How hard is nursing school? Another question...

miteacher, ADN, MSN · Mar 7, 2011

I am wondering how hard it will be as well. I have a bachelors degree in education, and have been working as a teacher for a few years now. I have decided I need a change and am on the waiting list for a program in the Phoenix area.

How much time do most people spend studying per week? What strategies have been helpful when studying? Any tips and suggestions? Over the summer, I plan on studying medical terminology and taking practice tests and doing questions to help prepare.

Any advice, and information is appreciated. My biggest fear is that I will fail, but I have to give it a try.

Sarah G · Mar 7, 2011

How hard is nursing school? Well, depends on what you call hard. I actually loved nursing school, yes it was difficult & there were days that I cried over seemingly small things like a test grade, red ink pen (high stress kinda day), but there were some really good experiences too. I wouldn't say nursing school is hard, more like life changing. There is a small risk of catching HIV, Hep B or C. Have you tried working as a nurse's aide or similar position?

That's how I got started.

MrWarmHearted · Mar 7, 2011

depends on the school. some schools are very hard, others seem easy. perhaps you should interview - as in actually talk (either in person or on the phone) with students of your desired school (in addition to CNAs/nurses for your other question).

If you're serious about going into nursing, it would be in your best interest to work as a CNA first

Weebee, LVN · Mar 7, 2011

Its something I plan on never doing again....

But glade I did...

It builds character

CrazyGoonRN · Mar 7, 2011

It just depends on the type of person you are. I had no trouble with the book work. I struggled with learning skills. I am the type of person who needs to watch someone do something then pratice it over and over again until I am confident that I know what I am doing. I did not always have the opportunity to do that in nursing school. Some of my classmates could see a skill performed one time then repeat it with very little instruction. Honestly, it also depends on the type of instructors you have in your program. I had a new instructor who had never taught before and who had not been involved in the clinical aspect of nursing for the last 6 years before starting teaching. It was clear many times that she was confused and had not performed many skills in a long time before teaching them to the class. This just further confused the class. My instructor was not prepared like an instructor should be when teaching skills. It is important to look for a well established nursing program at a good college (this is something that I didn't do and I should have). Good luck on your future! :-)

ExtraShotNoWhip · Mar 7, 2011

I didn't think nursing school was hard just very time consuming. Also it requires a different thinking process. You will learn/reinforce critical thinking skills. The test questions will be the type of questions you will see on your nursing board exam. Once you learn how to "read" and answer them you will figure out how and what to study

Best wishes

ikarus01 · Mar 7, 2011

As somebody mentioned, a lot of depends on the teacher or the school.

We had a teacher that loved theory, and honestly, anytime I picked up the book, I fell asleep. Then I hit the maternity rotation. At the time I had no interest in taking care of maternity patients, so my grade, which was half practicum, half subject material, was barely a C, mainly because I didn't do well with the maternity patients, but I was mesmerized by the whole pregnancy concept, so i would get high grades on my tests. As my professor said, my interest in the book material saved my butt.

Now, compare nursing school lets say with a computer science degree, and is a different mentality. If you're somebody who can't program, then computer science is extremely difficult, and nursing is a piece cake. However, if you love programming, but don't like interacting much with people, then nursing might be extremely difficult for you.

And then I had friends who went to the community college and when we compared tests, they thought our stuff was hard because there was some theory management stuff that they didn't spend so much time on it. So again, many factors play a role on how hard a subject is, but look at all the nurses out there. If they made it, why can't you?

backatit2 · Mar 7, 2011

a traditional BSN program would take 4.5 years i suspect since i have a bachelor's degree in another field and with all my pre requisites (prob n stat/anatomy 1 and 2/microbioligy) it would still take 2.5 years (5 semesters with no summers) to get my BSN. of course they do offer accelerated BSN programs which typically take 18 months if you have a degree in another field. but if someone with a degree already and all their pre-reqs would take 2.5 years, i can't imagine that most "traditional" programs would be able to finish in less than 4.5 by starting at the beginning.

