Impossible workloads?

[ahauts]

Does anyone else in nursing school feel that the amount of readings is physically impossible?

For example, I have 200 pages a week in one course, 150 pages a week in another course, 200ish in another course, on top of weekly papers, reflections, care plans and nearly 40 hours of class time and clinical added up (in 2nd year of RN school currently in Canada).

Coming from highschool I was a perfectionist and straight A student that completed all of my homework, so I am feeling SO guilty in nursing school because no matter how many hours I spend (hardly sleeping, having no social life), I never finish it all, and end up cramming from powerpoints before exams (even though the profs say don't go off powerpoints, go off the readings). I'm exhausted and I'm excited to be a nurse but I think my perfectionism is getting in the way of my sanity.

Someone please tell me that they got through school without doing half the readings! Does anyone feel the same way?

[cracklingkraken, ASN, RN]

I did read the assigned readings, but I skip through the "fluff". I focused on what you're assessing for, what interventions you're doing, etc. I also used Saunders to direct my readings on the NCLEX-type information I need to know.

Reading is important, but you aren't expected to remember every single detail.

[Nursling17]

I read all the highlights, charts, "boxes" in the chapter, chapter review, and anwser the questions at the end of the chapter. I never read ALL of the bulk of the chapter. I've obtained A's and B's so far in my tests. I also had all As in my prereqs........but I'm going to focus on understanding the information and if I gets Bs or Cs I'll be OK.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

I graduate in three weeks from my RN program. There is no way that I ready all the pages assigned. I would start out with good intentions but if I had another course, forget about it. When I had time, I read the book and felt at peace with the material. But I have a young child, a husband who requires more care than the young child, work as an LPN, and, oh yeah, school.

If your grades are good and you're testing well then don't worry. I was definitely not straight As in high school but this was a long time ago and I didn't apply myself. Now I'm paying the tuition and I'll be damned if I'll pay it twice...I'm aiming for an A, this way of I don't get it I'm still in the 'buffered' or 'safe' zone.

Read what you can, focus on the areas unfamiliar, and do the best that you can. I realized quickly that if I read everything, I didn't study much. I then studied what I didn't know well and went from there. I'm happy with the results. Good luck!