube video that helped us understand something, a helpful diagram, or a good mnemonic. You end up seeing your classmates more than your family, so having a good relationship with everyone is really helpful as well.
Something that I always tell myself is, "they can't fail everyone!" If you try, you will succeed. Nursing school is the time to make mistakes when you have someone there to catch you. Best of luck in the program!!
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46 Posts
Thank you all for your thoughtful and helpful responses. It really helps. Sometimes I hear of stories where previous stellar students end up flunking out of nursing school, and that makes me nervous. I guess I will just try my best. I really hope it does all work out!