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?
What if you don't have any responsibility? No job, no bills to pay or anything. Should it be easier?
It's all a critical thinking game - You should buy a book (or find cases on line) of case studies...or if you haven't started yet, read critical thinking books and how to look at situations as a whole and not from one perspective (health care related or not)...that will help make things easier. The other memorization material (fluid electrolyte values, blood values, cardiac, GI stuff...whatever) is just that; stuff you can memorize. The questions you see will be critical thinking style questions that relate to these topics. You'll see very few questions along the lines of 'what are the normal values for Potassium?'...You might see something like 'a patient with renal failure wants to eat a banana - what should you do or say?' The answer may cover anything from how to communicate with a client requesting something contraindicative to whether a patient with a failing kidney should be taking in potassium.
If nursing school isn't that difficult than why the high drop out rate?
Are they higher than the drop out rates of college in general? I'd wager because people aren't screened well enough.
I can name four girls in class right now who want to be nurses because, in their mind, 1) nurses don't do anything, 2) they wear "cute" scrubs, and 3) they make bank.
Many of the ones in my class who believe that the classes are hard went straight from high school into the program and have never had any difficult courses on top of the pre-requisite, general education coursework. Anatomy and physiology might be difficult, but it is by far not the most difficult biology course on campus. It's difficulty is all a matter of perspective. I thought it was one of the easier bio courses I've had.
Nursing school is, or should be, an integrative program requiring synthesis. Leave that critical thinking statment out of it. It's stupid. Nursing has no more ownership over critical thinking than any other professional program. The fact that nursing as a profession is having to tell its members and students to "think critically" should be a clue here, but that's another issue. To assess someone; select and apply a diagnosis, especially without a field guide; and select from an array of treatments the most suitable requires, or should require, synthesis of knowledge. Most high school programs, and again it's the 18-21 year old backet in my class that speak most of difficulty, don't prepare students for higher order learning. It's basic Bloom's Taxonomy.
Are they higher than the drop out rates of college in general? I'd wager because people aren't screened well enough.
I can name four girls in class right now who want to be nurses because, in their mind, 1) nurses don't do anything, 2) they wear "cute" scrubs, and 3) they make bank.
Yet, their reasons for wanting to be a nurse have no relationship to them staying in the program. Someone may want to be a nurse because they want to wear cute scrubs (which in itself is hard to imagine) and make it through their program with flying colors.
I've noticed that quite a few folks get their nickers in a twist about a student's motivation to be a nurse....truly, everyone's got their own reasons and those reasons are not only inconsequential, but they're no one's business.
The one thing I will add is that the more responsibilities you have in life (job, family, etc) the more difficult it 'could' be...and it's because of what's already been mentioned: it's not so much the content that's hard, but rather the quantity of material being thrown at you at once.
Nursing school itself is harder when one has more responsibilities? The content and critical thinking aspects are harder? The reading is harder? I guess in my mind I'm thinking that nursing school itself doesn't become harder or easier based on one's circumstances, but a busier lifestyle with more responsibilities obviously makes it more difficult to get it all done.
Yet, their reasons for wanting to be a nurse have no relationship to them staying in the program. Someone may want to be a nurse because they want to wear cute scrubs (which in itself is hard to imagine) and make it through their program with flying colors.
I've noticed that quite a few folks get their nickers in a twist about a student's motivation to be a nurse....truly, everyone's got their own reasons and those reasons are not only inconsequential, but they're no one's business.
I seriously don't care about people's intentions. My primary motivation was transferability.
Wow. My university required organic chem for both the biology major and the pre-med designation.
You'd be surprised at what you can actually talk your way out of in college. Doing things your way is really just a matter of convincing the right people to do the paperwork the way you want it done.
Nursing school is, or should be, an integrative program requiring synthesis. Leave that critical thinking statment out of it. It's stupid.
lol VERY much agreed. Do people really think nurses are the only ones who think critically? That whole potassium and banana question, I'm just guessing but Pharmacists have slightly more complex critical thinking questions. Just imagine how much knowledge goes into...let's say, you're a pharmacist or MD looking at patient's labs, symptoms, trends, renal history, GI history, I&O, current meds, past meds, H&P, family history, weight, allergies, etc....then you have to pick out allllllllll these nutrients and elements to go into their quickmix or TPN, or you have to think about what meds you want to prescribe in the future, or what specific dialysis orders you want, or what labs you want to monitor based on the meds you just prescribed because their renal function sucks, or you realize as a pharmacist that the TPN the MD just ordered won't be compatible with the other stuff they just ordered. Then you have doctors who study solely infections and know about how every antibiotic will interact with certain potential bugs, what the next treatment will be, what labs to watch based on the antibiotic you just odered, etc. And it's not simply memorizing steps, it's knowing HOW all the stuff works. Not saying that a doctor or pharmacist is necessarily smarter than you or myself, but they do have a weeeeeeeeee bit more going on with their decisions.
Now as nurses it's up to you whether you become great at what you do and learn a whole bunch. There are some nurses who know so much it's not even funny. Some nurses are right up with the MD's and pharmacists on what they know and do. But then you have these other nurses who come straight outta school with the "eww poop, i'm goin to play with babies in the doctor's office all day" mentality.
You'd be surprised at what you can actually talk your way out of in college. Doing things your way is really just a matter of convincing the right people to do the paperwork the way you want it done.
I knew the right people, but wasn't looking for any special favors. I also was aware that there was a slim to none shot (and what it is...slim just left the building?) that I could petition my way out of taking organic chem. In the end, I'm glad I did.
Although I hate the idea of retaking it if I wish to pursue a BSN. It gets old retaking all of these bio and chem classes.
I seriously don't care about people's intentions. My primary motivation was transferability.
I can appreciate your concern about your own motivation - not others. However, the comment was made as a means of explaining why the drop out rate is what it is...which is a point I agree with. There are students who want to enter the program because of any number of wrong reasons (probably the most common being they see it as an easy way to making better money)
So the thing you should take away regarding this point is not to read too much why there's a particular drop out rate...because there's another aspect to that point which hasn't been stated yet: although students can be (and have been) lost during any semester from beginning to end, the curve/ratio is that many are lost right off the bat, then it becomes more of a trickle effect
Nursing school itself is harder when one has more responsibilities? The content and critical thinking aspects are harder? The reading is harder? I guess in my mind I'm thinking that nursing school itself doesn't become harder or easier based on one's circumstances, but a busier lifestyle with more responsibilities obviously makes it more difficult to get it all done.
Semantics - it is indeed harder for individuals with more responsibilities to juggle...sounds like you basically agreed with my point but didn't like how I said it
I guess in my mind I'm thinking that nursing school itself doesn't become harder or easier based on one's circumstances, but a busier lifestyle with more responsibilities obviously makes it more difficult to get it all done.
ImThatGuy, BSN, RN
2,139 Posts
That's why I didn't take organic chem and finish premed the first time I was in college. Plus getting to graduate early sans o-chem was appealing.