chicago312

It's a lot of work but it's not "hard". I firmly believe each student needs to establish and become self aware of his/her own strengths and weaknesses and not rely to heavily on the experiences of others when determining your opinions and potential for success. That being said, I also firmly believe that nursing school is NOT for everyone and it is getting more and more challenging as the demands of the profession catch up with the rest of the industry - which is how it should be. Frankly, if you are not successful during the admission process, prerequisite material or even first term of nursing school, it might be a blessing in disguise. You can change your tack before having made too much of a financial and time commitment There are MANY professional opportunities within healthcare - nursing/medicine is just one. Might be more important to determine where you best fit.

Yes, I am in a similar situation and completely agree about the busy work. For me it is also being at the point when we are taking the various specialties in medicine (OB, peds, mental health) which I have no desire to pursue as a licensed professional. I understand why they are important but am certainly counting the days until I never have to think about them again in such detail. My biggest gripe with nursing school, however, has to do with a lot of the academic literature and standardized methods (textbooks, ATI/HESI). They really go out of their way to overcomplicate scientific material and bog down concepts with arbitrary and senseless crap. This is a big source of the theory to practice gap and wish we were given more of an opportunity to problem solve and think critically as opposed to memorizing "12 steps of a clinical procedure." I am also fed up with some of my classmates' behavior. So many of them are wasting hours and hours of their lives memorizing as opposed to learning. Making flashcards and cramming when they should be reading and analyzing. Blows my mind. Time is valuable, ladies. Good luck to you on your successful completion. Maybe we should become instructors and be the change we want to see in nursing education. I know I would take a very different approach to teaching and testing this material. Cheers.

The market is indeed tight but not impossible. Of our school's current graduating class all but about 2-3 in 35 have jobs - not their 1st or even 2nd pick but they will be working. Where you went to school, how well you did (GPA, recs) and the degree is paramount in this economy. There seems to be more success with the MSN grads given most of us are just pleased to have a job. I know of two large research hosps that aren't even accepting applications from ADN grads. Good luck to all!