Not impressed and depressed

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I am not happy and school hasn't even started yet. I am starting to feel like I have made a mistake in attending nursing school. I had nursing school orientation this month which was ok. There are many negative things I seriously want to say but have to refrain for fear of trolling instructors, students, and employees of my school and hospital. I know they visit here but I have no proof. I was hoping to come here to vent my troubles away, but even now, I can't even do that. I start school next month and at first I was all excited. Now, I'm dreading it. An instructor has rubbed me the wrong way. My classmates are less than friendly and clique-ish. All of my instructors seem to psycho-analyze our personalities, pre-judge us on first impressions or appearances, and believe all of us are suffering from low self-esteem and have no confidence whatsoever. Some of them can barely make eye contact with me like I am an eye sore to them. I feel I am treated as a child. I am clearly not one.

This is my first post. I honestly did not want it to be one like this. LOL

I am upset, hurt, and worried.

Welcome to nursing school. Its going to be a long two years.

Thanks for listening.

Seriously! Thats EXACTLY what happened at my orientation. They must give out a orientation handbook to all the schools. Except we got deli sandwiches for lunch.

Pizza and sandwiches? Enough of this, I am going to organize a student uprising and demand better food during orientation!

Same here with the pregnancy line.

Specializes in Pediatrics and Med Surf Float.
Seriously! Thats EXACTLY what happened at my orientation. They must give out a orientation handbook to all the schools. Except we got deli sandwiches for lunch.

same here! except our school chicken and meet dishes for us on the second day of orientation. the first day was just fruit platters and drinks

our prof's stressed to call all our friends/families and say "see you in 2 years! BYE!"

seriously. she said that the entire first semester. and G-d was she right!

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

Definitely keep a positive outlook and remember why you are going to nursing school! To become a Nurse! Unfortunately, some people do get very clique-y in nursing school, I have experienced that myself, and was shocked at first, but then not so much! So many are in different places in their lives with regards to maturity and passion. I came in to school totally focused on the goal. I am going to be done in December 2012! YES!!! I don't have a crew or multitude of friends, but I have straight A's and have earned the respect of many. The biggest thing that kept me going and keeps me going in somewhat lonely times is my faith and seeing the end in sight! I look forward to building and establishing professional relationships because professionalism ranks high for me! Don't fall for superficialities! Remain true to yourself, and remember quality is far better than quantity! Aim to be the best nursing student you can be in order to be the best nurse that you can be! Get the most out of your education! If people are wrong about you or misjudge you or underestimate you, prove them wrong as you stay true to who you are and true to completing your goal! Be encouraged future nurse! POSITIVITY ROCKS NO MATTER WHAT!

"Nursing school is hard.

No really, it's hard.

Don't get pregnant in nursing school.

Books are expensive.

Nursing school is hard.

Don't fall behind.

Here, have a cookie on your way out."

This is almost verbatim what we were told. We got pizza, salad and a cookie :)

Ironically, the pregnancy suggestion didn't work, 2 of my classmates are pregnant and we have not started 2nd semester. lol

Specializes in LTC/SNF.

I am not really friends with any of my classmates, and who cares. I won't be living in this area after I graduate anyways, and like others have said, nursing school is not about being best buddies with everyone. Too much socializing can get you into trouble (drama, people being bad influences, etc)

There are several instructors who I swear give me a death glare every time they see me. Who cares, I passed their classes and clinical rotations. It is not their job to be friendly. It is their job to make sure that when I graduate I am actually a competent nurse. They are doing their jobs to that end. I think of it as tough love. And it is helping me to develop that thick skin that we so desperately need as nurses.

As the saying goes, "nursing school is not for sissies". I would venture to say that even with friendly classmates and supportive teachers, it would still be the hardest two years of your life.

If you are already wanting to get out after orientation, you aren't going to make it. As much as I want to be a nurse, there were so many times in my first semester where I came home bawling my eyes out saying I wanted to quit. Yet I am still in the game because I am not going to let other peoples' attitudes run me out. You should really consider if you actually want to be a nurse. If the answer is yes, then you need to brace yourself for some tough times and learn to not care about whether or not people like you. You will prove your worth on exams and in clinicals. When everyone is at clinical all stressed out, you may make a friend just by being there to help a classmate when they need it.

Honestly, it sounds to me like you are just letting your anxiety get the best of you, and you are trying to give yourself a reason not to go to school. Put the negative attitude and negative self-talk on a shelf. Give your professors and classmates a do-over on their first impressions. Go to class for a few weeks and see if anything gets better. And even if it doesn't, like others have said, if this is really what you want, you'll find a way to get through it despite everyone else.

I am not letting anyone stand in the way of me getting my degree and achieving my dream, not even myself. :)

Good luck.

Funny, I spoke to our incoming class about the nursing program today, and this was what I told them.... Look around the room, some of these people will be your best friends and biggest supporters at the end of

Funny, I spoke to our incoming class about the nursing program today, and this was what I told them.... Look around the room, some of these people will be your best friends and biggest supporters at the end of 10 weeks (our first clinical is only 10 weeks). Not sure how your registration for clinical works, but people who are friends may or may not end up being in the same group, and the chance that those cliques will stay together in clinical for the whole 2 years is not likely.

I remember that when I started in January, I knew 5 people in the program, and none of them were in my clinical group. There were at least 2 sets/groups of people in my clinical group who came in as really good friends, so I definitely know how you are feeling. I felt like an outsider, and like I was never going to fit in. Keep a positive attitude, and it will change.

As for the teachers, I had a really hard time with my first clinical instructor, but in hindsight, she was one of the best instructors for first semester. Her concern was to make us the absolute best nurses she could in the short amount of time she had us. I also had a nurse at my clinical site tell me that first semester is kind of like boot camp. Maybe it is a little bit of a weeding process.

If you're feeling on the outside, try joining the Student Nursing Association on your campus. I ended up joining the board, and it was the best decision I made. You don't need to be on the board though, it's just another way to meet people who have common interests, and besides, it looks great on your resume.

Best of luck to you. I leave you with this that I found on Facebook today:

When you feel like quitting:

Think about why you started.

Seriously! Thats EXACTLY what happened at my orientation. They must give out a orientation handbook to all the schools. Except we got deli sandwiches for lunch.

Funny, at the event we did today, we served pizza, salad and cookies for lunch so nobody had to go off campus..... plus we had clementines and drinks! Pretty much every thing listed above was said to new students too.....

OP, I can kinda sympathize about feeling out of place. I pretty much *always* feel out of place and awkward. I'm a pretty self-conscious, so large groups make me feel lost and very very alone. I really tall and kinda chubby, so I feel like I seriously stick out.

That being said, I could give a rat's booty about making friends during nursing school. I had a few good friends in high school, and I've made 2 or 3 friends since I started college 8 years ago. I'm just not someone who needs to amass a bunch of people. I might get lucky and make one solid friend over the next two years, but I have my doubts.

If you're feeling super alienated but still want to be a nurse, just try to tough it out till clinicals. You'll be around a smaller group of people on a regular basis. It'll be a bit easier to make a friend or two.

EDIT: I'm also a bit jealous of everyone else getting food at orientation. All I got was a huge stack of paperwork. Well, and a little swag, but no food :(

We also got the "don't get pregnant" lecture. That and the "don't get romantically involved with anyone in this room" lecture were my favorite lol

Specializes in ER & ICU.

Yeah that's normal same at my school they were sizing us up and weeding us out. I went in with a take no ******** and take no prisoners attitude. Don't let them intimidate you they put their scrubs on legs first too..:)

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