In Over My Head?

[.Jasper.]

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Just finished my first week of nursing school. It took me three tries to get in after retaking several classes and completing 2 years of pre-req's and one year of BSN classes. I am one of the older (34) students and just feel inadequate all the sudden. My confidence is way down yet my desperation is sky rocketed. I have to do this! Where do I start! I mean 1 week in and we have already gone through an accumulated 10-15 chapters, several power points 15 pages of notes, one 4 hour lab, and 20 hours of lecture. We test this Friday! Oh that's not all, we are required to do ATI courses independently, which has it's own set of huge texts. Is this what I should expect for the next 2 years? Does anybody have any study tips for ATI? I'm definetly feeling in over my head!

[Nolli]

As my clinical instructor put it nursing school is crazy. You feel overwhelmed like you can't digest the material and you feel that if you only had enough time you'd understand everything so much better. You are not alone.

Breathe. At least at my school we're typically assigned more work than is humanly possible without not sleeping eating showering or straight up losing our sanity so we prioritize. What needs to be done immediately? What can I pair with other tasks? How many days do I need to study and should I create a summary or cheat sheet for that purpose? Can I team up with other students to create study materials or do a study group? Personally I don't always get to do the readings on time so sometimes I have to skim or go off the powerpoints until I can get to them and sometimes they are just not useful at all. It just depends on your professor and how they do things. My advice is study your tush off for the 1st exam using everything(book notes etc) and then see where he/she pulled the questions from after and see if she has a method. Some are verbatim from the book others not so much.

[jacquelyn.]

you know yourself and how you learn. you need to sort through the material i'm sure some of it you know and get get through quickly. Spend time on what the nurse is going to do. My program focused on nclex style right away where all the answers are right but you have to pick the best answer. Just relax everyone in your class is in the same boat. Talk to them see what they are doing. And "nolli" is right a method will emerge as your best way to study and process information. Good luck. trust me we have all been there

[loriangel14, RN]

All I can add is hand in there. It sounds pretty typical of nursing school. Prioritize and don't get behind.

[Jenne543]

Welcome to Nursing School your social life no longer exists

It is one crazy ride. I am in my last semester. It is going to fly by. People gave me all kinds of advice before I started but what I remember the most is there will be days you cry and there will be days that you jump up and down with excitement. School is very overwhelming and you have to have the attitude one week at a time. There is no sense in worrying about what is going on next week when you still have plenty to do this week. From experience I can tell you that you will be so excited and nervous all at the same time to give a patient your first injection. There will be many many tough days, but its the good days that keep you going. There will be patients that touch your life and you touch theirs. There will be days where you come home and sit down on the couch with exhaustion but your heart feels very big and like its smiling. Those are the days that you know you are in the right place and that this is a career you want to do forever.

Good Luck to you just remember millions have done this before and if they can so can you.

[.Jasper.]

Thank you! You just made me feel so much better ^.^

[.Jasper.]

Thanks :)

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Many times you can find that you've been given an insurmountable amount of material to study from. The key thing as has been said before, prioritize. That is a big thing for you to do. And it is a huge thing to learn. Form study groups, study your tush off for that first exam, and you'll see what you need to learn for each specific instructor.

[rubato, ASN, RN]

So, how has the semester gone for you? Did you finally find your groove or did you struggle through the whole thing?

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

We are ALL in over our heads. I know it's rough.. In my first semester, I questioned myself constantly about whether I really wanted to do this. I felt trapped-- and part of me wanted to quit, more than once. I even started looking into other fields of study that interested me before nursing school. I didn't think I was going to survive. I'm at the end of my second semester now and I feel a lot more acclimated now. I'm still at a constant level of stress, but I know without a doubt this is what I want! You'll be okay. This is perfectly normal. Hang in there, you're acclimating..