I was wondering if anyone doesnt feel that nursing school is as HORRIBLE as people make it out to be? Im a little worried that maybe Im taking things a little too lightly. When I first started nursing school, I was ALWAYS upset and nervous. My teachers were horrible and I hated group work. After my first set of clinicals, I was fine. I mean, I still get a little nervous thinking about my first set of clinicals for a class, but nothing like what I read on here. Im in the "make you, break you" class right now (for our school its Principles of Nursing) and I dont feel like Im having any trouble at all. Sure its a lot of work, but nothing I cant handle with a bit of studying. Of course Im a little aprehensive about giving shots and doing IV's, but again, nothing compared to what Im reading on here. Im not saying that I'm smarter than any one or anything like that, I know things can get taken out of context on here. I just want to know if anyone else is at ease in nursing classes besides myself, because if Im alone maybe Im missing something. I dont want to be stressed out and worried, but if everyone else is and Im not, I must be the problem; if that makes sense.
I think the word hard is so subjective. It means different things to different people.
I'm not finding NS that hard either. It is the time prioritization that seems to be what makes it "hard"....if you get behind, it's hard to catch up. It can be time consuming yes but I am the type that works well under pressure. I like things to be busy I guess; I get bored very easily.
I also have two girls, ages 5 and 8 that I also homeschool--my 8 year old knows how to give her grandparents insulin shots, can listen and recognize s1 and s2 sounds because I involve them and they help me learn and enjoy it. My 8 year old was telling her best friend the other day the difference between type 1 and 2 diabetes and the meds for them....LOL. I'm in a BSN program with an excellent reputation and pass rate and am making B's and A's and doing very well both in the classroom and in clinicals (my last evaluation said I was a leader in the clinical area). I work part time. I have a husband who also works full time and goes to college. I have a 45 min commute each way.
But that is just ME. I think I have very good time management and study skills....I also KNOW how I learn best which I think makes a huge difference...plus I can get by on not a lot of sleep...LOL I also have always done well in science, it is something I "get". Stick me in an English Lit class and I would be telling you it is hard!
I also enjoy every second of nursing school and clinicals which I think really helps.
I feel the same way. I LOVE school and clinicals. I look forward to adult health clinicals and I actually wish we went more than once a week.
I love learning to. I actually think it's fun to study! How many people can say that?
It did take me a minute to warm up to psych clinicals though. I have grown to like it a bit more.
I think I am just weird though. I like school, I even like paperwork, and I have a super positive attitude. I am the one in clinicals who notices my fellow classmates looking stressed and I make a point of asking if they need help. That's just the way I am. I am always giving pep talks when people are feeling overwhelmed.
I LOVE nursing. I've been down and depressed over other things in my life, and I don't want to be that way again, so I put on a happy face.
One of my favorite sayings in "So as a man thinketh, so is he" or something like that. I have found that complaining about something has never done me one bit of good.
Being positive has gotten me so far and that includes telling myself that NOTHING is too hard. If even one other person has ever achieved something, then I can do it too.
I love learning to. I actually think it's fun to study! How many people can say that?
I am actually still in Nursing school withdrawl! I want to go back right away for my BSN. I loved it when the students came through my unit on clinicals because I could talk to them about school, and things that helped me. I would ask them questions about my pt while assisting them with procedures. It was great!
I am actually still in Nursing school withdrawl! I want to go back right away for my BSN. I loved it when the students came through my unit on clinicals because I could talk to them about school, and things that helped me. I would ask them questions about my pt while assisting them with procedures. It was great!
I like teaching others too. I am really careful though, because as a student, I don't know everything, so I only tell others things if I am positive I'm right.
I thought I wanted to be a CRNA, but I may just get my MSN in something else (NP) and teach after I have been working for awhile. I also thought about being a clinical insructor a few days a week. I know some of our CI's graduated less than 5 years ago and they are already doing that a few days.
