Pre nursing vs nursing which one is more difficult?

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Which courses did you find more difficult and challenging in terms of time spent studying , stress level etc..., the ones in pre nursing section or the ones in the nursing section. I am finishing pre nursing and it has been really challenging and just wanted to have a glimpse of what nursing courses are like....

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Specializes in Public Health Nurse.

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Nursing FOR SURE! The pre-requisites are much easier, seems to be the consensus here. The only class that I disliked in pre-requesites was Microbiology Lab and it was mostly because of the professor, the theory of Microbiology was awesome. The Speech Class and the Critical Thinking and Ethics were my favorites. Beginning Med-Surge was and is an eye opener; I am repeating that class right now. So far Pharmacology is the one in nursing that I have disliked the most. I found Beginning Med-Surge class very interesting and put a lot of effort to pass and was extremely disappointed when I did not. I heard Advanced Med-Surge is not as difficult, I suppose is because once you come out of the first one you are already on your way of becoming a clinician.

Nursing school is NOT about memorization, is about comprehension and application, connecting the dots, the knowing with the doing.

We all have our dharma (calling), whatever that may be, it takes a special person to be a nurse or whatever else they may want to be. In our case the well being of a life is at stake, and how awesome to know that you make a difference and an impact on that? Ok, I am being idealistic, let me see how long this way of thinking will last after I have been a nurse for five years, I so hope that it will :)

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For me it was definitely nursing, esp Med-Surg. For AP I and II, Chemistry, Micro, all the Psych classes, and Stats it was all about memorization and not too much critical thinking skills involved. It was definitely an eye opener when I entered Med-Surg with a 3.8 and barely passed the class with a C+. I swear my professor always asked her questions where it came down to two answers and you had to think about ABCs, then Maslow, then safety, ethics and legalities.

We lost 40% of the entire nursing class after Med Surg. I guess they wanted to filter out students. But for the past 5 years they have a 100% NCLEX passing rate.

I've seen a couple of responses regarding the difficulty of Med-Surg. Could you please let us know what makes this particular class so much harder than the rest? Just curious as I'm starting an Accelerated BSN program in August. Also, someone else asked about the difference between the regular route and the accelerated route. Are most of the people who are saying that NS is so hard participating in an accelerated program? Do you think that it will be significantly more stressful and difficult in the accelerated program? Ugh!

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Nursing classes are so much harder - test taking is a totally different animal when you get to nursing school. Hours upon endless hours of studying are needed. Careplans take hours too. Then there is lab your first year and clinicals too. Say goodbye to the easy stuff! :nurse:

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Specializes in ER,Surgical ICU,Neuro ICU, OR.
I've seen a couple of responses regarding the difficulty of Med-Surg. Could you please let us know what makes this particular class so much harder than the rest? Just curious as I'm starting an accelerated BSN program in August. Also, someone else asked about the difference between the regular route and the accelerated route. Are most of the people who are saying that NS is so hard participating in an accelerated program? Do you think that it will be significantly more stressful and difficult in the accelerated program? Ugh!

Dear JGAMON I see that you have a lot of questions regarding the nursing courses and degrees. I encourage you to look at other posts who are more specifically geared towards these issues or maybe start a new post.

THANK YOU GUYS FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES. I HOPE THIS POST HAS HELPED NOT ONLY ME BUT MANY OTHERS WHO ARE STARTING THE CHALLENGING BUT YET EXCITING NURSING COURSES.

:lol2:

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Do LPN programs have Med-Surg classes or is it primarily in RN programs? I hve not seen the class in most LPN programs I researched, but there is always the chance that the class can be there, just under a different name.

And please don't tell me to read the archives, thank you.

