Nervous about all the warnings regarding school work load

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Hello, after 20+ years of wishing I could afford to leave my job and go to nursing school, I finally have the opportunity and just found out I was accepted at my school of choice for Fall 2011. Yay!

But now I am nervous because not only do I see the posts here about how overwhelming it can be, all the homework, lack of family life, my own acceptance packet had a letter advising that there will probably be 3-5 hours of homework a night!

I am a good student, I have gone to school at night throughout my career (3.8 GPA), so I will more than likely only have nursing classes. All my pre-reqs are done.

Is it as bad as people are saying? What kind of homework takes up 3-5 hours a night?

I have wanted this for so long and now of course I am worried that after all this time, might I not be able to cut it?

Thanks!

:uhoh3:

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Congrats! I too start NS in the Fall and have noticed all the negative comments about school etc.....I have friends in the end of their first year ADN school and they say it's really not the actual content of the studies that is so hard, it's the work load. Like one weekend my friend had like 300 pages to read, and care plans to create, which just sounds involved!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Surgical ICU.

You will do great!! I worked full time while attending my program and I'm not the brightest lightbulb in the box. Its all in time management and the drive to want that degree!

Good luck in school and enjoy. I still get teary when I think about my pinning ceremony.

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BeachPrincess, which beach you near??

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

Don't let it scare you away before it happens! Yes there is a lot of work in nursing school, but I found it to be exciting. Learning the systems, breaking down a care plan to help a person get well faster, applying knowledge in clinicals and learning skills in lab. Nursing is a large portion paperwork and learning, but it also has some wonderful hands on aspects that break everything up.

Start out with a plan, keep organized, and when you have questions make sure you ask them! Don't let something confusing bog you down for very long.

Best if luck and charge forward!

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

It is very individual, I didn't give up my free time and I didn't do a lot of studying, (I seriously can't imagine sitting there studying for hours on end) but I did great and graduated and passed NCLEX in 75 questions.

I'm not saying not to put in any effort, but you will find out what works for you. It definitely doesn't have to be the horror stories you read here.

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I also start in August. I went to our college web-site to order the books for my first semester........13 books!!! I can't wrap my mind around that! I don't see how you could get through all of them. Does anyone else have that many books to start with? I'm going to Mercy of Toledo.

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Congrats! I went back to school later like you ;) I work part time, have a son and got divorced in my second quarter. It is a lot of HARD work but totally doable. The best advice is be ORGANIZED. Know what is due when, what to read. In the first couple of quarters I carried around copies of whatever chapter I was needing to read and read when ever I could.

A HUGE thing that will help is going over medical terminology this summer. Knowing what things mean help so much while reading. Sounds dumb I know but I didn't take a medical terminology class and really wish I had.

There were things I missed out on but it was worth it. If you are organized you can have fun too.

Good luck to you!

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I'm in my 2nd semester and still trying to figure out a study method that works best for me. Yep, I study a lot of hours. Nursing school consumes my life. Its OK for me though. I don't have young children and I'm single. This needed to be the most important thing for me. I don't mind having it take over my life right now. I just do what I need to do to make sure that I will graduate in May. For some people, they may not need as much time to study. First semester was a breeze for most people in my class, now that we are on to med surg, lots of folks are struggling and not doing well. If studying for all those hours ensures that I don't fail these exams then so be it. I just put my head down and go to work. I don't see it as a horror either, maybe if I had a significant other or kids or job to tend to then it would be different. Its a lot of work indeed. No need to be scared of it though. If it turns out that you don't have to study for a long time, great, if it turns out that you do need to dedicate a lot of time, then do so.

Personally, I refuse to let anything stand in my way. Failure is not an option so I do whatever it takes. But again, I just have myself to worry about, no kids,husband,boyfriend,pets, just me.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
It is very individual, I didn't give up my free time and I didn't do a lot of studying, (I seriously can't imagine sitting there studying for hours on end) but I did great and graduated and passed NCLEX in 75 questions.

I'm not saying not to put in any effort, but you will find out what works for you. It definitely doesn't have to be the horror stories you read here.

I agree. I used to read posts on here where people would say "I study 10 hours a night!":eek:

My program is a LOT of computer work. Evolve, ATI, case studies, study guides,practice quizzes..all online. :uhoh3: So I would spend about 2 hours/day on the computer doing classwork.

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Specializes in Oncology.

It depends on how badly you want to do in school and what you plan to do afterward. If you want to go to grad school, you likely want the best GPA possible, and it could be a lot of work depending on how tough your program is and how good of a student you naturally are. And believe me, some people just "get it" with nursing and others don't - I'm one of those that barely had to study for a psych nursing exam and got A's, and I knew a girl who was the same way with OB because she was recently pregnant. You'll probably find a niche that's easier for you as well.

My personal opinion is to know your anatomy pre-req information well. It will make your pathopharm and nursing courses easier by far. Knowing how the body functions normally is very important to understanding when and why things go wrong. This is something that admittedly I had to learn the hard way, because I kind of crammed for my anatomy exams and didn't retain the information well. Now I'm going back and reading my notes and diagrams with nursing concepts and it makes it easier to visualize.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

Just take it a day at a time and break your workload into manageable "chunks." It's not intimidating.

Well, at least it wasn't for me. but was it a lot of work? You bet!

All the best, congrats on getting accepted!

Best,

Diane RN

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