nursing student in need of some motivation!!!!!!!

colleennurse, ASN, RN · Apr 6, 2006

We all go through this! Don't give up now! I am not sure how much longer you have to go, but whatever length of time it is will be nothing when it is all over with! I have had no life for almost 4 years and I have 6 weeks left until I graduate. I get so depressed sometimes cause I really have no friends left, and the ones I do have left, well I am out of the loop. But ya know what? I keep telling myself that I will have a career and the job that I have been working so hard for and no amount of fun can replace that. There will be lots of time for fun stuff when you are done. I know it is hard now because you are midway through and it may seem as though that light at the end of the tunnel is nowhere to be seen, but it will be over with before you know it! I promise, it has taken me 4 years to do an ADN program with my prereqs and it feels like just yesterday I was signing up for that 1st semester. I know it sounds cliche but nothing worth having comes easy! A big part of Nursing school is sacrifice! Dont give up, you will be so mad at yourself if you do just to have had a few nights of fun, that is what breaks are for Oh and you can take a night off here and there, you might need to for yourself! :lol2:

S.N. Visit, BSN, RN · Apr 6, 2006

You can do it! You don't have much to go. Did I read that your "20" yrs old? You've got life in the palm of your hands. Get through school, pass the NCLEX, land that dream job, and then party all you want (You'll be the envied one)

p.s It's so much easier to focus & concentrate on school when you don't have a bunch of kids, a husband and household to take care of. I don't have much of a social life either.:uhoh21:

rpbear · Apr 6, 2006

I got so down my last year of nursing school. I was just plain tired of school. So I made myself a goal. I got a picture of the first thing I wanted to buy after I got a job and hung it on the wall. Then I made one of those chains of paper that kids used to make to count down to Christmas and hung that up. Everyday I got to take off one of those rings to get me closer to my goal. It worked great! It kept me focused and I could actually see that there was an end in site. Keep it up, you will feel so good when it is over and you have such a great acomplishment behind you!

You can do it!!!!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 6, 2006

I think that part of the problem is your age. You are a mature 20 year old. Believe me, you are on the right track. The fun and games the others are having are taking away from their study time. If you must, spend one evening with them. I guarantee that the better jobs go to the graduate nurses who worked the hardest and did better in nursing school. Isn't that worth working for? Once you get acclimated to your work there will be plenty of time for quality fun and games. Not only that, but at your age and with the kind of salary that you will soon be making you need to start thinking about saving money for a home and starting to save for retirement. With the way things are going these days, by the time you get to retirement age you are going to need those things. Anyway, do you really know what they are doing during those fun and games? The last thing you need is any kind of trouble with drugs, alcohol, or an unplanned pregnancy.

BrieRN07 · Apr 7, 2006

I think that part of the problem is your age. You are a mature 20 year old. Believe me, you are on the right track. The fun and games the others are having are taking away from their study time. If you must, spend one evening with them. I guarantee that the better jobs go to the graduate nurses who worked the hardest and did better in nursing school. Isn't that worth working for? Once you get acclimated to your work there will be plenty of time for quality fun and games. Not only that, but at your age and with the kind of salary that you will soon be making you need to start thinking about saving money for a home and starting to save for retirement. With the way things are going these days, by the time you get to retirement age you are going to need those things. Anyway, do you really know what they are doing during those fun and games? The last thing you need is any kind of trouble with drugs, alcohol, or an unplanned pregnancy.

Thank you for your kind words.... I just turned 21 and I am having a hard time staying focused b/c all of my friends are out partying and have a great time!! In fact, I had clinicals on my 21st birthday!!! They didn't understand that I couldn't just skip school to go have a few drinks... I'm trying to keep my eye on the prize, but it's easy to get distracted!

To the original poster: I totally understand your situation, but I know that we both will get through this. Good luck and God Bless....!!!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2006

I understand what you are saying. When I was 20 I was working in a large office. Because there were no separations between all our desks and departments we all interacted. I saw people my own age and younger who would come in to work every day and talk about their adventures at the dance clubs or bars the night before. Then, the engagement rings started getting shown around and the wedding plans talked about. It makes you feel incredibly left out and wondering if those things will ever happen to you. They will. The fact was that a good many of those girls' marriages ended up in divorce. Fun is one thing. Playing and setting up a serious household is quite another. And, I think there's better and more productive memories to be made in places other than bars and clubs. It's the emotional yearning that is calling to you, not the activities these people are engaged in. Hang in there all.

Race Mom, ASN, RN · Apr 7, 2006

Don't you think that your roommate and friends are jealous of you??? I bet they are! There will be PLENTY of time to have fun with them. You won't be struggling financially and will be able to AFFORD to go out.

There is nothing wrong with taking a night off to go out and let loose. I do it sometimes and it is wonderful.

Plus, if you gave up now, you would have to sit through all those wonderful interviews, with low paying jobs, (not careers), and be fighting with 20 other people for the position. Or, you could finish what you started and have 20 hospitals fighting for you!

liljsmom02 · Apr 7, 2006

I just came to this post tonight hoping to find anyone who was also freaking out. to the original poster, don't give up it is worth it. I am a 28 year old senior student with only 6 weeks left and i am freaking out. I work full time as an LPN at a local hospital. I have expressed this to other nurses and they all said they freaked out to. you really have no life when your a nursing student. i can't tell you how many vacation pictures of exotic islands i have seen from the nurses i work with. a good life is ahead.

onarie · Apr 7, 2006

I have to echo what has already been said. Don't give up now. You will have time for a social life after you pass your boards. Obtaining your goal of becoming a nurse now is worth the effort. I went back to school and graduated in August at the age of 38. (Not that 38 is old mind you) I so wish I had stuck things out when I was younger, single and not so worried about my teenage kids. There are sacrifices to make to obtain goals, but a another couple of years of low social activity will pay off tremendously in the long run. Good luck, study hard - and do take a break now and then to have some fun!

candy7016 · Apr 7, 2006

Thanks to everyone who responded, your words truly helped me out of my rut. It really helped to hear from other people who are feeling the same way.. --I even printed some of the responses out and taped them above my desk so that I wouldn't forget again! Good Luck to all and God Bless!

:nurse:

luv2shopp85 · Apr 12, 2006

I know exactly how you feel! I'm 20 years old right now and I'm just finishing up my first year of school. I'm so jealous that the rest of my friends who went to universities get to go out and party every night and they still are able to pass.. its really frustrating.

I feel like if I even think about going out and partyying and having fun taht I'm going to fail a quiz or an exam. I"ll be turning 21 the end of this summer and right b4 I start my second year of school. Its going to be so hard not to go out and party but I guess I will have time to do plenty of that once I'm finished with school!