how did you make it through RN school!

shiuanshiuan · Feb 17, 2011

I'm in the same boat as you. I have another year to go (graduating December 2011) and I feel so burnt out for some reason. It's only been a month since we started school again and I feel like I don't want to do the whole "school" thing anymore and I just want to get in and be a nurse. Don't worry though, you have three more classes to go. Just keep your head held up high and keep telling yourself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it will all be worth it in the end. (I keep telling myself... eight more months, eight more months...)

B52-H · Feb 17, 2011

I lacked the discipline to do it, but my g/f would set a date a couple days/weeks in advance for when she would see her friends or family. Then complete all the future course work, reading and studying so she could enjoy herself without the stress & worry.

Does it suck? Absolutely. But those are the sacrifices you gotta make.

The way I did it was (Not recommended):

Didn't see my friends for 6 months to a year or more. Drank lots of Rockstar & coffee, pulled all nighters routinely or would sleep only a couple of hours. When time allowed, I would crash and sleep like a hibernating bear.

The side effects of this routine include:

Alienated friends

Angry significant other

Talking to your computer

Rapidly cycling between screaming, laughing and crying while careplanning

No longer being alarmed when you wake up at your desk or curled up in a ball next to it

Spending long and copious amounts of time cursing at Microsoft Word for being so infuriating with fonts/formats

Losing long long tracks of time

Arrive at home and realize you don't remember driving home

Verbally pleading with your alarm clock and offering it your worship in exchange for 15 more minutes

Joking aside, you really need to budget your time and treat it like a precious resource. Just like you set goals for getting into nursing school, test score, grades etc, you need to set goals for getting stuff done so you can spend time with family, friends and yourself to detox. You need to be efficient efficient efficient.

G/F: "This assignment and reading is not due for another 3 weeks. I have some free time now so I am going to start the assignment that way I will have free time to see my friends that week."

Me: "(While pointing and laughing at her) Not due for 3 weeks?! Hahahaha so what are we talking about. I am a busy man. It's NFL season and video games are calling my name."

3 weeks later, I am up all night griding away, while she slowly chipped away at the assignment over time and spent the weekend hanging out with friends and is sound asleep. Those hours she invested previously payed off and her stress level is better because she gets to unwind and have fun.

RNMeg · Feb 17, 2011

I took it one assignment, one exam, one clinical day at a time, jumping through all the hoops they wanted as they came. I didn't let myself get behind, and I only looked far enough ahead to keep me on track, to avoid feeling overwhelmed. I got through it, and so will you :redbeathe

Akeos · Feb 17, 2011

I would get all your papers and research for them done asap, even if they're not due for weeks. the sooner you finish the big projects the better it will make you feel. then you can spend all the time you need studying for tests or pulling all nighters to finish care plans. At least every week or every other week take an entire day where you don't do any nursing related thing. just relax, go out, catch up with your friends/family and on your sleep. You'll make it through, even if it doesn't seem like it right now.

WillowNMe · Feb 17, 2011

The way I did it was (Not recommended):
Didn't see my friends for 6 months to a year or more. Drank lots of Rockstar & coffee, pulled all nighters routinely or would sleep only a couple of hours. When time allowed, I would crash and sleep like a hibernating bear.
The side effects of this routine include:
Alienated friends
Angry significant other
Talking to your computer
Rapidly cycling between screaming, laughing and crying while careplanning
No longer being alarmed when you wake up at your desk or curled up in a ball next to it
Spending long and copious amounts of time cursing at Microsoft Word for being so infuriating with fonts/formats
Losing long long tracks of time
Arrive at home and realize you don't remember driving home
Verbally pleading with your alarm clock and offering it your worship in exchange for 15 more minutes
Joking aside, you really need to budget your time and treat it like a precious resource. Just like you set goals for getting into nursing school, test score, grades etc, you need to set goals for getting stuff done so you can spend time with family, friends and yourself to detox. You need to be efficient efficient efficient.

Thanks for the chuckle! Yup, been there done that!! Its actually taken me three years to get through the nursing program :uhoh3: Yikes...

