Well I have been accepted to a nursing program that starts this January....everything seems to be all set..I have done pre-reqs, student loans approved, etc....However, I'm truly scared to death!! and now in my weakest moments I'm having second thoughts. Not about nursing school that I want more than anything. but here's my dilema. I'm 39 soon to be 40; so I really want to do this now and not wait. I have two little boys ages 4 and 6; my 6 yr old is in school all day but my younger son is just turning 4 in like two weeks so he is not in school. I didn't get enough in student loans, like I'd hoped, to help offset childcare for my younger son. So, I'll be relying on my mother, my husband, and a mother's day out program for an extra day of study.
My question is this.....is this enough? Please tell me how hard this is going to be....how did it compare with A&P I&II and Micro as far as study time etc......
Specializes in ED, acute care, home health, hospice.
I too, was scared out of my wits after I was accepted and just prior to starting NS.
However, I think a little bit of anxiousness is OK. Certainly in my case it was, because I had myself so worked up over it all, that when school actually started and I just took every test, assignment, clinical day as it came up - I realized that I could handle it, and not only that, but I was excelling!
So hang in there, enjoy your time before school starts and get yourself mentally ready for the challenge (and rewards) ahead of you!
Hi! I'm in almost exactly the same position as you are. I'm 39, starting NS this month. I have been having similar feelings of excitement alternating with sheer panic! :lol I have 3 kids, and will have to really juggle child care. I just keep reminding myself that it will only be for 4 semesters. (That sounds so much better than "2 years." )
I'm very glad to read that some people feel like they had to put more studying time in for A & P and Micro. I didn't find those terribly difficult, so hopefully I'll handle the nursing classes OK.
Well when I started NS my kids were 2 and 3(graduate this May). I did(and still do) have childcare but I recieve childcare vouchers. Could you maybe qualify for vouchers? I am the type of person who hates to put my kids in daycare so I was suprised on how much help I recieved from my family. The way I studied was my kids would watch tv and I would study while they would watch, or when they went to sleep I would study.
As far as how hard nursing school is, it is not like AP or Micro, these classes are based on memorization. Nursing school has a different way of testing students. Their tests are set up like by asking you pick the "best" answer out of the four choices. Sometimes there are two choices that seem to be so right. They may ask you to prioritize for example "what would you do first." there may be multiple multiple questions, and to get credit its all or nothing.
You should buy an NCLEX book and practice doing some questions, because in order to pass nursing school you have to figure out how to answer questions the "NCLEX" way. Especially when you get to medsurg, you have to know how to answer questions this way. When I got into my first Medsurg course our school just expected us to know how to answer these type of questions.
Read, read, and read like your life depends on it. Someone told me this once and I think it really helped for me to understand how passionate and hardworking you have to be in order to pass nursing school. Good luck, you can do it with strong determination! If you have a strong will you will do it!
dukesgal
43 Posts
I too, was scared out of my wits after I was accepted and just prior to starting NS.
However, I think a little bit of anxiousness is OK. Certainly in my case it was, because I had myself so worked up over it all, that when school actually started and I just took every test, assignment, clinical day as it came up - I realized that I could handle it, and not only that, but I was excelling!
So hang in there, enjoy your time before school starts and get yourself mentally ready for the challenge (and rewards) ahead of you!