nurse told me prereqs are the hardest part

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I was talking to a nurse yesterday about how I was worried about the intensity of a 1 year ABSN program. She has been working as a nurse for a few years and she told me that the prereqs were the most difficult part for her. Nurses, do you agree?

My BSN is 2+2 -- 2 years prereqs/lib eds, 2 years nursing school. I'm in the first year of the nursing program now and can tell you its significantly easier, lower pressure, and less "sink or swim" than the prereqs.

Nursing school was by far easier for me than the prereqs. For some reason I was able to grasp the concept of nursing, disease processes, interventions and etc. Now, ask me to calculate the mole of something or name perform a stats problem and I become tachypneic.

I think it depends on whose perspective you are looking at. We all have to run our own race and negotiate all the hurdles ourselves. Some folks are strong out of the gate but get winded near the end of the race, while others start slow and finish strong. Some folks are great at pacing themselves and remain constant from start to finish. The only object to this race is just finishing.

If only that were true....I can hope but I don't think it's realistic. Some of it probably does depend on the type of person you are. If you are satisfied with making whatever it takes to pass, then perhaps it is easier than feeling like you have to make A's. Personally, I don't feel satisfied unless I make the highest score I feel possible. Not because I am an over achieve, but more because I like to save for rainy days. I need a safety cushion of a high average in case I tank on something. I could never purposely skate too close to the edge. I need a buffer zone. So no, I can't imagine it will be any easier.

Preregs are nothing compare to Nursing School! Let's see, there is patho, pharmacology and Med-serg! You have to read hard, even for the simple classes such as gerontology and health assessment. And the way the questions are set, is nothing like preregs exams.

I am in an ABSN program and it's not a joke. I do pass my classes but I have to study hard plus I have two children including a one year old. I haven't have a C yet but I pray I don't because I plan on being an NP. Just like you, I am so scared of failing. My program, if you fail a class, you have to wait a whole year to retake it again!

Preregs are nothing compare to Nursing School! Let's see, there is patho, pharmacology and Med-serg! You have to read hard, even for the simple classes such as gerontology and health assessment. And the way the questions are set, is nothing like preregs exams.

I am in an ABSN program and it's not a joke. I do pass my classes but I have to study hard plus I have two children including a one year old. I haven't have a C yet but I pray I don't because I plan on being an NP. Just like you, I am so scared of failing. My program, if you fail a class, you have to wait a whole year to retake it again!

What are your study habits like with that much reading? I've never had to study terribly hard. It's been so long, I'm afraid I might have forgotten how to study and I need to know how..

Yes, RN school is far harder than the prereqs, unless you already have experience w/ caregiving, children, motherhood, and illnesses and medical conditions going into it. I found that the mothers and homemakers and the LPNs and CNAs in my nontraditional cohort could pick up the info far easier, while I struggled immensely with all of it except pharma and calculations and terminology. Those people in my class who had real-life experience with healthcare and child-rearing were breezing through. Maybe that's what that RN meant ab out the prereqs being more difficult for her? She had a lot of life experiences that dovetailed nicely with RN material, but not for, say, chemistry or algebra or anatomy?

This "NCLEX format" they are talking about: The questions are multiple choice. Some just have one correct answer, and some you are told to select all that apply. After Nursing I, you will get consistently fewer questions that are just straight knowledge type questions, which is the kind of questions you get on most non-RN exams. With the NCLEX questions, you need to not only know the subject material, you have to go farther, do critical thinking, make a judgement, and APPLY the knowledge CORRECTLY. You have to choose the MOST CORRECT answer, you have to be able to prioritize, pick the most important problem to solve, etc. There will be extra information thrown in there that has no bearing on the situation. In the more advanced questions, there may be information missing, that you have to calculate, or draw on your training as a nurse and make a reasonable assumption about. You are no longer being tested on just the material as presented in the book; you have to be able to use it.

I think that it's a problem for a lot of students, and it's a lot of the reason that many fail out or can't pull more than a C in RN classes. Also, the grade scale is different, with most schools requiring an 80% as the C level that will allow you to stay in the program.

