I hate nursing school (and it is not because it is hard)

[baleen]

I am in one of the top nursing schools in the country, and, coming from the interesting pre-reqs like chemistry and A&P, to the nursing model, which, I am sorry to say, is devoid of any real medical knowledge.....is heartbreakingly frustrating.

Pharmacology is not about pharmacology...its about a few specific drugs and memorizing things about those few specific drugs.

Pathophysiology is barely about physiology at all, its about how to nurse someone with a pathology more than anything.

My issue, is, I am 32 and afraid of getting back out there to get pre reqs for PA school or med school. What if I run out of public loan funding halfway through...I'm stuck. (I cant get private loans)

How do I pay for my life while I go back to school for a year for pre reqs?

All of this momentum and fear has kept me in a nursing school I hate more and more.

And no, it is not hard at all. I get straight A's. And god I wish I was bragging, but it just feels sad.

Its a rant. I am frustrated.

[HellooNurseRN, BSN]

I am now looking up the top 10 nursing schools because I want to know where on God's green earth nursing school is giving out free As!!! Not my school!!

[AllNurseLurker]

Nursing will help if you need a fallback if becoming a PA doesnt pan out for some reason. Also maybe consider becoming an NP? If you're willing to put in the time to become a PA or and MD, ANP coursework is about the same amount of time as PA studies. Sure you'll probably have to deal with the obnoxious anti-medicine model that is nursing, but when you're out in practice you'll more or less be practicing the actual medicine that you desire so much.

I remember when i came to that realization that a nursing model is completely different from a medical model. The idea gnawed at me all throughout school as well, but youll eventually get over it. Just teach yourself the in depth concepts of pharm and patho if you're so inclined

[CallMeSherlockRN2b]

Hey,

I can honestly understand the sentiment on hating your nursing school. However, I don't hate nursing. Honestly when I'm on the floor doing my clinicals its much better than in class, mostly because Im actually learning (Let me add Im not at a top school, but I hold my own in my courses). But our professors intentionally attack and weed us out of they don't like how you answer a question in class, a fact that is well known at our university. We spend more time on memorizing interventions than understanding WHY we as nurses PERFORM the interventions.

But as for dropping out...I'd try and hang in there. You can work as an RN to pay back some loans and take courses part-time to go back for PA or NP (online for nurse practitioner).

Either way, good luck with whatever you decide.

[SentinelTruth]

I'd say stick it out and work towards a NP degree.... You're in your thirties... I'm almost thirty myself, life is but a breath to be wasting so much time trying to figure yourself out... you'll just go back and have to do something else over again and waste even more time.

As for your complaints about nursing school, their goal is to only get you past the NCLEX.... a lot of your learning as a nurse will come when you're on the floor and have several years of experience under your belt. I figure it'll take me 5 years to be totally comfortable after I'm already out there....

[elkpark]

Supposedly mine is in the "top 10" and I know people that have gone to the "number 1 and number 2" (I understand that rating is not that solid) nursing schools and they have said the same things as I have.

You mentioned earlier the USN&WR ratings; they are not only "not that solid," they are basically meaningless. Everyone in academia understands that (although the schools that get high rankings don't mind publicizing their rankings), but the general public seems to assume that whatever US News says must be gospel. The US News rankings are based on a list of easily available objective criteria that have almost nothing to do with anything that actual potential nursing students would care about, like the quality of the teaching.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

In hindsight, nursing school is NOT hard, however, the format is about building basic concepts then moving into the complex; the basis is more of a synthesis model, Blooms Taxonomy, and understanding critical processes and the like; thinking holistically and systematically simultaneously.

These concepts of the nursing model don't come easy o everyone, even those who think that nursing is "medical based."; it's not.

Even though I didn't go to a "top 10" school or looked into one, my schooling, even in PN school was arduous, and understanding those concepts and there were many who struggled, at least in the beginning, was due to thinking "medical" instead of "nursing"; transitioning to understanding A&P, lab values, nursing process and backing up knowledge with reason and rationale is the basis of any nurse.

As I moved on to my BSN studies; my pre reqs included A&P, Micro, Chemistry and even Biochemistry-these foundations, including my education and information I learned as a LPN help give me a perspective of evolving more into the nursing model; from LPN to being a RN, I have been on par with understanding and guiding the plan of care with patients; even down to the pathophysiology, lab values and integrating what nursing concepts and interventions and to anticipate and even advocate for diagnostics and procedures is what nursing promotes-we are just intelligent and insightful with our knowledge when done right.

If you want to diagnose, ponder ordering procedure and figure those aspects of guiding through a medical model, maybe nursing is not for you; but never make the mistake, wherever you land that nursing is not a "hard" profession, ask nurses of ALL specialties what they have learned working at the bedside-a great way to start is to peruse these forums.

[Alikatz08]

Shadow a few specialties, you will gain some useful perspectives on nursing. Once you're out in the work force you learn a heck of a lot! However, if you really feel that nursing isn't for you, then move on now.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I think you are misunderstanding what a nurse does. The nursing model and medical model are two totally different things. The medical model treats the disease itself. They diagnose it and then treat it. The nurse treats how the person responds to the disease. We are learning how to treat the person. So yes, it is a lot about nursing them back to health. We aren't treating the disease. That's what the provider is for.

I would be upset with sick puppets. But you know what, some days it seems like college is more junior high than college. That's where your age difference comes in.

You may want to get out if nursing is not for you. It's a waste of money otherwise.

[PHhopeful]

Unless you are terribly unhappy and have already made up your mind, be patient. I remember feeling similarly at the beginning of the program when we labored through taking vital signs (I already worked as a clinic assistant, so it seemed really elementary). The truth is, you'll have to start at the bottom wherever you go, and that attitude is certainly not going to fly in any program (RN, PA, MD). Becoming a healthcare professional takes humility. As a medical student, you may think you've learned everything through your didactic courses but that doesn't mean you can march straight into open heart surgery the first time you're in a clinical rotation. Over the course of nursing school, I've grown to be astounded at the breadth of skill it takes to be a good nurse (you have to have impeccable clinical knowledge and critical thinking skills as well as good "bedside" demeanor); and also learned that much of that comes from what happens in practice, after graduation. Additionally, I would much rather work towards an advanced nursing practice license than a physician's assistant. The APN role is much more attractive in terms of scope. Finally, I would encourage you to look more at the role of working RNs rather than what you're learning now as a new nursing student to determine your course of action!

[Zyprexa_Ho]

My pharmacology teacher uses sock puppets.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Zyprexa_Ho]

Can you suck it up and become a nurse to pay your way through some other kind of schooling (be that NP, PA, or MD)? I would rather do that than end up taking out private loans.

[devorahna]

Since you are already in nursing school, I would stick it out and then get an NP degree. I understand why you would like the medical model better (my father is a doctor, so I grew up with medicine not nursing) however, I have chosen to go to nursing school (for a variety of reasons). So i am going into nursing school knowing that I will want "more" than many of the people that I am in school with. Keep your eye on the prize. get your degree and go on to a higher nursing degree like nurse anesthetist, NP etc. Going to do prerequisites for PA now, and then applying for a PA degree will take time, may as well continue with nursing, and you will end up at your goal faster.