Im a 1st year nursing student on the road to receiving my bachelors. Im here to tell you not to give in no matter how much you doubt yourself. If others have seen the grass on the other side of the hill why cant you or I make it? From the weeks the seem to be one continuous day from lack of sleep, to the back to back exams. It sort of makes you wonder if this is your instructors sadistic way of weeding out the light hearted. Well im here to tell you its not. We have all been through the heavy course load, care plans, am reports, etc. But if your nursing school experience is an easy one, ill be the first to tell you pick another program. Nursing school is there for just one reason... to prepare the unprepared. Forget what you learned as a cna its no longer valid in these next long years. No matter how much you know remember you NEVER know more than your instructor and if you do thats a dangerous trait. As hard as nursing school is you should also know the work shouldnt be a foreign language to you. Yes it should take a while to do but if you have done your studying and still dont understand maybe nursings not for you and thats okay too.The grass is greener on the other side after your instructors have prepared you youll still feel a little unprepared but thats totally normal. Keep your head up keep practicing those injections, keep thinking critically and youll be just fine. Use your resources whether it be someone who has graduated from your program (pick their brain and find out what got them through) or do what I do look up articles that push me to keep moving forward! I promise in no time you will get to feel the soft green grass on the other side of the hill...
Summers3 201 Posts Nov 17, 2014 Dear vregino36,Thank you for your post! I'm currently feeling frightened about the entire aspect, I am a student starting my nursing program soon. I am especially scared about the financial aspect since I will be a second degree student so there is less financial aid for someone like me out there.May I please ask you for advice on financial aid for nursing school? I'm just really scared about drowning in debt and I have second thoughts of not wanting to do nursing school anymore but this is something I want to do with my life so I must.Thank you again for your time and consideration. Have a good rest of your day! :)
NurseGirl525, ASN, RN 3,663 Posts Specializes in ICU. Nov 17, 2014 I honestly think people place too much emphasis on the difficulty of nursing school. Is it the easiest thing I have ever done? No. But I don't have to pull all nighters and I haven't lost any sleep over it yet. Maybe next semester will be different, but I still have a life outside of nursing school. I'm a single mom and I manage to juggle it all. I think as long as you pay attention in class, get your work done, and do some studying, you will be fine. I take exception to the comment that if I don't find it difficult to find a new program. My program is top notch. I did my research before picking a school. 100% NCLEX pass rate with caring and compassionate instructors. They are there to help us learn, not see us fail. I see that in many programs. Where they think the harder on you they are, the better nurse you will be. Many of the top nurses in this area graduated from my program and were extremely happy with it. Where I am doing my clinicals now, one of the resident's daughter is the clinical education coordinator at our local ER. She graduated from my school and told me I picked the right one to go to. She always recommends graduates from my school. Honestly, don't make it harder than it has to be.
Summers3 201 Posts Nov 17, 2014 Dear Heathermaizey,Thank you for your post, I honestly don't see posts like yours often at all (considering everyone else's say that school is super hard, etc etc). May I please ask what kind of program you are attending? Like, the difficulty level would automatically increase from say, accelerated BSN vs normal BSN? Or if someone's working part time to going to school too?I am a student about to attend school next year and I'm getting very frightened about what everyone has to say on the forums but seeing your post makes me a little bit calmer. Thank you. :) If you don't mind, may I please ask advice to survive my first semester? Thank you!
mmc51264, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN 3,152 Posts Specializes in orthopedic; Informatics, diabetes. Has 11 years experience. Nov 17, 2014 Nursing school WAS the hardest thing I have ever done. Including a graduate degree, working full time while going to school (not nursing school) and pregnant, and 2 c-sections. I swear I have PTSD from it. However, I would not trade it for anything! I got my ADN when I was 48 and I will have my BSN this spring @ 51. I love being a nurse and am so glad I did it. It is something of a badge of honor we all share.
jena5111, ASN, RN 1 Article; 186 Posts Specializes in Tele, Interventional Pain Management, OR. Has 8 years experience. Nov 17, 2014 Have to agree with Heathermaizey--I'm about to start my third semester of four in a reputable RN program and I do not think nursing school has to take over your life. It hasn't taken over mine! I still have time to do family stuff with my fiance and our relatives, exercise regularly, keep a (semi) clean house, and work part-time. None of those things interfere with my ability to be an "A" nursing student. Nursing school is very different from the coursework I completed for my English degree, but it's totally doable even if you have other obligations. The main difference is the super-fast pace and the volume of information. And that all the classroom/lab knowledge builds on itself and must be applied in the clinical setting...My advice to new nursing students is to not psych yourself out before you even start by assuming that NS will take over your life for the next 2-4 years. Balance is possible! I've noticed that students who attend lecture/lab and pay attention do better than those who attend sporadically and/or spend the class time doing things besides listening and taking notes.
Summers3 201 Posts Nov 17, 2014 Congratulations on your last semester and your graduation, mmc! Since you already have ADN, you have already passed the NCLEX before even starting your BSN right? So how will the job change for you after you graduate this spring? Go back to your workplace and apply for a RN position instead? Thank you for your insight and best of luck to you! :)
MichaelA2014 1 Post Nov 18, 2014 Thank you for the wonderful post. You pretty much took the words out of my mouth. The first year in school is the hardest. This is going to be my second degree. First one was mechanical engineering. I may be getting old but I feel as though my mind not as sharp as it used to be....sadly. :)
