Just how difficult is nursing school going to be?!

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Is it really THAT difficult?!! I have heard some say that the prereqs were more difficult than the nursing school and others say just the opposite. I'm curious! I start my community college nursing program in the fall and I have been taking really tough courses for my eventual transfer to a 4 year university...demanding classes like Molecular Biology and Genetics, Biology for science majors, and the full year of college level Inorganic Chemistry (I just have a semester of Organic Chemistry to go). I'm hoping that these critical thinking type of classes have prepared me well enough for what lies ahead. I keep hearing about the masses of students who fail out of nursing school? And students who got all As in their prereqs who are barely passing the nursing courses? Are most of these people trying to work while they attend school?

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

I hate to say this because this may not give you much comfort. The reality is no one can tell you what your personal experience will be. You will have to tell us when you graduate! Good luck. :D

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Specializes in Critical Care.

There are different and more stressors and pressures of nursing school than just academic abilities.

And THAT is what makes nursing school more difficult.

~faith,

Timothy.

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There are different and more stressors and pressures of nursing school than just academic abilities.

And THAT is what makes nursing school more difficult.

~faith,

Timothy.

What would you say is the most stressful parts of nursing school? I think I will get my first taste starting Thursday when I start Pharmacology.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

There is a saying that nurses eat their young. It starts with nursing school and instructors.

The instructors will tell you that it is their JOB to weed out anybody not 'fit' to be a nurse. But that is such a subjective measurement. The result is that many people are tossed from programs for what appear to be arbitrary reasons.

Well, they ARE arbitrary reasons; but that's not why they got kicked out. They got booted because the instructor didn't think they were 'nursing' material, and so, LOOKED and/or manufactured a reason for the boot.

See, because the instructors take it upon themselves to be the judge and jury of who can be a nurse, many get an arrogance of power over that position.

And trying to measure up to criteria about which you can't even imagine: that is stressful.

My advice has always been to keep your head down and remember the two rules of college.

1. The instructor is always right.

2. If you want to pass, see rule #1.

I'm not meaning to be discouraging. But, you did ask.

~faith,

Timothy.

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No, I appriciate you telling me. I will remember that, and any more advice you can think of, I'm all ears.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Oh, it's been so long since I was in nursing school. I'm sure you can find all kinds of threads on stuff like this in THAT forum.

One of the things I remember is that the instructors would sometimes bring in people to say such OUTRAGEOUS things and test on it, just to see if you would repeat that garbage or rebel against it. I always bit my tongue/pen and repeated the garbage.

And they are trying to get you used to taking very difficult tests because NCLEX is a difficult test. But, so much of that (such as priority type questions) is also subjective. So, one instructor will say one thing, and the next, something totally different.

My take: know and remember which instructor is teaching what content because they are likely the one that will write that portion of any test. Knowing their attitudes and opinions will help you pick the right answer at times.

So, it's not about what YOU think is the highest priority as much as what you think the instructor that taught the content would think is the highest priority.

So, just as they are studying YOU for your 'worthiness' to remain in the program, you should be studying THEM for thier quirks and opinions and how that will show up on your tests.

Mind you, I am not 'bashing' all instructors. Some are jewels. But, some are not. It's the ones that aren't that you have to worry about.

~faith,

Timothy.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU, Neuro/Trauma stepdown.

So, it's not about what YOU think is the highest priority as much as what you think the instructor that taught the content would think is the highest priority.

:yeahthat:

my last day is tuesday (w00tw00t) and here's my take: yes nursing school is hard because of the amount of time you will have to devote. if you do not, you will not make it, regardless of your GPA (which i hope is high). as far as prereqs- what makes them harder is that a lot of prereqs (like a&p) require a lot of memorization, nursing school-notsomuch. youre not really doing alot of memorizing, you have to follow through with what you are learning and really understand the concepts inside and out. once you learn how to be a nurse and practice a little in clinical, it will come naturally to you. the only time i had to use flash cards for that repetative type of memorization was pharm (which although important, sucks!)

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Specializes in Neuro ICU, Neuro/Trauma stepdown.
you have to follow through with what you are learning and really understand the concepts inside and out.

all that a&p that you learned, but only long enough for the test? this is when it all comes full circle.

and what timothy said that i quoted previously? that goes the same for people already in the medical profession....the test is not questioning what you know and what you've seen, the test is over what the book says and what your instructor says to be true!

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I found pre-req classes "harder"...and NS (BSN program)..."busier"...but not nearly as difficult.

Both have their own challenges. But if I had to do one set of classes OVER again, it would so far be my core nursing classes.

~J

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What would you say is the most stressful parts of nursing school? I think I will get my first taste starting Thursday when I start Pharmacology.

you know what is funny? most of us first year students LOVE the pharm and other "concrete" things. you either know it or you don't. The things that are difficult are the hundreds of pages of required reading each week, and the time to practice skills in the lab, preparing for your patients in clinical....and the biggest adjustment is that you have get into the minds of each professor to figure out where they are going with the test questions. Each teacher is a little different and they will prioritize things in a slightly (yet important way). Usually you will get 4 or five choices for an answer and you can immediately eliminate at least 2 and then it will come down to choosing the "best answer". Some times this is awful because of the way the question is worded, or books conflicting with each other on the correct way to do things or lab values etc... You get the hang of it, but you do have to kind of think about which teacher wrote the test sometimes... critical thinking definitely is developed. You'll do fine!

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Specializes in Critical Care.
You get the hang of it, but you do have to kind of think about which teacher wrote the test sometimes... critical thinking definitely is developed. You'll do fine!

And let me tell you, some students that are used to the concept that, if they study enough, they will 'ace' all tests come completely unglued about trying to intuit priority answers based on who wrote that part of the test.

I've seen students argue the point w/ the instructor that wrote the question for hours. . .

~faith,

Timothy.

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