I am a very good student, with high intellect and I grasp new concepts very fast. I am used to being in science, tech, and engineering. I expected RN school to be organized, systematic, and taught concisely and efficiently so that it facilitates learning. After all, there is a NURSING PROCESS, right? That led this engineer-type to expect that we'd see good planning and organization, and decision trees, and such. But RN school (a diploma school) was the most chaotic, non-logical, arbitrary, and vague instructional program I have ever been through. I was very disappointed with it, and said so, and was actually dismissed for "conducts" (bad conduct) for fighting with administration over just how poorly the program was designed, and why were the computer sims never ready for us on time yet the deadline for completion was not moved out, and why the program was so obsessed with mother-baby stuff and so weak on med-surg, etc. I felt like I was being given a flogging, and I was not getting my money's worth, so I flogged them right back, lol. I'll bet they never had to toss out another mature woman on conducts. I am over 50, and I have already had a successful career elsewhere. I lost interest in nursing, because the grind of schooling for it just became too stupid and annoying after a year. What we were getting was clearly poor instruction. They started 65 people, graduated about 30 or 35, and 5 of those transferred in from other schools or had failed out the previous year and came back.

Some people have done the Excelsior (?) online RN and liked it better because the online format worked better for them and eliminated sitting through boring lectures and wasting time on some of superfluous activities that some brick & mortar schools put students through that really don't help you learn anything at all about doing the job of nursing.

Choose a well-run program, is my advice. And not all of them are. Nursing was a "hot" career back when there was a "shortage," so a lot of schools saw a cash cow and threw together a program, but not necessarily a well-designed program. NCLEX pass rates are just part of the story. Find students who were actually in the program and interview them. Most 2nd year students of the program that I was in said that the 2nd year was even worse than the 1st.

hi im a pre-nursing student also and i think that the pre req's are kinda easier then actual nursing school. i look at it as like prep for the harder things to come in the RN program/school. it also depends on the individual. if your 100% dedicated to becoming a nurse then its all in your hands. you just have to want it! my advice is to STUDY STUDY STUDY! never give up. im currently in my 1st semester of my pre req's and i love it. the key is studying and peer help. as long as your determined you'll be ok.

I've always been curious if going from working full time and taking classes, mainly harder science pre-req's like Chemistry or A&P, along with an easier class is harder than starting nursing school and not working or just working part time?

Specializes in LAD.

I'm going to answer your question the best way I can coming from a BSN student in an accelerated program. I find pathophysiology easier than A&P. When you take A&P, everything is new to you. Some may be overwhelmed with the amount of in depth information never seen before. When you take patho, you have the foundation set and already have a basic understanding of how body systems function. When you take nursing courses, you apply your past knowledge. So I can see why the nurse said the prereqs are harder, but I think the actual nursing courses are more challenging. Prereqs you just memorize and learn it. Yes its a lot, but in nursing courses you apply the knowledge and begin to use critical thinking skills. The prereqs lack application...well mine did anyways. Oh, please don't waste your time getting offended by people who twist your words. The other readers can see you didn't say, "If it's hard, I'm not going to do it." Good luck:)

Sometimes the difficulty of the pre reqs depend on the teacher. When I was a freshman in college my first class was A&PI and the teacher I took was rumoured to be the easiest. I walked in class basically assured to make an A. But the teacher started teaching the material and I was lost! She couldve been teaching in chinese because I understoon none of it and also as a young 19 yr old first time off from home I wasn't really interested in studying. Needless to say I failed. Took it a second time at a different college 2 years later and made a B. Just put it in my mind that this is what I wanted and I did it.

Some people need that hands on experience to really grasp the info and see it applied. With pre reqs it's just memoriztion and regurgitation. I heard that the real learning doesn't start until after you're working your first job. Losts of rumors but each individual has a different experience.

Specializes in Intensive care, ER.

It depends on how much you're willing to put into studying and how the instructor teaches. Pre reqs were hard in their own way. Nursing school is its own category. No other classes are like nursing school. Nothing prepares you to think critically except other nursing classes. I felt like the majority of pre-reqs are just memorization. Like many other posters said, nursing classes require that you take that knowledge and apply it. For example, you aren't going to get a true nclex style question that says "what's a side effect of glucocorticosteroids?" It will say "Mr. X has been taking steroids for 3 months, what lab result would the nurse be most concerned with?"

It will come with time. The other thing I wanted to say is that since you have a previous degree, you know yourself and you know your study habits. I hardly had to study for any classes with my previous degree, but I knew I was a visual learner. I had to read and draw diagrams and work it out in a visual manner.

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