Whether is it from a Nursing Instructor or classmate, I keep hearing that Nursing School is HARD, HARD, HARD!!! This is no big surprise to me that is hard, but it seems strange that this is emphasized so much; it seems like people are trying to scare people away from Nursing, or maybe there are other reasons. I've never heard people emphasize this aspect of Medical School to the extent that I hear it about Nursing School. I think medical students know they are doing something hard, and I never hear anyone emphasizing again and again how hard medical school is. Why is Nursing School treated like the most difficult thing to do on the planet? OK, sure it is hard, but to keep emphasizing this makes it almost sound like the person saying it maybe didn't get any respect for how hard they worked, so they want everyone else to be impressed with how smart they are to have made it through. I just never hear Doctors going around saying how hard Medical School was, and I think it because everyone knows it is a hard thing to do. It sounds like Nurses have an inferiority complex. What gives?
My point is, I do believe NS is hard, and that it takes tons of effort and time, JUST LIKE Medical School - BUT, to constantly hear that NS is SO VERY HARD implies that the person these remarks are being said to either doesn't know that NS is hard, or isn't capable of succeeding at NS. It seems that many Nursing Instructors spend a lot of energy on their first year students trying to convince them how hard NS is, and that seems strange. Is this just being said to intimidate? I mean, the students are clearly experiencing the difficulty of NS already, so is this some kind of mind game to weed out only those who are "brave" enough to dare to try to succeed in NS?!?
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There are prof's like that everywhere. In my Bio109 class we got that lecture. In my medical micro class we are reminded weekly that if we can't remember a simple thing how are we possibly going to pass a nursing course. My A&P II Prof told us that he was there to weed out the people that didn't have it in them to be Nurses. Maybe in someway it is just to say you are forewarned that this is a hard course/program so that if you don't put in the work/time, don't come crying to me that I am a horrible Prof. and my class is to hard. Anyway..I 'm tired, I think I'm talking nonsense
It's funny - I was talking about this very thing with a fellow student. We were all scared out of our minds by the first week of clinicals. Now, heading into the last 3 terms, we're almost indifferent about the whole thing. Nursing school is as hard as you make it.
I have worked 32-40 hours for the past year. My cum GPA is hovering right about a 3.5. I don't study hours on end - honestly, I might study 3 hours a week, and that's only if I have exams coming up. Even with my mediocre (in my mind, because I'm used to getting straight As) performance, I'm doing fine. Ironically people still say "Oh Shan we feel so bad for you, having to work nights and all those hours!" yet I'm doing better than most of them :) It used to be a pet peeve of mine, but now it makes me chuckle.
Bottom line is if you don't learn how to use critical thinking and manage your time effectively, you're going to fail. I know a lot of people that flunked out not because of lack of knowledge, but because of lack of application of that knowledge in the clinical setting.
I have never been to med school...but if it was so easy more people would do it. I imagine it's a lot harder than NS. NS has been a breeze for me and I have 12 weeks left.
NS is not an easier med school, nor should it really be compared with med school. They are a different profession entirely.
Physicians need to know a LOT of information. I imagine the material is not only more in depth but since it is a longer program than NS it must be tough to keep going so long!
I've never heard people emphasize this aspect of Medical School to the extent that I hear it about Nursing School.
I am not sure why you're not hearing about how hard medical school is. Maybe there's no perception that it's easy to get through med school but there is a perception that nursing school is easy.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I have never been in Medical school so I have no idea which is harder. I have no desire to be a Dr. I am jealous though that apparently in med school it's Pass/Fail instead of the stricter grading scale nursing school has :|
I'm sorry- I didn't read your post closely enough before replying. I honestly haven't found it much harder than prerequisites, and I'm in an accelerated program so am getting a BSN in 11 months. I cracked the NCLEX style early on though, I think because of my background in literature (all you do in English is think critically about things you read, lol). I don't think that's really well taught in nursing school- you kinda pick it up or you don't and if you don't you struggle.
