Is nursing school really "the hardest thing you've ever done in your life"?

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I'm starting an accelerated bsn program in the summer, and it seems like there is a consensus that "nursing school was the hardest thing that [people] have done in their lives" almost everywhere, whether it be allnurses.com, Youtube, or whatever.... And this isn't just said by some 20-year-olds who haven't jumped through hoops of life. I've heard it from people with biology degrees, MBA degrees, and even lawyers. I even read a comment by a lady who claimed that nursing school was the hardest thing she has done in 50 years of her life, including birthing her children! With that said, I know that it's certainly doable. But I haven't really seen people say this with law school, pharmacy school, or just any other professional school, (except maybe med school) so I'm curious. Is nursing school really that bad, or are we just a bunch of whiners? lol... Any input is appreciated!

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I read somewhere (don't remember where) that the hardest things in an adult's life are getting married, getting divorced, having kids, and buying/selling houses. Seeing as I haven't done any of those things, it's not saying much that nursing school is the hardest thing I've done so far. It's hard. The first couple of semesters suck. But then you get into a routine and things aren't so bad, at least from my perspective. I'm currently in my last semester with just a few weeks left until graduation and I'm actually bored.

Getting married is difficult but joyful, getting divorced is difficult in another way. I would think that getting divorced while pregnant and caring for a toddler (or a teenager) and selling your marital home while buying a new one and taking care of your aged (possibly demented) parents AND working full time while going through school would possibly be right up there with the most difficult thing anyone has ever done.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Nursing school isn't the hardest thing I've ever done, academically speaking. That honor goes to my Sports Med Bachelors. After I did that program, I did EMT (seriously easy) and shortly thereafter, Paramedic. In neither case did I have to really crack the books open that often. That's because my Sports Med education was so thorough. A few years later I decided to become an RN and refreshed some of my prerequisites (most were already done thanks to Sports Med education) and completed a couple other requirements not covered by my previous education (2 classes?) and began applying to nursing school. Once I was accepted, the hardest thing was actually time management because I had to work full time in addition to going to school full time. I read the books when necessary to grasp a concept but, again, since my Sports Med education was so complete, I rarely had to go beyond an occasional opening of the books.

So, nursing school wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done... but it wasn't exactly easy either! It's only as difficult as you choose to make it. Just don't make it so easy on you that you fail to meet minimum grades to complete the program and don't make it so hard on yourself that you want to quit even though you're earning killer grades. Nursing School certainly will be an investment in yourself so make sure you maximize the return, but don't burn yourself out before you even graduate. That's not a good way to treat that investment...

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Ummm... NO!! Was it easy? Certainly not! As a previous poster said it's only as hard a you make it..

I really disagree with this. Not everyone has the same abilities. There are always going to be people who struggle academically. Others have trouble balancing academics with family obligations. Someone else has to work and simply doesn't have the same amount of time to study and do homework as someone else might. If something is really difficult for someone, it's not necessarily because they made it so. Factors beyond their control, etc., etc., etc.

Not all programs are equal, either. Some are more rigorous than others.

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

Yes. It is.

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Nursing school is the hardest thing I've ever done academically second only to prepping for my GED (a task that was incredibly intense at the time since I did not have a standard K-12 education.) I'm in my late twenties and have had some extremely difficult life experiences, but not in the way that nursing school is, if that makes sense. I am a very new student nurse, though, so I'll have to get back to you later on in my program ;)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Nursing school is in no way the hardest thing I've ever done. I had to give my baby up for adoption when I was 18. That was hard. Then I had to take her back because her dad wouldn't sign off on the adoption. THAT WAS HARDER. Postpartum depression, getting out of an abusive relationship, being in therapy for three years to learn how to be healthy in relationships/handle depression, having to send my partner off on a deployment and getting through that together... all of that was much harder and more draining than nursing school. I had many, many days prior to nursing school where I felt like I wanted to die and like I just wouldn't be able to keep going as I dealt with less-than-ideal circumstances that were sometimes of my own making, and sometimes not. Nursing school is just school, and it's a positive change in my life that I wanted and that I worked hard for. So no, nursing school is not the hardest thing I've ever done.

I truly think that half the struggle for new nursing school students is getting over how horribly psyched out they've been by reading so many accounts of how nursing school is the hardest thing evarrrrrrrr. It's not! It's just a moderately challenging degree program, not the end of the world.

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There are different kinds of "hard". I buried my husband who suffered from epilepsy and never came home one day because he seized and drowned in a road side drainage ditch. I buried my only child 3 yrs later at 19, after she who was a 4.0 college student met a guy, tried heroin and died of an OD 3 weeks later. So yeah, I know emotional pain.

However, none of my previous jobs, or schooling, or even taking nearly all of the pre-reqs at once, came up to the level of difficulty as my self directed nursing program where we basically have to teach ourselves theory through readings, procedures through video's, and term paper length clinical paperwork that needs to be turned in within 24 hours. It is a crazy amount of information; you know, the whole human body and how it functions together, plus pharmacology, plus the hands on stuff to learn in 2 yrs.

I will say it is fascinating material and a bit more than halfway through my 2nd semester, I am shocked at how much I have learned ! I hadn't even realized it until I had two level one students assigned to me at clinical...and suddenly I kinda knew what I was doing ! Besides my family, small business and pets I DON'T have a lot of free time, but enough if it's what you want to do. I'm fine with reading about palliative care instead of going out clubbing but I also am in my 40's.

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There are different kinds of "hard". I buried my husband who suffered from epilepsy and never came home one day because he seized and drowned in a road side drainage ditch. I buried my only child 3 yrs later at 19, after she who was a 4.0 college student met a guy, tried heroin and died of an OD 3 weeks later. So yeah, I know emotional pain.

I can't imagine anything worse to endure than losing a child, particularly after losing a spouse. My condolences on your losses. You sound like a very strong person.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

Undergrad nursing school was a breeze. Yes it was a time commitment, but it wasn't really hard (if you don't count statistics). Grad school, on the other hand, is most definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Not only is the material difficult, but the sheer volume of work is overwhelming. Not only that, but I work full time, do two clinical days a week in the surgical ICU and a day of classes plus homework and study. I am exhausted...completely drained. If you're thinking it's hard now...don't worry. It only gets worse!

However, in the big grand scheme of things, there are much harder things to go through in life...homelessness, losing a loved one, having a chronic serious disease. Compared to those, I'm lucky. I know I'm incredibly privileged to be where I am right now, and that lots of people would like to be in my situation, so I have to put up and shut up and realize that this too will one day be over.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

P.S.... as the close friend of a med student, every single one of us should be thankful we aren't in med school :roflmao:

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

Not even close.

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Specializes in Pedi.
Even if it wasn't that incredibly difficult WHICH IT IS it would probably still be the most difficult thing that the people have ever done. Ask yourself who is in nursing school. It's going to vary but generally they're made up of 19 year olds to people in their early 20's. What have people that young had to do that was that difficult?

I had brain surgery at 19, exactly 3 weeks after I took my last final of my freshman year of college (nursing school). I did my freshman year of college despite having been diagnosed with a brain tumor towards the end of my senior year of high school and while having seizures every day. I told everyone to go to hell when I was told that I needed brain surgery ~4 weeks before I was to move in for my freshman year of college and that I was going to college as planned. THAT year was difficult. The nursing program? Not so much. I barely tried in college and graduated with a 3.5 GPA.

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