Nursing School Stresses

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Specializes in Neurology Neurosurgery ENT and General S.

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to allnurses.com and was wondering if I could ask everyone to reply to a question "What are your stresses with Nursing School"? Is it that your trying to balance your family life and your studies and clinicals? is it that your husband/parents don't understand the pressure your under to get the grades? Or is it the courses and all the paper writing we have to do? Or all the changes we modify to make it through? I'm writing s 10 page paper on the "Stresses of Nursing School":o and need some help. thanks

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Specializes in critical care, PACU.

finances

finding a job after graduation

nursing school administration being disorganized

maintaining GPA

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In addition to the above, the fact that I could really cause harm to a patient. I could actually kill someone by not seeing something, by giving the wrong med, by not knowing something that I haven't been taught yet, by forgetting to turn them every 2 hours, by not putting the bed down before leaving the room.

To me, school was stressful with grades and all, but clinical was my main stressor. Starting IV's on real people. Putting in a foley for the first time. Dealing with angry patients. Trying to take vitals on a person when they have 20 family members in the room and none of them will leave. Having a nurse say to my face, "I hate having a student, go find someone else," and there not being another nurse to shadow.

It's all a stressor since it was all new. Each night in the hospital brought on something new. Now those first times are not that big a deal, but I still have that little voice asking me, Did I do it all? Did I do it all correctly? Did I cause any harm? What did I miss?

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Specializes in LPN.

Hi im carla, for me when i was in school my sister and i attending the same school n sat besides each other , when i was i n school anything that couldve went wrong did. I think its a matter of how bad a person wants something and what would a person do to get it. Even the gas had went up to 5.bucks a gallon and traveling to school and hour and 10 min away coming and going was getting prety expensive i had to make many scarifies but now its over so im awaiting my results in the mail i sat for nclex friday and nervous as hell i usually look forward to the weekends but this weekend i wish would hurry and go by.

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Care of a family member with Alzheimer's Disease (Caregiver Role Strain anyone?), Money!, trying to have a husband that I actually see (I know so selfish of me), friends in school who are failing (because of test anxiety - smart people bad testers), Money!, trying to get sleep (and not study for tests while staring at ceiling), MONEY!, and my personal favorite - I don't remember reading something other than a textbook for over a year!

Other than that I'm fine, how about you?

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Wow, Well I can honestly say that my stresses are maintaining my home life, I have a husband with a heart condition, two small children, little to no money in my pocket and a crazy mother who one minute wants me to succeed the next telling me to drop out i'm a failure. Not only that, I found out my last year I will be in school I won't be able to get financial aid, because I will have been over on my credit hours. WOW, thats even more wonderful, so I have to try to file an appeal and if not find and beg someone to co sign a loan so I can pay for the last year. How freakin wonderful. My credit is all tied up because I purchased a home. Its all stressful, everything, not including trying to make sure you stand out in the class with excellence, mainting the GPA, stressing over whether you are doing everything okay, what if you miss something, its a never ending battle. :sniff:

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I personally have all the same stressors mentioned, but my biggest stress is learning how to deal with "difficult" CNA's. I'm transitioning from the corporate world where you either did your job or moved on. There was nothing in between and expectations were clear for everyone. I absolutely appreciate and respect CNA's, but I also wish they would understand that "Student" doesn't mean moron. I was warned about "Nurses eat their young" but ironically, all the RN's I've worked with have been amazing. It's the CNA's that are another story! I missed that warning.

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

my stressors were the endless papers we had to write this semester. I am in a Master's program, direct entry at that-I am a career changer. Anyways.......LOTS of writing, gah!. But it was such a relief once I banged those out and received a good grade...such a confidence boost! And I know i will go back and read those papers and see how far I've come.

Another stressor was my husband feeling neglected at times. I'd be sitting next to him in the living room, with my computer (writing those papers!), writing up a care plan or 5, or doing my journal entries and he'd feel as if I wasn't there because I'd be so engrossed in what I was doing. Its been an adjustment for both of us, that's for sure, but he is really supportive and praises me when I do good.

