Is nursing school really awful?

nursinglove30 · Aug 12, 2018

I am a student now and have to admit that sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes I really don't. But I feel blessed to be learning all the wonderful things being taught to us. When you approach it as glass half full it goes well. Life is good.

Oldmahubbard · Aug 12, 2018

When I went to school in the dark ages, our clinical was so minimal, many people undoubtedly graduated without ever cleaning up excrement.

Hygiene surrounding elimination should be no big deal. It is part of maintaining dignity.

It is sad, if you felt that most of your clinical was centered on it, but it doesn't completely surprise me.

12sonrisa, BSN · Aug 13, 2018

Nursing school for me was brutal. I LOVE nursing and enjoyed the content we learned and actually working with patients.

What makes it so hard is the amount of information you have to learn. Expect 800 pages of reading every week on top of seemingly pointless assignments. A lot of people complained about doing care plans but I actually liked them because they made sense and solidified the nursing process and theory for me in application to patient care.

And you will start out doing poorly on tests because NCLEX style questions are completely different from any other test. So you will be re-learning how to answer test questions at the same time as learning a crap ton of theory and a couple days of clinical per week.

My school also didn't set things up very well as I only had one year of med surge courses and clinical. We spent far too much time on public health & geriatrics and then had med surge very condensed. And only 1 week of peds/maternity and no critical care. Unless you chose those as specialties which I did not.

We also had issues with a few of our instructors.

It was worth it for me because I love nursing and school wasn't all bad. I do like school in general and miss going to classes. But only do it if you're sure you want to be a nurse. It's very hard work, minimal social life (and feeling guilty when you do actually interact with people for fun), crazy amounts of stress at times, and it's hard to find a job after school.

bgxyrnf, MSN, RN · Aug 14, 2018

However every single nurse I have come into contact with when I told them I am going to nursing school immediately make a face and say "oh they're so mean to you there" or go "it's going to be awful".

I don't know why but a lot of nurses love to perpetuate this notion that nursing school is some terribly difficult, emotionally abusive, and brutal experience.

I'm sure that some people do have that experience, just as in every other field, but for many of us, it's not any of those things. I personally found it fairly easy with supportive classmates and instructors. It certainly was much easier than engineering school which was both more competitive, more difficult, and much longer. And in terms of abusive and stressful, it paled by comparison to USMC boot camp. From what I've heard of the service academies, nursing school wouldn't even rate in terms of rigor and stress.

My point being, everyone's experience is their own. Some people, and evidently you've met a number of them, experience it to be much worse than did I but I know many nurses who express opinions such as my own... and there is definitely an element of trying to scare the uninitiated.

Nursing school just wasn't that big a deal.

g.bautistaRN · Aug 15, 2018

From my personal experience nursing school was not awful. However it was also not easy. It's a busy life. You'll be challenged and there will be times where you'll question yourself if this profession is truly what you want. Individuals who just "go into nursing just because" are the ones that tend to fall out of nursing school.

In nursing school you will meet individuals who are in the same boat as you and you'll build a rapport with them. Some of my closest friends are ones that went through nursing school with me.

Everybody has a different experience with nursing school. Best of luck to you!

MykRTstudent · Aug 16, 2018

I don't know why but a lot of nurses love to perpetuate this notion that nursing school is some terribly difficult, emotionally abusive, and brutal experience.
I'm sure that some people do have that experience, just as in every other field, but for many of us, it's not any of those things. I personally found it fairly easy with supportive classmates and instructors. It certainly was much easier than engineering school which was both more competitive, more difficult, and much longer. And in terms of abusive and stressful, it paled by comparison to USMC boot camp. From what I've heard of the service academies, nursing school wouldn't even rate in terms of rigor and stress.
My point being, everyone's experience is their own. Some people, and evidently you've met a number of them, experience it to be much worse than did I but I know many nurses who express opinions such as my own... and there is definitely an element of trying to scare the uninitiated.
Nursing school just wasn't that big a deal.

True, everyone's experience is very different actually. You're lucky that you had supportive instructors, I wish I could say the same. I went to a terrible disorganized nursing program and the professors were the most negative, unsupportive people that I've ever met. If you were struggling just a little bit most of them would flat out tell you to change your major. Completely rude and discouraging. I didn't feel like I was really learning anything either. Also I hated my clinical instructor. She was bossy and rude. I am a naturally shy person with anxiety so when I was 21 years old starting nursing school, walking into a patients room and engaging in conversation with them was awkward for me at first (it's not a problem for me anymore I'm so used to it now). And the slightest mistake I would make my instructor would get so agitated and yell and criticize/berate me in front of patients. This really embarrassed me and hurt my confidence. I wasn't very good at the nursing test questions either.. I found them to be ridiculous most of the time and my lectures didn't prepare me for them. My program was so horrible we started out with 48 students in the class and 22 were gone after just the first semester (either by failing or dropping out).

Now I'm in school for respiratory therapy and half way through the program. I love it. Do I wish I had gone straight to this instead of nursing? Yes, but hindsight is 20/20 and a couple semesters of nursing school actually gave me a head start in this respiratory program as far as medical terminology and clinicals experience.

Chrispy11, ASN, RN · Aug 17, 2018

My honest take on nursing school... It was hard. Your clinical professors can make or break a program. I had one tough one and I fought through. All the rest were incredibly helpful. They want you to succeed. It seems like forever while you're in it, but when you look back, it flew. I tried to work full time and go to school full time. I had to concentrate on school full time. I followed the excellent advice of my professors/mentors. Passed the NCLEX in one try, 75 questions. Start a job in a week.

So yes it's hard work. I guess I understand the comments you've heard. As in anything in life, it is what you make it. I wish you the Best! í ½í¸

Wiggly Litchi · Aug 20, 2018

This thread is really refreshing to read as I start nursing school officially on Sept 6th. To say I'm nervous is an understatement, and like many, I wonder if it's actually "that hard" and people just play up how hard it is, or if it's just challenging. Even if it's super hard, I know that I'll do everything in my power to graduate.

I've already got some clinical experience as a CNA, so I'm not fazed by bodily fluids etc., but I'll admit that I'm really uneasy about the whole thing. I think I'll feel better once I've started my program.

Rock on everyone, it's been so nice to read your responses!