I swear I was smart before I started nursing school

rubato, ASN, RN · Oct 20, 2012

Me too. If I know the exact answer, great. But, the rest I can always narrow down to 2 out of the 4 and I always get it wrong. Like every single time. I've never felt so stupid in my life. I came into nursing school with a 4.0. Unless I get it together really quick here, I won't be leaving with one.

Melissa0181 · Oct 20, 2012

You were smart before nursing school but more to the point - YOU ARE STILL SMART. There is no way to gloss it over, nursing school is tough. You have to learn new skills and concepts and you have to learn them quickly, often while also having to worry about work or family life. One of my professor's accurately explained the experience of nursing school as "a process to break you down, only to build you back up stronger and better than before." I wasn't sure what he meant at the time but I appreciate it now. Having struggled through nursing school myself I understand the self-doubt and near panic that comes with each test but through that process I learned about time management and setting priorities. Do the best you can, don't expect straight A's, but study and read to the best of your abilities. You'll have self doubts too but remember you got into nursing school while there are many other people out there that received rejection letters. You aren't the first person to struggle through nursing school - just remember it is doable. Now that I have a few months experience as a RN let me tell you the headaches that come with nursing school are well worth the end product. I wish you the best of luck!

nurseladybug12 · Oct 21, 2012

I tutored in nursing school and many of my classmates came to me saying they had always studied hard, made good grades, but now they are barely passing and they felt like dropping out! Many of them discovered that they just were not studying hard enough. They did not need help understanding anything, they just needed to see in relation to others how much they were studying and how much more they needed to study to do better. And they adjusted their studying and they did much better. Many studied really hard, studied in groups, made flash cards, did everything they could and still were barely passing. The reason for this was the questions on exams in nursing schools require critical thinking, it is not simple recollection of facts. I am not saying they were bad critical thinkers, but you need to move beyond recalling facts and practice questions where those facts are applied. I would buy a NCLEX prep book (Saunders, Lipincott) and read the intro about the structure of questions, I wish I had done that when I first started nursing school I think it wouldve helped me more quickly. Also, while you are studying, go to the part of the NCLEX book pertaining to what you are learning and practice those questions....there were many times when exam questions were taken word for word right from my NCLEX book! More importantly, it will get you used to the format of application questions and will prepare you better for your exams and ultimately the NCLEX. Also, read your text. Looking back at notes in bullet form can be confusing and I always thought that after the lecture, reading the book helped everything make more sense and put everything together into a big picture for me. Know your stuff. Critical thinking will be easier if you really know the material because you can access it and apply it faster so you can actually get through the whole test. Recording the lectures and listening to them while going through your notes at home will also help. Good luck.