I am 31 preparing for Nursing school, next fall( school forgot to attach my transcripts to app this fall ). The program is 21 months( understand, I sit out this year ). However, I am torn. You have 1 evening 4 hour lecture , then one day of clinicals per week. So Two days a week( 1 lecture evening, 1 clinical ). I am also on a partial scholarship( will get to that part ). The whole Idea of Nursing is to go into NP school, Mental Health.
I also can go to a Health Information Management Degree, Bachelors program, and finish in the same amount of time as nursing( actually one year sooner, no micro biology, one year prep needed etc ). I am torn. I have taken Medical Term, A&P 1 and 2, Human growth and development, but that was 5 years ago.
I also have a short story, well how can I say this...I have an Ileostomy. That was not easy to type publicly. I also weight train. I will train over 700lbs on legs etc. --- My road was never easy. Coming out of Highschool, I wanted to go for Nurse Anesthetist, however, I had to fight an opponent that I never seen coming, which changed plans. I also have a Type " A " personality. It helps in a lot of areas, but hinders in others. The great part( I guess ) is I have no Kids, No room mates, not married( lol...After typing this, I had to laugh ). However, I have to train an 1hr n half and eat 5 meals a day- which goes against the grain. I also get frustrated if I don't get an A( the type A ).
I have to make a decision, and soon. If I choose Nursing, then I need/will to take chemistry, Algebra, Micro, Human Physiology( at the Junior Level...have no clue why as Ap 1 and 2, needed more Physiology?, and nutrition. I would be taking this with my time off, so all sciences are knocked out....which allows the format above. I have read horror stories on here....I don't expect nursing to be easy but have to ask you guys and gals.....
So for those of us who have not taken and embarked on this journey yet what makes nursing school so hard? Again, I see horror stories about Nursing on here.Is it the amount of material to know? The fast pace? Also, would you choose this Career again if you had to? The Ap I took, we learned about the human heart, all it's chambers, blood flow, and how to read an EKG, then two days later, next system.
I think that you need to give more specifics about your program because it sounds nothing like mine and it's hard to give you advice when I'm unsure how they compare. Is it a ABSN program, ADN, LPN or something else?
I have a neurology disorder that can be challenging but so far it hasnt interfered with school. You need to ask yourself, if you are prepared to find ways to work through or around your challenges without it impacting the care of your patients. In this regard it can be hard because you have to care for yourself while you are caring for your patients but you will find a way and will need to make a few adjustments.
I'm going into my last semester of nursing school and like a previous poster stated, I also have a science related bachelors where we had to do long labs, 8 page lab reports and a 580 hour mandatory internship, and nursing school is still way more challenging and complex then I thought it would be. Here are my reasons:
1. The material you have to read and know and learn is just insane. Each test covered a minimum of 8 chapters and that number could very well go up to 12 chapters per test (especially in maternity/peds) So you expecting me to learn, understand and know all of this in a couple of weeks. mmmmmmm kay. Insane I tell you!
2. The clinicals - Ok yes you need "hands on experience" but 12 hours a day multiple times per week for a couple of years can get the best of a person eventually, especially when you have to try and squeeze in study time and still have to work for actual money! LOL I enjoyed my clinicals (well some of them) but sometimes the schedule was a bit much.
3. The studying - You honestly will have no sort of social life at all. Your textbooks, your laptop, and trying to figure out which answer is the MOST CORRECT answer will be your social existence for the next couple of years.
Well that is my summary of my nursing school experience AND if I had to do it again I probably would not. Once is enough for me. Graduation is December 16 and I'm counting down.
This is a pretty interesting post. I really like how honest you were with your experience. Truthfully I have found that if you are already working full time under the directing if a licensed nurse in the hospital setting, the first few semesters are a little less insane.
I was 31 when i started, a 4.5 year BSN..i am now on my last semester. I am married and a mom of 3 in a crazy tough nyc program. I had no one to help with the kids apart from my husband who works really long hours. Yes its super hard cause of the volume of material in a short frame of time but had no idea how hard it was, ignorance was bliss in my case, so i just put my head down and worked freaking hard with a tunnel vision of achieving my goal. Taking your circumstanced into account i believe you can totally do it!!! A types thrive in nursing, i know cause i am one!! Good luck with everything!!
you are my hero, I'm 34 and starting Junior year of a traditional BSN program. Some days I feel so stupid for waiting this long to get a bachelor's degree and other days I feel like it's a strength. I couldn't imagine doing this while having children. You are truly a superwoman!
Yeah. Nursing school is real hard. But when I saw how little investement bankers make, I knew nursing was my chance to meet and work with really smart, dedicated people who really care about people and especially each other.
Nurses as you will find out are an especially altruistic group of individuals who always work as a team in the most professional of manner. As such, they are really on the whole so admirable and loving in such a warm and fuzzy way. Also nurses never will sell one another out or in any way engage in bullying or back stabbing. This is what is really so special about the nursing profession. So if it costs you $100, 000 dollars to become a nurse rather than something lame like an investement banker you should always know that while the debt may be overly burdensome, you will always be well thought of by your grateful patients and thoughtful and considerate colleauges. And that's a promise.
PhillyRNtoBe
137 Posts
Hello,
I think that you need to give more specifics about your program because it sounds nothing like mine and it's hard to give you advice when I'm unsure how they compare. Is it a ABSN program, ADN, LPN or something else?
I have a neurology disorder that can be challenging but so far it hasnt interfered with school. You need to ask yourself, if you are prepared to find ways to work through or around your challenges without it impacting the care of your patients. In this regard it can be hard because you have to care for yourself while you are caring for your patients but you will find a way and will need to make a few adjustments.