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nursing school is a whole new ball game!! i didn't know what studying really was until i became a nursing student and i did a lot of studying for my pre-reqs! one thing that really stands out to me that is diff from studying for your pre-req vs nursing school exams is the way in which you study. for your pre-req's you study to get the grade, you cram and most of the time it leaves after the test. in nursing school is a building block process...everything you learn helps you get to the next level of understanding, you can't dump it or you won't get the next step or concept! nursing school is all about critical thinking, not so much now smart you are or how well of a memorized you are like in a&p and micro! i will say though if you do well in your pre-req's you will most likely do well in nursing school...although some do still fail out of nursing school! it is all about your determination and you passion to get through it because there is nothing to prepare you for the 8 hour per day studying!! good luck to you, hope this helps!!!! :twocents::D

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wow, are those frequent sleepless nights on non-accelerated programs too? i was a straight a student for a while and definitely had quite a few sleep deprived moments but how do you function and reason and memorize after a week of 4 hr sleep nights? ha ha ha, i'm scared as i am applying to two accelerated programs. advice?

and sorry, no idea what the hesi is except that its a standardized test. i found these links that seem to explain it pretty well though.

you will learn how to function off 2 hours of sleep...my first day of clinicals in med surge 1 i walked into the hospital about to pass out!! gotta get them care plans done! ha ha ;)

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with the intensity of nursin classes, I think you would have to be crazy to do an accelerated program since your taking something that is already had and making it even harder. ALso, what specifically is hard about Med-Surg nursing classes?

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no offense, but can't you just answer the question? you don't have to give me all of the ins and outs of a care plan, just a quick 1 sentence summary. and i don't recall any threads mentioning as to whether a care plan is a test or homeowkr component.

a care plan (well at least the ones we develop) is composed of sixteen pages of critical information on your pt that must be completed before entering the hospital on your clinical day. my clinical was on thursday so i would have go to the hospital on wednesday morning at the butt crack of dawn before all my nursing friends showed up to pick out the "good" patients to work with the next day ;). after picking your patient you look at the reason for their hospital stay ( hoping to get someone with a lot of meds...so you can give them ove'course!!) after 2 hours of documenting vial information on your new found patient you quickly rush home to start the care plan that will take around 8-10 hours to complete! i don't really want to go into too much detail here...cause i would be here all day...but it's a plan of care for the patient you will be working with! we come up with 4 nursing diagnosis, 3 interventions per diagnosis and for each of those we come up with the rationale behind it. (that takes a good 3-4 hours to complete) then of course you have to look up all your pts medications, explain what they are, why they are on it, dosage, nursing implications, drug interaction....the list go on and on... (most of my pts were on at least 15 while in the hosp) let's see, what else... you have to find resources for you pt for example if your pt has dm and has had a amputation due to lack of funds to take medication you would look up community recourses for your pt.... eeehhh i'm drawing blanks. i hope you get the idea! you must have a plan before working with your pt and have a good idea of what is going on with them mentally and physically before you interact! :redbeathe

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Thanks for the insights. Although I would imagine that as you get more experienced wiriting care plans, the faster you can get them done. Plus I really enjoy writing and don't sound afraid of care plans, athough I am sure that I wll have lots of troube the first time I write one.

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with the intensity of nursin classes, i think you would have to be crazy to do an accelerated program since your taking something that is already had and making it even harder. also, what specifically is hard about med-surg nursing classes?

i am actually in an accelerated program, our teachers tell us that we don't get enough credit for how challenging it is cause of the amount of time in the program! go us! hummm...it's not so much that med surge is "hard" it is just so much to learn and truly understand. geez, i don't know how to explain it why it is hard. med surg is just challenging a lot of reading and a lot of, "ohhhh okay that's why this happens when you're body does this". you just have to go through it to understand. sorry- anyone else care to try to explain? lol :eek:

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thanks for the insights. although i would imagine that as you get more experienced wiriting care plans, the faster you can get them done. plus i really enjoy writing and don't sound afraid of care plans, athough i am sure that i wll have lots of troube the first time i write one.

very true, my last one took me about 6 1/2 hours to complete. i am hoping by the end of nursing school i'll get the done in 3 hours, but i will promise you, your first semester it will take you at least 6 hours (if your shooting for an a) :) good luck to ya!

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