Is the first semester the hardest?

NOLAdLPN · Oct 20, 2012

Honestly it only gets harder as time goes on. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication and studying!! When I got in to nursing school I quit my job to focus on nursing 24/7. I'm glad I did because I don't think I would have made it if not. It's possible but not easy, study study study and if you're confused ask. Don't procrastinate, work hard for your goal. Everyone is different with different study habits, but if you want it, it's achievable, the question is how bad do u want it. More than half my class failed out, but I just kept pushing myself and here I am, been a nurse for 3 years!!! You can do it!!!

blueyesue · Oct 20, 2012

Someone elses' experiences are often different than our own. Don't go by the other person's experiences - make your own. :)

Piggles · Oct 20, 2012

I think that the first semester is the hardest because it feels like culture shock. You probably don't know anyone in the class yet and you aren't sure how to organize or study for your classes either. Nursing school and clinical is such a different experience that the first semester is the hardest just because you don't know what you have gotten yourself into yet. I am in my third semester now and I feel so much better. I have a support network of classmates, I have a routine for note-taking and studying, and I know what is expected of me. I have to say that this website has helped me so much because on the days when I get discouraged I can gain some perspective.

Of course every school is different, but in my experience, If you made it through your prereqs, you have the study skills to make it through nursing school. Now you just have to acclimate to the quirky world of nursing school. That is why I think the first semester is the hardest.

THOMPS08 · Oct 20, 2012

I started nursing school this Fall semster; what one person finds difficult another person may find easy. So far nursing has been a lot of work but not neccesarily HARD, a lot of it is common sense, and test taking skills. From what I've been told Nursing two is much more difficult because of fluid and electrolyte imbalance. Let me know how it goes!

ImKosher · Oct 20, 2012

I can't say for myself as I am in the first semester, but others have told me not to take it lightly and fall behind. They told me the number one reason people fail in my program is because they drop the ball thinking it's cake than bomb the final which counts 30% of your total grade. I'm expecting to get harder.

kaydensmom01 · Oct 20, 2012

It is much harder as time goes on! I am in the third and it honestly feels at least 5x's more difficult than the first semester. This is when we lose the most people also. The first semester was also hard, and you thought that it couldn't get worse, yet it has! Every school and experience is different though. It is hard but with hard work you can do it!

blueyesue · Oct 21, 2012

As you can see, opinions and experiences differ and you won't find out till you try.

FYI - Third semester for me is much easier than first or second.

DawnJ · Oct 21, 2012

The inital adjustment is hard in first semester, but the course topics are generally easier. My second semester coming up has pharm and patho and our first clinical assignments. Third semester is the toughest because we have twice the amount of clinical time than the other semesters.

NaeNae75 · Oct 21, 2012

I'm in my last semester and I don't feel like it's any easier or harder than the first. The difference in the two is you don't realize how much time is invested in studying in the beginning. Things actually begin to "click" in the end and you will have many "ah ha" moments that are very rewarding!! =)

I've also heard of people failing nursing school and go back and get their master's in teaching. They say it's so much easier. I would fail going as a teacher where I'm doing fairly well in nursing with a 3.55 GPA. I think certain things click well with some and not others.

Also, I've learned that you can't learn it all! You have to grasp the concept of most of it and then apply it to a situation.

The old saying, "anything that can happen, can and will happen in nursing school", is the truth!! lol You just have to persevere through it all! I believe it does to make you a strong and wise nurse!!

Good luck to you!! =)

Sadala, ADN, RN · Oct 21, 2012

I'm still in my first semester. I think things are both more and less difficult at this point in the semester. At first, I had great difficulty just orienting myself and trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing when. Now that I (somewhat) have that down, there is more material that I am expected to know and it's all cumulative. Still, I am less stressed than I was during the initial phase of being disoriented.

In some ways though, I was a little sharper when I was more stressed. ha! Kind of a catch-22 there.

Seriously though, I think almost all students feel pretty disoriented and incompetent during the first semester. And you can't predict who is going to do well and who is not. I've been surprised at my own inability to predict that with my fellow students. If it is something you want to do, go for it!

Stephalump · Oct 21, 2012

I think first semester is hard because we have to get used to the workload, the new testing format, and the stress. People waltz into NS thinking it'll be a piece of cake after their success in pre-reqs, but it's an entirely different ballgame and takes some time to readjust to. You have to learn what your professors want from you. Every test I learn a little more about what they're looking for and what I can just let go for now (only so much I can learn in 2 weeks).

Material-wise, I'm sure it depends on your program, but our material gets harder every semester. Our first semester is mostly just Fundamentals and the bare basics of med-surg, pych, peds, and maternal. Each semester the patients get more and more sick, so third and fourth semester are the most intense.

But supposedly the benefits of being used to the work and the relaxation of the strictness in the 2nd year outweighs the more complex material and 2nd year is a relative breeze. Can't wait. :geek: