Do you think that making friends in your classes is important? Do you think it gives you an "edge" over those who do not make friends in class? What are the advantages/disadvantages (if any)?
I have never really sought out friendships in college. I've just focused on the class and studied alone (unless I had a friend from outside of school who was also taking the class, which has happened). I have been sort of jumping around in college, first pursuing dental hygiene, then computer science, now pre-nursing. Is the need to develop relationships in class greater in nursing school than in other classes? In dental hygiene, I had many of my classes with the same people but still never really formed any friendships. I don't think it affected my success in any way and did not contribute to my choice to pursue something different.
Even though I'm pre-nursing, I posted in this section because I want to hear from those of you who are already in nursing school.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I am married, I'm a stay at home Dad to 3 young kids. I also work 2 part time jobs and go to nursing school. The last thing I thought I would ever do is make friends or have time for them. I have to say, I never could have gotten through the last 2 semesters without the friends I've made. 4 students in particular. We are all similar ages (late 20s), married with kids. We study together constantly and we all support one another. I feel fortunate to have made such wonderful amazing friends. We dont talk much out of class, but during the semester we are together constantly.
Try and keep in touch after, meet up every few weeks or once a month for lunch or something so you can support each other through the transition of NCLEX, Job search, working as a new grad and so on. It's invaluable. It can even be getting the kids together to hang out or play (depending on the age, while you guys catch up)
Even though I'm pre-nursing, I posted in this section because I want to hear from those of you who are already in nursing school.
It depends. Is making friends in general important to you?
It is to me and the friendships I made helped make nursing school far more fulfilling and enjoyable. Some of these people will be in my life for years to come.
Others could have cared less and kept to themselves.
I met my BF in school 3 years ago. I have many school friends that keep in touch. We are all in the same boat, trying to survive nursing school! I love my friends and i really do hope we stay in touch even after NS is done.
Nursing school should not be a popularity contest but had I not made some good friends in the programs I've done, I would have lost my mind. I made two very good friends during my mental health clinicals in my ADN program and we're all still in touch. I also made a few good friends in my BSN program and recently got back in touch with one of them. The others, sadly, I've lost track of them or maybe they've just lost track of me.
I have made a couple of very close friends in my master's program. Ironically, my program was online but we had lots of group work that required phone calls and meetings on Wimba and ended up bonding with each other. I hope to maintain these friendships even though now our lives are going in very different directions.
I also keep in touch with a few of my former instructors.
Some of the best friends, though, are those I've made through AllNurses. :heartbeat
It depends. Is making friends in general important to you?
It is to me and the friendships I made helped make nursing school far more fulfilling and enjoyable. Some of these people will be in my life for years to come.
Others could have cared less and kept to themselves.
I think it is actually more important to me now than it has been in the past. I think perhaps it's because making friends does not come as easily as it once did (when immersed in social situations like high school and extracurricular activities). This may have been what started my train of thought that led to this question. I think making friends when you are older (even in your twenties) requires a bit more effort, and with all of my effort divided between school/work/family, I wanted to hear from some others whether making friends was an important part of the experience for them.
I found at as I aged although my avenues for making new friends wasn't as large as when in high school etc..the friends I made when older..are my TRUE friends. Maybe because you become more selective on who you want surrounding you when you're older, your values and priorities change etc..just my 0.02 :)
I think networking is very important in life no matter what your career path may be. I was always mutual with people but, I'm very careful who I let in completely. I only have 2-3 tight close friends. My two cents anyways...
I have been at my school for 2 years, and it is a very small school, and I only have a handful of friends, some that we have exchanged phone numbers and formed study groups and others are just casual chit chat in the halls. It is important to have a few people you can rely on to help you out if your having trouble in a certain area of your studies or who can catch you up on the work you missed if you missed a class... and definitely for the moral support. No one understands the physical and emotional stress of being a nursing student, than another nursing student. However, too many friends can sometimes get in the way of your studies, so you kind of need to find a balance. But I'd have to say, yes. It is always good to have a few shoulders to lean on, its certainly a rough couple of years
I haven't made any actual friends through pre-reqs. I'm nice and help others when I see they missed a note during a lecture and things along those lines - but I've yet to actually make a friend. If you feel awkward for not having one, then you might be the type of person who needs a friend in the class environment. I happen to feel fine staying pretty secluded and focused on class. :) There's a girl that I see the potential of becoming friends with, but I'm not too sure on the rest due to their persona. I'm a student that sits at the very front of the class, while a lot of my classmates tend to gravitate towards the back, so I never get a chance to talk to anyone. LOL I'm not by any ways judging, but we all know there's certain people who we just don't see friendship forming with unless you have the opportunity to actually talk and get to know one another. I don't go out of my way to make friends, which is probably why I don't have any outside of my family/boyfriend, but I'm content with that, so it's no problem for me. LOL
Nursing school friends are a great asset to the student nurse. The morning before a test my friends and I would gather a few hours early and do a review. Everything would be fresh in our heads for the test and we were also able to clarify some things with eachother that we did not grasp alone.
Making outside of school friends is nice but not necessarily. I am friendly with many people but we don't hang out outside of the program, some do though and I'll admit that sometimes I feel a little left out. I already went to college once, where it was a typical 4 yr undergrad college and made all my college friends there. I'm 26 now and feel like I have more trouble making friends...HOWEVER the clique of friends I made my first time around in college were people I met in the dorms, not in classes. So it's kind of the same this time; I'm friends but not best friends with my classmate. Since I'm older and it's a community college and there's no dorm-life now, I think that's part of the reason I don't have as many close school friends.
Having "school friends" helps though, it's people do bounce ideas off and check assignment with. You can be friendly at school without being BFFs out side the of the classroom/school! I still feel like I'm networking because we are friendly, joke around, friends on facebook, etc.
~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
Try and keep in touch after, meet up every few weeks or once a month for lunch or something so you can support each other through the transition of NCLEX, Job search, working as a new grad and so on. It's invaluable. It can even be getting the kids together to hang out or play (depending on the age, while you guys catch up)