I feel the same way. I LOVE school and clinicals. I look forward to adult health clinicals and I actually wish we went more than once a week.
I love learning to. I actually think it's fun to study! How many people can say that?
It did take me a minute to warm up to psych clinicals though. I have grown to like it a bit more.
I think I am just weird though. I like school, I even like paperwork, and I have a super positive attitude. I am the one in clinicals who notices my fellow classmates looking stressed and I make a point of asking if they need help. That's just the way I am. I am always giving pep talks when people are feeling overwhelmed.
I LOVE nursing. I've been down and depressed over other things in my life, and I don't want to be that way again, so I put on a happy face.
One of my favorite sayings in "So as a man thinketh, so is he" or something like that. I have found that complaining about something has never done me one bit of good.
Being positive has gotten me so far and that includes telling myself that NOTHING is too hard. If even one other person has ever achieved something, then I can do it too.
I love school and learning too. :) I'm almost done with my first quarter of Accelerated BSN and I have enjoyed every single day because I get to learn so much awesome stuff!
I don't feel (yet) that the material itself is "hard" as in difficult to comprehend. It's the MOUNTAIN of knowledge we're responsible for knowing all at the same time. It's very time-consuming... I spend probably 4 hours a day studying (with the exception of about 1 day a week I take "off"), and what I have heard from all of my classmates is "I had no idea this was going to take up so much TIME". I don't mind putting the time into it, though, because it's interesting and relevant. This is stuff I have to know to do my (future) job, so it's worth learning. And it's so cool (to me, anyway) when I'm in clinical and my pt has the same diagnosis I learned about in lecture the day before, or my pt has a complication and I can look at the chart or labs or meds and figure out why. It all fits together like a puzzle.
I find nursing school hard because I'm burnt. I am tired of waking up at 5 am, in the freezing cold weather, rushing to clinical to make it at 6 am. I'm tired of nit picky instructors giving us 95 page assignments that don't teach us a thing except redundancy. I'm tired of taking tests that make us guess what the instructor would say, then to throw the questions out because it wasn't a fair question. I'm tired of having our schedules pulled out from under us at the drop of a dime. I'm fed up with wearing stupid fugly smocks that reduce us to looking like we just came from a shift at "Joe's Snack ShacK." (I've had people ask me for ketchup packets, kid you not) I'm just disapointed going to school. It's extremely hard to be motivated to go. I know I'm not alone in my feelings, my peers have validated everything I've complained about in this post.
The light at the end of the tunnel is May 17th for me. I envie all those who can't get enough school, you must have a great program to be in.
I'm a 3rd semester student, and I am finding that as you make it into the second year, its crunch time.....lots of info crammed into small amounts of time.....1 and 1/2 semesters and it will be over....
I love school and learning too. :) I'm almost done with my first quarter of accelerated BSN and I have enjoyed every single day because I get to learn so much awesome stuff!
I don't feel (yet) that the material itself is "hard" as in difficult to comprehend. It's the MOUNTAIN of knowledge we're responsible for knowing all at the same time. It's very time-consuming... I spend probably 4 hours a day studying (with the exception of about 1 day a week I take "off"), and what I have heard from all of my classmates is "I had no idea this was going to take up so much TIME". I don't mind putting the time into it, though, because it's interesting and relevant. This is stuff I have to know to do my (future) job, so it's worth learning. And it's so cool (to me, anyway) when I'm in clinical and my pt has the same diagnosis I learned about in lecture the day before, or my pt has a complication and I can look at the chart or labs or meds and figure out why. It all fits together like a puzzle.
Wow. That's exactly how I feel. I am amazed when I see something in real life that relates to lecture. All the pieces seem to come together.
I have heard the same thing from some of my classmates. They say they didn't realize that it would be so much work, but they emphasized this point on day one of school. So many people said "Oh, I have to work 40 hours". Well, those are the people who say school is hard. That makes sense though. School is 40 plus hours a week, so going to work and school is almost like having two or three jobs in some cases.
