Is nursing school REALLY that hard?

I just started the 2 year ADN program at my community college about a week ago. I am actually the youngest in my program at 18, and I have no nursing experience. Before I started, I obsessed over blogs and spent a lot of nights wondering if I could even make it through nursing school. I graduated high school in the top 5% of my class with a good ACT score, and I'm generally a hard worker. I am just wondering, was nursing school as hard as you thought it would be and if so, why?

Nursing school is HELL!!! you MUST LOVE LOVE LOVE the medical field to survive this! If you have facility with academic work it's already an excellent point for you! For the clinicals you practice what's in the book. You need to love people and have a very good sense of initiative! The professors are looking for the students who they can trust will always come with a good plan B if needed. Your patients are always your first priority and the knowledge of their conditions is what you "always" have to know. You'll be just fine, there will be a lots of sleepless nights, lost of tears, lost of "I can't do this anymore", but you'll be just fine... Good Luck

It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. STUDY ..STUDY ..STUDY! You will have no social life and you will want to quit more than once, but in the end it is all worth it! Good Luck and do great!!!

Specializes in CVICU CCRN.
Helenegusa said:
Nursing school is HELL! you MUST LOVE LOVE LOVE the medical field to survive this! If you have facility with academic work it's already an excellent point for you! For the clinicals you practice what's in the book. You need to love people and have a very good sense of initiative! The professors are looking for the students who they can trust will always come with a good plan B if needed. Your patients are always your first priority and the knowledge of their conditions is what you "always" have to know. You'll be just fine, there will be a lots of sleepless nights, lost of tears, lost of "I can't do this anymore", but you'll be just fine... Good Luck

Yeah, no. I had a different experience.

Time consuming, yes. New skills to master, including all important muscle memory? Yep.

Doable with a solid work ethic and priorities? Absolutely. I didn't have these type of "oh gawd what am I doing" moments at all. Everyone is different.

Here's a link about nursing being the "hardest degree":

What is the Toughest College Degree? : snopes.com

Interestingly though, I think there was a more recent news story - like in a major national newspaper - talking about BSN difficulty as well. Not sure it was truly an objective study, however. I couldn't find the link with the amount of time I had to search at the moment, though, so maybe I imagined it.

OP, good luck. Keep your head on straight, be prepared, think ahead, treat school as your job, and I bet you will do just fine.

It's not actual nursing school that is hard. It's the testing that is hard. I personally feel that I've spent more time learning how to test correctly, rather than learning the knowledge.

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Apply yourself, study hard, don't blow off assignments, and buy some NCLEX question study books. I went to nursing school in my 50's, worked 1 full time job and 3 part time jobs and maintained a 3.38 GPA. You can do it!

Specializes in PACU.

No, it is a lot of work but doable. I worked part time and went to college full time. Sounds like you are smart enough to handle the work.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I thought it was a lot of busy work.

And mind games.

"Hard" academically?

Not really.

Here is a snopes article to clear up the claim that nursing is the hardest degree:

What is the Toughest College Degree? : snopes.com

Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.
SmilingBluEyes said:
I thought it was a lot of busy work.

And mind games.

"Hard" academically?

Not really.

This basically sums up why nursing is "hard".

Yes it is. As is studying for the NCLEX and then starting your first job.

Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.
chacha82 said:
Yes it is. As is studying for the NCLEX and then starting your first job.

Personally, I thought the NCLEX was a joke. 75 questions in 60 minutes and a pass rate of 85% are hardly the hallmarks of a "hard" test.

KindaBack said:
Personally, I thought the NCLEX was a joke. 75 questions in 60 minutes and a pass rate of 85% are hardly the hallmarks of a "hard" test.

Not a joke, but it certainly wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

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