i think how "hard" it is depends on the person. take me for example. my first degree was in teaching. i would say getting my degree was HARD because i worked and had 2 small children in diapers while i was in college. now that i'm working on my BSN (my children are still young, but not in diapers) and i'm working full time as a CNA i would say teaching was HARD, but not AS hard as my nursing degree. the hard part is having to juggle work, school, and taking care of children who have school, homework, need clean clothes, etc. not to mention i have bills to pay - but the course content i have now is harder than the content i had to cover to be a teacher although the schedule was just as stressful.

someone who has no children or lives at home or who is married and doesn't have to worry about bills might not find the nursing program as hard as i do - just like the girl who lived at home and had no job nor any children thought the teaching program wasn't hard when i did. i had people tell me in school who had no job, no kids, and lived at home with no bills - "i don't see how you do it." now that i'm working on my BSN, i'm doing the same thing and people "don't see how i do it" but on top of that the course content is more difficult.

however, although it's difficult, i CAN do it even though i work full time, have two kids who i take excellent care of (including helping them with their homework), i do the laundry, wash the dishes, mail out the bills, etc. is it hard? YES! hard as hell. if i had no children, no bills, etc., i'm sure my opinion would be different.

TheCareerStudent · Mar 7, 2011

Nursing school takes a lot of dedication and motivation.

j621d · Mar 7, 2011

Nursing school is very hard. Most will tell you law school is easier:)

It sure seems like law school is easier. I keep hearing kids say they don't know what they will do so they decide to go to law school. It's almost like a default: I don't know what to do, so I'll go to law school. I've never heard anyone say that about nursing school! BTW - just what we need, more lawyers! Ha!

miteacher, ADN, MSN · Mar 7, 2011

I also have a teaching degree, so how do you find nursing school different than when you went to school to become a teacher? I worked full time and lived on my own when I went to school for teaching a few years ago, and did well, but the content was incredibly easy for my first degree.

I work full time as a teacher now, but I don't have a family or kids. I am wondering how I am going to juggle this in the fall. The program I am going to is on the nights/weekends, so I will still be working during the day. I did have to take the CNA course in order to apply, so I did get a small glimpse of what the nurses do, although I was only in the nursing home for 2 weeks.

How many hours per week did you spend studying for tests and practicing clinical skills? Do you think you will enjoy nursing more than you did teaching?

taalyn_1, CNA · Mar 7, 2011

Depending on the route you go for your RN it can be difficult to hard as hell. For example, a 2 year ASN-RN program is like this: 1st week, read 10 chapters for 3 classes (Fundamentals, Fund. Lab, and Pharm), some skill check-offs and 3 lectures ranging from 2 hours to 4 hours long. 2nd week, three tests covering what you read in week 1, then repeat week 1 scenario. week 3 is the same as week 2 etc etc.. The hardest part is keeping up with the reading because even though you are having a test and want to study ALL that material, you have 10 chapters of NEW material to read too. Once Fundamentals is over, you start Med -Surg 1 and its the same just more in depth (disease processes etc) plus homework and clinicals. LONG lecture days, tests pretty much every week, an ungodly amount of reading, long clinical days and pretty much no sympathy from instructors lol. Even though it may not seem that bad in writing, the stress you are under to maintain the scores to stay in the program gets to you, you lose touch with friends/family. Your whole world revolves around getting your studying done. you have NO time for anything else, a 10 minute break for "you time" is nearly impossible at times. You either gain weight because you sit and study and eat while doing so, or you lose weight because you study so much you forget to eat (Ive actually found this a good thing for me so far!). this all goes on for 4 semesters and in my case we only have short breaks in between semesters. Then after you graduate you have to study for the NCLEX and are under stress waiting to take it and waiting for the results. Then you have to find the job that fits you (more stress), once you find the job that fits you have to get into the swing of working on your own without your clinical instructors (more stress) until you finally find you niche and your level of comfort and become a real nurse (somewhere within 5 years of graduating so I am told).

BUT it is kinda fun, and it IS manageable but dont expect a cake walk =)