Is nursing school REALLY that hard?

What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)

Members are discussing the difficulty of nursing school, with some expressing that it is exhausting due to the workload, constant busywork, and testing. Some members find it challenging due to the amount of studying and prioritization required, while others believe it is not as hard as perceived. The discussion also touches on entrance exams, grammar improvement, and the importance of loving the field of nursing to succeed.

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?

I will tell you that this gives me hope. You say you "tried again at 50"? Well, i'm 44. I have to go get my biology and chemistry classes yet. I have to do the 16 ( or is it 24 ) credit markup for a GPA score since my high school years were a total dump! ( i'm a different person now ). I have done several very difficult programs and only failed due to family misfortune. This, at 44, is my "do over" moment.

I called a local college and what I got was "you've been out of the game for a while. You may need some remedial help". Umm.. excuse me?? Do I have "STUPID" written across my forehead? It is what it is.

I'm assuming excitement and nerves go hand in hand.

The "one foot in front of the next" and "baby steps" rule does come into place. I plan to dedicated VAST amounts of time to studying.

Much harder than I anticipated as well! The more difficult core classes (Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology) do not even come close to preparing you for the amount of material that you will cover in such a short amount of time. The way my program did it (the first year) was to have class and tests completed by the 3rd month into the semester, and have the rest of the time for clinicals. Which means: all of mother baby, labor and delivery, and pediatrics starting mid January and completing all 4 tests by the end of February. VERY DIFFICULT. However, it was doable. And rewarding. I only had a part-time job through half of the program and had a hard time trying to find time to study. And studying for nursing school is completely different than studying for any other class. The test questions are completely different as well. BUT, as many people have said before me, IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE!! :)

I heard a patient's family say it like this, and I tend to agree...

"I hope to God nursing school was hard, because my kid's nurse better know her s***."

Good luck to you!!

Specializes in ICU.

In my opinion it depends with the school, I went through LPN school first and the teachers there intentionally made it difficult, and a lot of students struggled to get everything done in clinicals and still pass, but as long as you studied at least 1-2hrs daily, you were good. Am in an RN program now, and it is very laid back and easier than the LPN program.

I would only listen to nursing students in the schools am intending to go to, since each one varies in "difficulty"

Specializes in icu, er, pcu.

It is hard only if you are not passionate about being a Nurse. Keep your priorities straight and the 2 years will wiz by with success in the books for you

It is hard but if you study you will be fine. That was the hard part for me because in prior schooling I had always done well without studying much. You have to study and focus in nursing school. You will be fine, good luck!

Heathermaizey said:

I'm also terrible at the SATA questions. I always get all the math right. What makes it hard is you are going to take a multiple choice test and each question will have 4 right answers. Your job is to pick the "most right" answer. It can get tricky. And you will be sitting there saying to yourself, but my answer is right too!! And it probably is, it's just not the most right answer.

Welcome to nursing school where everything is gray, not black and white, like your prereqs were.

Agree!!! After surviving 4 years of traditional BSN, I completely go with this post ?

It's all about critical thinking baby! ;)

**It's all about critical thinking baby!**

Soooo many interesting posts in this thread; thank you all! Of course these type of questions about whether certain academic programs are more or less difficult to endure or succeed at receive answers which are very subjective, I know.

I am really curious about the 'critical thinking' component tbh.

When I first started seeing and hearing this phrase in conjunction with the nursing industry and careers, I pretty much understood it to be all about what was often mentioned - i.e. finding potentially the 'most right' or 'best' answer to a given challenge. The stakes are completely different within a field in which a person is making a decision where the result affects another human of course!

I do get a little puzzled sometimes. Critical thinking processes are highly valued in a lot of other jobs; and in the main, required to be among the most effective, even if its not verbalized as such. It is emphasized and respected in many spheres of life. The simplest form is often generally accepted as how one responds to a situation with logic, instead of emotional fuzziness, and often its about adaptability under extreme time pressure etc.

The reason I feel puzzled often though, is that 'critical thinking' which is focused on in most nursing programs is discussed by students and nursing veterans alike as if it is something that is alien to a vast majority of people in or coming from other professions.

Is that generally true or is it mentioned so often because nursing programs are primarily designed with younger students in mind, for instance those right out of high school, where one might not expect a more developed exposure yet to what critical thinking is all about?

Thanks for any comments delving deeper into the 'critical thinking' requirement in nursing which seems to be presented as unique in comparison to other professional paths. Comments about this often-raised point would be helpful for those interested in becoming a nurse, who would like to delineate between their current life and career experience and what will be expected within nursing academic programs as well as once they have the responsibilities of working as a nurse in a professional position after obtaining their license.

Specializes in Neurology.

Nursing school is more difficult than the NCLEX. Its difficulty is dependent on who you are and what school you are enrolled in. You will probably be fine. If not, then you can try again.

Nursing School is Hard and Draining and physically and emotionally demanding.. I joined straight from College at 18 and I can honestly say that I wasnt prepared at all!! I would highly recommend that before you start any type of nursing you apply for work/volenteer as a health care assistance as this will help build up clinical skills. Nursing is fantastic but staright out of college to University its bloody well hard. I was suppose to graduate this July and About one week ago dropped out due to the pressure and the poor mentoring and due to me feeling like I am not quite ready yet to be a staff nurse - And I passed everything, but I feel that I need more experience to become competent. So I have left university until this december 2016 to get some HCA experience. Im gutted i wont graduate with my peers while im 21.. but 22 is good enough. But If you feel ready for nursing school, your strong minded, confident, determined and ready to learn then go smash it!! Its a great career choice..

Megan X

It was at the time harder than anything I had ever done in my life! Now I was a single mom with 4 year old twin daughters working full time in a head injury ventilator unit. There were at least a million times I wanted to quit and had to tell myself it was gonna be worth it when I was done, I hoped. Looking back it doesn't seem that bad so either I have that amnesia like u get after the labor is over pain gone baby in ur arms or God keeps giving me harder and harder challenges in my life making nursing school easier than some things now. It is almost 15 years now looking back I would do it all over especially if I were young like u and didn't have all I did heck it would have been a breeze. U will make it we all did, Good luck!

My first semester absolutely sucked. I thought it was difficult because it was hard for me to figure out what to focus on from the readings. I also had a hard time figuring out how to study. This is my second semester and it hasn't been nearly as difficult for me.

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