I wanna know a little about nursing school and how hard you found it to be.

lovelyB · Nov 25, 2008

any one!!!!!!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2008

:welcome:

You'll definitely receive more responses tomorrow. Keep in mind that you're posting at a time of day where many people are sleeping, working, or simply not browsing the internet.

RNDreamer · Nov 25, 2008

Nursing School is different for everyone. Some people find it hard/difficult, some people find it to be OK, etc. While I donn't find it difficult yet, I do find it to be stressful. The way to get through it is to learn how to manage your time, whether you work 30, 10, or 0 hours.

Start working on your organizational, management and study skills now. And don't think about how hard it's going to be. If this is really what you want, you will do what you have to do to get through it.

mybrowneyedgirl, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2008

It's as hard as they all say it is, but it's more rewarding than you thought it would be.

Clean, get organized, consolidate bills, ask for help, try your hardest to work less than you think you'll need to, make sure all friends/family know how busy you'll be so they can avoid any guilt trips they were thinking of throwing at you.

Take great notes, keep up on the reading, stay on top of the endless workload, don't give any dirty looks, bite your tongue when you want to scream at a fellow classmate or teacher. Apply for scholarships as soon as you can.

Really look at yourself and how you learn best. If you do best alone, stick to that, but keep some classmate's phone numbers when you need clarification.

Work really hard in the practice skills lab so you know your techniques inside and out so you're more relaxed when you're working in the hospital.

I hope some of that advice is helpful to you.

Good luck.

missjennmb · Nov 25, 2008

I don't find it hard persay, so much as vastly time consuming. I have not seen anyone who (in my class and my teachers' test style) was able to not read ALL the chapters, and still did well.

Those who work for it, are rewarded. Those that read the chapter and do the optional workbook pages and back of the chapter questions, BEFORE we go over it in class, take notes from the teacher's lecture (whatever she says twice is critical) and study well (for me, in this class, it means re-reading the chapters because the questions always end up being in the details). It kills me when I try to help someone who is falling behind in class, or barely scraping by and then they do poorly on the test and tell me "I didnt have time to study this weekend" or "I never have time to read the chapters".

So long story short, IMO, it is not so much HARD as it is very time consuming. You need to be VERY dedicated. I have a family, a job, and I go to school fulltime and I have a B average (and thats while still trying to figure out the best way to study-trying a new method this next test!). I'm also middle aged, and I'm convinced that I burned out the majority of my brain cells during my rather wild youth, because things are not sticking nearly as easily as they did when I was 16. I'm a walking stressball with a crazy hectic overwhelming schedule, and if I can do it, anyone can.

chocha003 · Nov 25, 2008

Oh my god girl! The first years of A&P, micro, psych that was a breeze! I had a perfect 4.0 then began clincals and I find it difficult to even keep a B average and that's with sleepless nights. Sleep is now a luxery to me!! Forget having a life, your friends will be your fellow nursing students and you guys will gather not to have fun, but to study. You can do it though, just stay focused on your goal. When you get into clinicals that's when you know for sure if you want it. Taking care of patients will give you such gratification and purpose in life that it will all be worth it. My advice is to keep up your GPA for these two years before and in your summers research disease processes that is most likely in the hospitals now such as Diabetes, Hypertension, CHF, A-fib, HIV, just the basics so when you do go to clinicals everything will fall into place and make sense. Sure you will have to put 200% effort, but it will pay off for you. I wouldn't want to do anything else! :redbeathe

FA to CRNA2b · Nov 25, 2008

It's hard but easier than your first year as a nurse.

jackson145 · Nov 25, 2008

I haven't found it to be that hard. My first semester was stressful because I had an intimidating instructor who made me feel incompetant. Every instructor I've had since then was great, though! They've been willing to explain and demonstrate and I don't feel like they're breathing down my neck just waiting to catch a mistake.

I've actually got way more time on my hands than I did when I worked full time in the ER. I usually read 2 or 3 novels a week, just for fun.

Of course, I'm a nerd who loves to write papers, so I don't feel bogged down by careplans, synopses of my clinical experiences, and essay exams. I love doing disease research. I once spent 6 hours working on one question on a take-home exam! I know, I'm a geek!

I actually had to put way more effort into my pre-reqs to get into the program. Now the pressure is off and it's a relaxing feeling.

If you love what your doing, it won't seem tough or time-consuming.

Of course, employment does change things, but I've got several classmates who work full-time with kids and they don't seem any the worse-for-wear. :)

FA to CRNA2b · Nov 25, 2008

You read 2-3 novels a week on top of nursing school? SUUUUURE. :lol2:

Heck, I handled a lot while in school with a full time job, a spouse, and 3 kids, but I can assure you, no one has time for 2-3 novels a week on top of it all.

Well actually, I was able to read 2-3 Dr. Suess' to my babies every week.

missjennmb · Nov 25, 2008

You read 2-3 novels a week on top of nursing school? SUUUUURE.
Heck, I handled a lot while in school with a full time job, a spouse, and 3 kids, but I can assure you, no one has time for 2-3 novels a week on top of it all.
Well actually, I was able to read 2-3 Dr. Suess' to my babies every week.

If I was not working I could easily read a couple of novels a week. (esp the trashy ones, I used to be able to go through them like toilet paper when the mood strikes!) I don't think every program is the same because its hard to imagine that you could NOT find time for something like that, particularly since its something you can do whenever you have free time.

Its not that you don't have free time during nursing school. You just have to make sure you wrap your free time around your actual available time. Technically, if I read during the 10 hours every week that I am driving to/from class and work, just that alone would be enough to go through 3 novels. Granted I dont love reading THAT much, after all I have to do for school, but I could if I wanted to.

Remember though, the OP is 18, so does not have the life commitments that many of us do. I have free time, I just chose to spend it with my kids, and working (why I am working an hour from home for pennies is beyond me, but there it is)

Time management is my friend. :)

mickle · Nov 25, 2008

I left nursing school in my first semester a little over a week ago. I've decided to work toward Med Lab Tech. Its less money and fewer vacancies are out there, but I just don't need the stress.

I would say nursing school is hard. Some get through it and some don't. Some quit and some are failed out. (I was actually doing well, but the suspense of wondering when I was going to mess up was killing me. The last time I ran around in such a state of fear was when I was on probation loading trucks at UPS and they were paying me instead of vice versa!) Everyone says nursing school just gets harder (than the first semester). I'd have had to put in 2 more years on a med surg floor to get the experience I'd need to do the home health care I wanted to do. That would be 4 years of an experience worse than this semester and I just decided....enough for me. (I was a CNA years back. I enjoyed the work but could not support myself and daughter on the wages so I went to other work that paid better.)

Best of luck to all of you.