I don't know if I should stay in nursing school

xxstarrynitesxx · Dec 19, 2017

First and foremost, I just want to say that seeking help for your struggle with mental health issues was a major step in the right direction. Continue getting help and make sure to make time for yourself. It is far easier to tackle information intensive classes without any extra struggles on top of it all.

How do you currently study? I have personally found something that works for me, but I modify my approach with each class that I take. Some classes I find that if I engage in the lecture I do not have to study much later and other classes I need to spend time writing things out (whiteboard) and explaining them out loud. The one thing that has helped me tremendously was to try to understand the information rather than memorize it. I like to connect the information to other topics, chapters, and classes.

Seek help from your professor, another student, and/or a tutor early and often. If you are going to see your professor, please bring specific questions about where you are stuck and be ready to explain everything up until that point. This shows your professor you care about learning the material and helps to build a relationship with him or her. You may even need to form a study group. Keep the group small and make sure that it is effective for you. Require that everyone come prepared and plan out how your time should be spent. Teach each other the material and try to come up with your own test questions. If you are able to effectively do that, then that means you are moving towards understanding the material. Think like your professor as much as possible and try to pinpoint what is important. Spend time each day reviewing the material and read ahead if you need to. DO NOT CRAM!

I would also recommend reviewing your old exams and talking with a student who took your professor or the course and did well. By looking over old exams (if permitted), you can sometimes get an idea of where the information is coming from (eg lecture, powerpoints, textbook, etc.). I personally try to talk with a past student for each course and/or professor. A past student can give insight on how the professor tests and give any additional study or course related tips. It does help if they are similar to you in their approach to academics. For example, prior to deciding to make the switch to nursing I took a chemistry course with a lot of nursing students. One student in particular told me to NEVER and I mean NEVER take one professor for a certain prerequisite. She said this professor was awful, mean, made students cry, etc. A full year and a half later her words stuck with me until I talked with people who were more like my academically. My friends who took this professor said I would love him and would do well in the class. They all gave me some awesome tips and I decided to take this professor. That professor is awesome and I had a blast taking the course. Do not let one person's experiences mess with you.

Do not be afraid to sit down with a counselor or professor you can trust to give you some realistic feedback or take a class on Academic Success. You are going to be the best judge of your abilities. You may find that this is not the path for you and that is okay. If you want to be a nurse, then do your best to fight for it as much as possible. YouTube has some amazing videos up geared towards specific courses. Best wishes!

ThatFutureRNLife · Dec 20, 2017

I agree with starry. Figure out what you are struggling with and go from there. I was having a hard time with some of my classes and realized that I was cramming the day before and trying to study for long periods of time. I met with a tutor who asked me how I was studying and pointed out things I could change. I went up quite a few letter grades. It was hard making the time commitment but it was better in the long run.

AnLe, ASN, RN · Dec 20, 2017

The one thing that has helped me tremendously was to try to understand the information rather than memorize it. I like to connect the information to other topics, chapters, and classes.

I learned to do this late in my nursing program. I felt like I had reached nirvana when I understood why something was happening to the body and could identify what would happen next. They had us do a simple downward pathophysiology paper with 6 body systems on the side. It took me a long time to complete mostly because I wanted to be able to verbalize how it started down to what I was seeing in my patient.

I've had classmates who would record in class and listen to it during the commute home or while performing a chore at home. Being in a study group helps if you like being in one. I would listen to lecture, write down my notes. When I would go back and read them, I'd highlight what I didn't understand and look it up in the book. We used ATI in school, so I would read a chapter a day related to what we were going over/what will be on the test.

I'm sure you'll get over this hurdle! Just keep trying until you find something that works. Good luck!

al3x117, RN, EMT-B · Dec 26, 2017

Keep pushing through...just think about the time you wanted to get into nursing school. Yes, it is extremely difficult and patho and micro were challenging classes. Just keep working on it. For me, mental was a hard class because like you I am a very factual based person and do better on tests like that. Mental is just a different type of class that truly I didn't enjoy but I had to make myself like the material. You just gotta keep going and find the motivation within yourself to keep pushing forward and never quit. To be truly honest a lot of students struggle with different nursing classes. Each nursing class is different just like every nursing specialty is different. It is definitely hard to study when you're not jazzed or excited about the material. You have to just give it your all and I mean studying in different ways. Do podcasts, read through the material, draw stuff out on the whiteboard. For me, I had to draw fluid and electrolytes patho lectures out on the whiteboard and draw the blood vessel with fluid in it and fluid inside the cells and if fluid went out of the blood vessels (hypovolemia) then how would the body compensate. Yes, its time consuming but i guarantee you that you won't forget it after that. You have to visualize the material and I hope that will help you better. I also did this for acid-base balance lectures. Good luck to you!