On my way to my Nursing dream career but chemistry has overwhelmed me! am I alone?

RiskManager · Feb 27, 2016

These are the usual resources that I recommend, especially the Khan Academy courses. I have taken some just for the heck of it, and I have a BS and MS in chemistry from the early 1980's, when we rode our dinosaurs to class.

Nanyanzi · Mar 1, 2016

Thank you so much I will go through them.

awsumsaus · Mar 1, 2016

Chemistry sucked so bad. Even with attending my professor's weekly tutor sessions and doing all of the homework she assigned and then some, I was still so lost. So you're definitely not alone. Khan Academy was a savior, there was quite a few times where a lightbulb would finally go off for me by watching their videos on YouTube. I also saw this thing where if you Google "site:edu chemistry exam" it'll give you some study guides and whatnot that other schools are using. I haven't tried that yet though so I can't guarantee 100% that it works, but it's something you can try.

I would keep pushing through if you really want to be a nurse. I have rarely used Chemistry and I'm in my 2nd semester of school. Some concepts like knowing anions/cations are useful, but you're retaught those concepts during lectures. Other concepts like osmosis I learned more from Anatomy than Chemistry. So Chemistry is not super vital from what I've seen, that just because you struggle now it doesn't mean you're going to struggle in nursing school.

Good luck!

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2016

Yes becoming an RN is not easy. If you want it you have to complete the pre reqs as stated. This is the same for every single nursing student in the country. Not everyone who wants to be a doctor becomes a doctor. Not everyone who wants to be a nurse becomes a nurse. If what you are doing isn't working then instead of quitting maybe try tripling your study time. It isn't going to go away.

Nanyanzi · Mar 1, 2016

Thanks awsumsaus I will keep pushing through. I will google Khan Academy. I am determined to be a nurse. Thanks for the encouraging words. Sometimes you just want to hear from someone who has traveled or traveling the journey to give you some tips of how they are managing and this makes a world of a difference.

Nanyanzi · Mar 2, 2016

windsurfer8, Thanks for your response. I am well aware that nursing is difficult and it has always been difficult. I wanted to hear from others like you on how they were able to over come this hard course and maybe share their experience and success secrets to help people like me, and sometimes that is all someone needs to gain the momentum to carry on. Thanks for your suggestion of tripling my time of study. I hope this will take it away though.

BBboy · Mar 2, 2016

Chemistry is s tough course, probably the one I spent th most time on prior to nursing school. Just consistently work on dimensional analysis, and understanding the concepts you're presented since they build upon one another like stats. Hopefully you won't have a professor like I did who had only "select all correct" answers every question :0 (you'd get marked the incorrect if you didn't have them all)

verene, MSN · Mar 2, 2016

Chemistry was a tough course for me. It was the pre-req I ended up with the lowest grade in. I found using outside resources to study (see Kahn Academy link prior poster shared) as well as asking the instructor for extra help got me through.

Nanyanzi · Mar 3, 2016

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, ideas and encouragement. I really needed it.