Is Nursing school Hard?

nohika · Jul 18, 2009

From what I understand (I'm pre-nursing myself, but know several nurses), it retrains your mind by re-programming and intensifying basically your critical thinking skills. You have to be able to (as a nurse, as far as I know) to assess several different things at once and determine which is the most important and make sure to get everything done.

I don't think it's necessarily something you can do ahead of time. Even if you tried, there's so much nervousness associated with the first day of clinicals that it'd probably go out the window, haha!

Again, I'm not a NS student myself, just a pre-nursing, but I've heard from several different people that graduated within the past few years. =)

Ebouster · Jul 18, 2009

Not sure where you people went to school who say that nursing school isn't hard, but you were lucky. My school was insanely difficult the first several quarters and after that it started to lighten up a bit.

greysanatomyfan · Jul 18, 2009

Not sure where you people went to school who say that nursing school isn't hard, but you were lucky. My school was insanely difficult the first several quarters and after that it started to lighten up a bit.

I feel the same way. I am in the last two weeks of my 3rd semester and although I have made good grades so far....I worked my booty off to get them. It is hard. College is hard. But if you are motivated at whatever you want out of life, then no matter how hard it is or isn't, you can make it through. Good Luck!!!

swirlything · Jul 18, 2009

What I would like to know is how difficult NS compared to A&P? I did very well in A&P1 and 2. It was tough, but manageable.
Also I am thinking about the comment about NS teaching you to think differently. How? What can I expect in that front? Maybe I can get started now on retraining my mind.

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A&P is tough because you have to memorize a lot of information in a short time. In NS you have to memorize the information, synthesize the information and apply the information. It's a different level of thinking.

yesdog, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

My school was insanely hard! You need to stay very organized and don't ever jeopardize you GPA...

You can do it!!!!

HumptyDumpty · Jul 19, 2009

Eh, it solely depends on your own abilities. Did you skate by in high school and earn a 3.8 without trying? Then it will be a cake walk, it was for me. College is not that challenging if you got a brain on your shoulders. Do your work and study, its not a difficult concept. If you struggle with learning and suffer from anxiety, you will have a problem.

happilymarried · Jul 19, 2009

In my ns class (we are about to start 3rd semester) there is a wide variety of backgrounds. There are those who breezed through high school, never having to study and still acing the tests, there are some that got a GED because they dropped out of hs (I fall in that category, dropped out the first couple days of 10th grade and got my GED a few years later) and there are those who made good grades in hs because they studied hard for the grades.

From what I have seen, the ones who find ns the most difficult are the ones who never had to study because school came easy for them. They are the ones who do not have good study habits because they didn't have to study in the past. I don't know how other people are, I am just talking about the people in my class. We lost one of our class members last semester who thought he didn't have to study because grades came easy for him in the past and he has worked at one of our metro hospitals for almost 20 years. Thankfully the school is letting him re-take the semester instead of making him completely start over.

I made terrible grades in hs, and like I said, I dropped out in the beginning of tenth grade. I am now in my mid thirties and have 102 credit hours of college. My overall gpa is a 3.903. Both semesters of ns I have completed I have made a 4.0. I work very hard. I practice NCLEX questions, I do and redo quizzes online that my school makes available. I read the material, I actively participate in study groups, and I do not miss class/clinicals. On top of all that I work a full time job and have a husband and two kids. IMO, you have to really want it to get through it, but it is very do-able if you have the drive and the ambition.

I wish you the best!

aerorunner80, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN · Jul 20, 2009

If nursing school were easy, everyone would do it. :twocents:

earthcrosser · Jul 20, 2009

My nursing school was crazy hard (and I WAS a very good student) with a pretty huge retention issue. But even in the hardest of nursing schools, awesome study skills and time management abilities are tools you can use to be successful. I barely had to study before nursing school, so I did have difficulties adjusting to that - learn good study skills early and it'll work in your favor in nursing school.

OrthoRN09 · Jul 20, 2009

You want the short answer? Yes, nursing is hard. So is nursing school.

kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 20, 2009

It's as hard as you let it be. It really depends on the person. Some people in my class study 6 hours a day EVERY day for 2 weeks for a test and barely make a C. Others will study a couple of days before the test and pull off an A or B. Application comes easier to some than others. The reason is because everyone thinks differently, learns differently, tests differently, and has different opinions on different subjects. I love cardiac things, others make think the heart makes NO sense. I don't like endocrine really, but others might think it's really easy and makes sense. The only way to truly find out if nursing school is hard is to go for yourself. But don't go "cuz it's good money", or "because I didn't know what else to do, so I thought I'd try it", OR my favorite, "my friend said it's an easy degree, so I'm going too". Think of life like a skyscraper, every floor you go up....you get a different view of the world around you. Try it out, see where you end up :up:

amjowens · Jul 20, 2009

I love nursing school, love what I'm learning. I had to take a public speaking and computer class last semester for gen. ed. reqs., THOSE were hard because I felt like time spent studying that was taking me away from my "passion"! If you don't have some passion for nursing, don't have some fundamental critical thinking skills, don't have a great time management, and/or don't have excellent learning strategies, THEN see that nursing school could very easily be a struggle. It's a pretty personal thing, though, and interesting to see diff opinions.