is nursing school challenging enough?

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jun 7, 2013

You know, others might flame me for this, but, no, I did not find my RN program to be intellectually challenging. Now it is not because I picked a bad program. My school did a wonderful job preparing me to pass NCLEX and to be a competent new nurse, but the majority of what you learn in nursing school will be based on tasks and interventions. While you will learn the basic rationale behind the intervention, your understanding will be at a basic introductory level. You will study disease processes, but your study will be focused on things for nurses to watch out for and interventions, with only basic patho. I am sure you have a better understanding of the sciences that most nurses. However, an undergrad nursing degree can be a great stepping stone to a master's program or a job in research where you would learn and do more intellectually stimulating things

kaydensmom01 · Jun 8, 2013

Its a different kind of challenging, and I do not think that it is as challenging as the biological sciences. You must know anatomy and physiology but the main part is to understand it enough to fulfill the nursing process of patient assessment, nursing diagnosis', goals, interventions, and evaluation. The main focus is not the biological sciences.

Sparrow91 · Jun 8, 2013

Honestly until you start the program you will not know how challenging it can be. Some like ChristineN find that program not as challenging while others struggle all the way through it. Both reactions are fine and no one should be judged for that. Like kaydensmom01 said nursing is a different type of challenge. The biological sciences have a scientific and technical approach of looking at the human body and its environment were as nursing takes a holistic view on it. Assessments, plans, interventions, goals and evaluations are not souly based on a medical diagnosis, they are also based on the patient's preferences, environments, socioeconomic standing, beliefs, gender, age, and comorbidities. So for some thinking holistically is a challenge were as others find it common sense, so until you have tried it for yourself you will not really know what it is like. Good Luck to you! :)

Melly6212 · Jun 8, 2013

Thank you guys for answering!!! I really appreciate it! I love learning science from different approaches. I'm very excited to start my new journey as a nurse (hopefully i will get accepted ). I guess I'm a little nervous about possibly loosing the science portion. But as you guys have said you don't know until your there!!

Thank you guys again!!

Shorty11, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2013

I agree with Christine. I start my senior year of a traditional BSN program in the fall. I have a previous BS in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. I found the BS in Biology to be technically harder, as far as subject matter goes. In other words, the material itself was much harder to understand in the classes for my BS. While nursing school is very time consuming (more so than the BS in Bio was), the subject matter itself it not very hard (comparative to the classes required for my BS). I was a low B average student during my BS degree. In nursing, I have made 8 A's and 1 B (an 88) in my nursing core courses so far. Although I must say with nursing school, the way in which you are tested and learning is...for lack of a better word... different. Critical thinking is imperative. There are no tests where you simply memorize information just to answer questions over terms/definitions. Testing is over application. To me, as long as I learn the material and understand it (not just memorize), it isn't that difficult to apply it. It is all about understanding the information to be able to apply it to the patient and their situation. I think that my science background really does help when thinking about which interventions are best for the patient. I understand the reason "why" sometimes (i.e. rationale) better than some of the others in my nursing program, and I think I have my bio background to thank. The focus of disease processed is not super in-depth, but knowledge of A&P is key. You must know your "normals" to recognize a deviation from the "normal". Focus is on the nursing process... Assessment, Diagnosis (not medical... nursing diagnosis), Planning, Intervention, and Evaluation... while re-assessing throughout the whole process. Nursing diagnoses themselves are not based on the medical diagnosis but information collected during your assessment of the patient. Assessment should drive your nursing diagnosis. Nursing school really is fun though! Get excited. I love it and cannot wait to be a nurse! Best of luck!