I have a few friends that have understood it, I had more friends that didn't... unfortunately I have lost them. But in return, I have meet some wonderful people through nursing and I have made a point of at least sending a facebook message to let my friends know I am living and thinking about them.

I work full time overnights and go to school during the day - but I make sure to set aside at least one day a week to take some time to spend it how I wish. I ride my horse, watch some TV (WHAT?!) or have dinner with my mom. I have gotten into the knack of stopping by where my friends work (if its okay to do that) to at least say hi or bring them dinner if I'm not broke

So how does everyone get through it? By doing just that - getting through it. I don't think there is a particular answer. You just have to do it. Why waste all that time and effort and not finish? I graduate in May, and sometimes when I think six, seven, eight months down the road... I wonder how much free time I will have and what the HECK will I do? No studying? No NCLEX looming? Wow....

B52-H · Feb 17, 2011

I graduate in May, and sometimes when I think six, seven, eight months down the road... I wonder how much free time I will have and what the HECK will I do? No studying? No NCLEX looming? Wow....

Trying to find a job will keep you plenty busy. Trust me I know this sounds like blasphemy but I would rather be back in nursing school than in my present situation hahaha.

DizzyLizzyNurse · Feb 17, 2011

B52-H, that is basically how I got through nursing school as well. I was also very selfish (in other people's eyes) with how I spent my very small amount of free time. Mostly I slept. I went through 2 serious LTR's, lost a bunch of friends, and (seriously!) sprouted some gray hairs!

I graduated in December and it was ALL worth it. The people who truly weren't supportive are out of my life and I am eternally grateful to the ones who helped and supported me.

Every vacation or break I spent having as much fun as I could squeeze in. Then I'd announce to my friends and family I'd see them at the end of the semester. Then I'd disappear and work my FT job and school.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2011

I made a schedule of all assignments and due dates for the month.

Started on the assignments as soon as I got them. If you want As and sleep, cramming the night before doesn't work.

I did not have my ringer on the phone when I was studying. No interruptions.

I made time for the gym, eating healthy, and friends. A balanced life is the key.

I also lived on my own and had to work during school, so time management was essential.

I planned out my assignments so that on my clinical rotations, there was no reading done or working on anything. Realistically, you aren't going to come home after an 11 hour day and do any school work.

During Xmas break, I went away to a nice warm beach and had fun :)

And...I actually enjoyed school, and survived all 4 yrs. You can too!

Anne36, LPN · Feb 17, 2011

Im in the LPN program right now. Im glad we get a break between the LPn and LPN-Rn program. I was worried about getting burned out in RN program as well but circumstances just turned out that I took this path. Good luck, I know its not easy.

Orange Tree · Feb 17, 2011

I sort of thought of it as an outward-bound, wilderness type of challenge. You know, those expeditions where you run six miles in the snow, jump into a frozen lake, climb up the side of a steep, solid-rock cliff, canoe over a waterfall, then hike through a forest full of hungry bears? It sucks! But you feel amazing when it's finally over and you realize that you're still standing

ladybugme! · Feb 18, 2011

thank you to everyone who replied! it helps to know that feeling this way it not abnormal. i totally agree with those of you who said they made and lost a log of friends. some of my friend’s just don’t understand. they work full time and don’t understand how i’m only in school how could i possibly be so busy that i can’t hang out with them? its so hard when you get away finally from nursing school stuff and hang out with your friends and they ask you, "well how is school going"? and you reply with all the things you have to do, care plan, how you had to read 10 chapters in one week cause it will all be on a 50 question exam that same week! they just look at you like...umm really how hard could it be? i don’t know some times it is just so frustrating. my fiancée tells me, hey i’ve been there done that you will be fine. he has a degree in business and i tell him where did you ever study every day of the week for 8 hours a day while getting your bachelors degree in business?! some of my friend are currently in college right now for business, marketing, liberal arts go out every night of the week, work full time and get a’s in their classes?. eh, now i’m just venting.:vlin: thanks for all your input!