I love clinicals. Some of the staff on the unit could have been nicer at times.....but overall, I loved them and had the best clinical instructor ever. I am sad that I wont have her again for my next rotation. Boo.

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For me the main stressor was clinicals and not feeling guided enough in the clinicals. Up until our last quarter we had to have our instructor with us to do an invasive skill and there was 1 instructor to 8 or 9 students per clinical site, so needless to say some got the benefit of the instructor (usually the students the instructor was afraid to "let loose" in the hospital) and some of us didn't. So lacking skills and then being judged by some of the nurses for the lack of skills was stressful for me, and I am still stressed about my lack of skills as a new grad entering the workforce in a week, but let me tell you, I will catch on real quick!

Also my family was a stressor. I basically dropped off of the radar for 2 years, and they just didn't understand that it was necessary for me to do that because I couldn't have any b/s getting in my way. Hope that helps. Good luck with your paper.

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time management: balancing everything you have to do, need to do, and want to do. this increases if you have to work, or have children. you have to find time to do laundry, class, driving, reading, clinicals, clinical care plans, collapse into sleep, and from time to time eat (just call me the one person who was malnourished at my last doc visit). my last rotation schedule went like this:

monday & wed: up at 6:30 shower, check email (required daily), throw load of laundry in washer. out of the house by eight to make class. class for 2 1/2 hours. leave school, drive another 1/2 hour to hospital get info for preplanning 2 hours, drive home, it's now 3 pm. find something to snack on, put something on to heat up or cook for supper, put clothes in dryer. begin to look up 30 meds for clinical, start care plan. supper at 5:30-6:30 or so. finish care plan, and drugs. by now it's about 9 pm, watch a little tv, set alarms for 4 am, put care plan and drug lists by the door.

tuesday and thursday: up at 4, pack lunches, shower, get hair put up into bun, make sure uniform is spotless, take meds and vitamins-have spare dose in backpack in case you forget. leave by 5:30 for 1 hour commute. if lucky make it to parking by 6:30, and have time to eat a snack, before the 15 minute walk to the hospital from parking. clinical for 9 hours. drive home in rush hour traffic 1 1/2 hours. pray hubby has either bothered to pick up supper or cook a stouffer's for supper. eat if you're lucky. finish patient care sheets to turn in the next day. collapse into bed.

friday: up at 6:30, class, run errands, start laundry, begin reading for next week, change sheets

saturday: more laundry, more reading, fill up automatic pet feeders/waterers for pets. change out cartridge in automatic litter pan. massage every other sat (my little luxury that i need for the fibromyalgia, headaches and herniated neck discs and keeps me pain med free about 362 out of 365 days of the year).

sunday: put up most of the clean laundry. finish reading, study guide answers, do some practice nclex questions. possibly read sunday paper. hopefully lunch out with the husband. cook 3-4 casseroles, some pasta salad, and a pot roast to get us through wed. or thursday for meals, hopefully unless the hubby raids the fridge and eats it all by monday night.

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All of the above mentioned! Everything that could happen has: husband layed off, his ex passing away and being in the middle of a cusody battle with her family for his kids, my 2 year old nephew died in a tragic accident, battling personal health issues, but mostly the hardest part was feeling as though I was neglecting my girls! The guilt of not being able spend the time with my 11 and 13 year old daughters and pushing most the responsibility on thier father as I tried to focus on school! It still tugs at my heart. Having to tell them sorry no girl scout camp this year, or no I cant make that track meet I have clinicals, etc..... I'm 3 weeks from graduation and I know it's all gonna be worth it, now I'm wondering did I learn everything I should have, what if I forget, what if i cant pass the NCLEX? All that...... As far as family and friends I dont think anyone really understands the dedication and determination it takes to make it through nursing school (unless you've done it) i suppose if I had to choose one word to sum it up "TIME" thats the most stressful part!:)

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