There's definitely that perception that if you care enough you'll be a good nurse, and nursing school is much more than being able to care. People take it for granted that med school is hard.
I have never attended medical school, although my undergraduate degree was in Biology and was on the pre med tract as I tossed around the idea of going on to med school. I will say that my undergraduate studies were extremely rigorous, and if that is even an iota of a glimpse of how tough medical school is-well then, I can wholeheartedly say that I would have been extremely challenged. As it turned out, I was too chicken to take the MCATs and was burnt out of school in general come graduation, so I decided to work for awhile (3.5 years) and figure out life. It was somewhere in there that I turned to a direct entry into nursing and am getting my Masters.
It was a great decision on my part. Nursing is a better fit for me. And yes, nursing school is hard. But for me personally, it isnt so much the academics as is the emotional toll that it takes. That and the politics-by far that has been one of the most difficult aspects of nursing school.
plenty of people that i know with college degress and advanced degrees in a variety of subjects were required in their schooling and on the job to use "critical thinking", to look at the whole picture, think quickly, and choose the best of several possible right approaches.
when you are talking about a human life, like nursing entails, it is way different than critical thinking related to anything else.
my husband is a computer engineer, brilliant, but he cannot grasp critical thinking ideas related to the human body and nursing. .. yet, he thinks critically all of the time.
i find ns to be easy, but i also found a&p to be a piece of cake. i had a 100 average in a&p 1&2. i aced all tests, and they were not multiple choice.
all you can do is try, and if you fail then it may not be for you.
I hear that a lot as well. It had me scared to DEATH walking in the first day of classes that it was going to be such a challenge and this, that and the other. I can tell you that, for me at least, it's really not that hard. The tests are different than A&P because you will have at least 2 right answers and you have to pick 1 of them as the best. That is what most students are struggling with. I don't believe the material to be hard but it is time consuming to read all of the chapters assigned. I do have a life outside of nursing school though and I am one of the top in my class. I will tell you that the students who are struggling, in my opinion, are freaking out about everything little thing or do not understand the WHOLE concept and thus cannot understand why a drug would act the way it does. If you don't understand that, you will struggle with the side effects, contraindications, and so forth. If you get it though, you can narrow it down on the tests. Same with anything else that we learn. If you understand the why, you can expect the rest. Good luck with your studies!
I wouldn't be scared if I were you. Just know that you will be spending a lot of time reading and will be ready for a break when it comes!
I do not believe that nursing school is as difficult as medical school, but that does not mean that nursing school is not incredibly difficult. Also, it probably depends on where you go to school. Hollywood Upstairs Medical College probably isn't as strenuous as University of Washington's nursing school.
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
I think people say that because so many people are shocked at how all consuming nursing school is after they get in it. There are a lot of people who breeze through the pre-req's and assume that was the hard part. And for some, it was. But for many, the ability to manage time, juggle multiple assignments and still take care of the rest of life is more than they can handle and they are completely blindsided by that fact because they have never been in that situation before. Yes, it is not the most positive thing to say, to emphasize that nursing school is hard. But it would be a disservice to say it isn't hard. If we say that it is totally doable, that is true too....but then if you get in and struggle won't that make you feel just as bad? I don't think saying it is hard has anything to do with ego. More a desire to prepare people mentally for the challenge. Frankly, my answer to the question "is it hard?" is always that the subject matter itself is not particularly hard....just voluminous...and they WILL need full time child care, they WILL need a crockpot and they WILL find most of their spare time eaten up. For the majority of people, that is the truth. And for some, that means "hard".
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JUPITER19
72 Posts
There are prof's like that everywhere. In my Bio109 class we got that lecture. In my medical micro class we are reminded weekly that if we can't remember a simple thing how are we possibly going to pass a nursing course. My A&P II Prof told us that he was there to weed out the people that didn't have it in them to be Nurses. Maybe in someway it is just to say you are forewarned that this is a hard course/program so that if you don't put in the work/time, don't come crying to me that I am a horrible Prof. and my class is to hard. Anyway..I 'm tired, I think I'm talking nonsense
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