I find nursing school hard because I'm burnt. I am tired of waking up at 5 am, in the freezing cold weather, rushing to clinical to make it at 6 am. I'm tired of nit picky instructors giving us 95 page assignments that don't teach us a thing except redundancy. I'm tired of taking tests that make us guess what the instructor would say, then to throw the questions out because it wasn't a fair question. I'm tired of having our schedules pulled out from under us at the drop of a dime. I'm fed up with wearing stupid fugly smocks that reduce us to looking like we just came from a shift at "Joe's Snack ShacK." (I've had people ask me for ketchup packets, kid you not) I'm just disapointed going to school. It's extremely hard to be motivated to go. I know I'm not alone in my feelings, my peers have validated everything I've complained about in this post.
The light at the end of the tunnel is May 17th for me. I envie all those who can't get enough school, you must have a great program to be in.
That is EXACTLY how i feel. I don't think nursing school was that hard; I think what really makes things crapy are teachers who play favorites, tests that 85% of the class fails 3 semesters in a row (*that's got to say something about the test or the lecture*!)
One of my class mates that I study with had been a straight A student... up till this last semester (4th semester). That first test we took totally messed up everyone's grades. She now is a C student.
Everythng I have ever done is not as bad as people make it out to be. I remember LITERALLY being in 2nd grade everyone saying how hard 3rd grade was going to be, being in Jr high hearing how HARD hs is etc. etc. Nursing school is hectic and challenging but with good time management skills it can be done.
I feel challenged but not overwhlemed like some of the other students feel. We have a good program and it is a good learning environment. You can openly ask questions no matter how stupid they may sound. I'm first semester of first year.
I understand the burn thing as well, but I learned how to fix that in my case. I HATE getting up early and my classes were three days a week at 7 am (Which seems a lot later than some). I decided on doing the weekend options: 7a to 7p, every other weekend. It has made things SO much more bearable for me.
...I'm not a morning person. When I took pre-reqs, I could have SOME control over when my classes were. Now, they're very early and I have no choice. Truthfully, that's probably one of the hardest things for me, as pathetic as that sounds I cannot WAIT till I can work night-shift. Getting to the hospital by 6:45 is killing me...
I don't think the material is necessarily hard to understand, at least, not compared to other subjects. Like someone else said, it's really how MUCH there is to learn. Our first OB test was on 11 chapters, and we had a week to read those and know them backwards and forwards.
Clinicals...I love clinicals, usually. I love being "the nurse" and this past quarter I really felt like the nurse. I could do almost everything on my own, and could really be there for my patients. I loved it. But I have anxiety issues...competencies make me so anxious and my hands start shaking and then I get lectures from my instructors on it. And that anxiety makes nursing school a lot harder for me...I really envy my friends that never SHOW their anxiety.
I cannot WAIT till I can work night-shift. Getting to the hospital by 6:45 is killing me...
Lisa CCU RN, RN
1,531 Posts
I feel the same way. I LOVE school and clinicals. I look forward to adult health clinicals and I actually wish we went more than once a week.
I love learning to. I actually think it's fun to study! How many people can say that?
It did take me a minute to warm up to psych clinicals though. I have grown to like it a bit more.
I think I am just weird though. I like school, I even like paperwork, and I have a super positive attitude. I am the one in clinicals who notices my fellow classmates looking stressed and I make a point of asking if they need help. That's just the way I am. I am always giving pep talks when people are feeling overwhelmed.
I LOVE nursing. I've been down and depressed over other things in my life, and I don't want to be that way again, so I put on a happy face.
One of my favorite sayings in "So as a man thinketh, so is he" or something like that. I have found that complaining about something has never done me one bit of good.
Being positive has gotten me so far and that includes telling myself that NOTHING is too hard. If even one other person has ever achieved something, then I can do it too.