Ahollar4

Well thats awesome. Keep it up! and I know what you mean by the studying. I never had to study either but now it requires me to critically think. I started out in the BSN program. Took my prereqs and then applied and got accepted. I graduate in may.

I typically have a slow start when approaching new information or even people. When i started my clinicals most of the instructors were concerned about my ability to become a nurse because on the outside I was falling behind the other students. Once I learn a unit, learn about the staff, learn where things are and learn about the process of nursing tasks then I am unstopable. I had an instructor the other day tell me about how much of an improvement I've had over the semester (in regards to clinicals). I explained to her that it takes me a while to take everything in and for me to be comfortable and confident.

The program at my school is confusing and complex. I have already taken alot of the premed classes (got approval for taking extra classes before I started my nursing program) but from what I understand is that i will be able to start the med program but also have a few more requirements that I will have to incorporate into that course load. I am not at all a verbal learner. The only time I go to class is to take exams otherwise I just teach myself. I also have horrible memory skills. For example, If you were to give me a list of 10 different drugs with their names and told me to memorize it then it would probably take me a good 30 min to an hour to do that mainly because my brain is not making any connections. The reason I study the chemical structure, micro/bio, physics, etc of drugs/organs/diseases... is because my brain requires me to fully comprehend how x turns into y. It's beneficial is some aspects but also very hard in others.

I haven't figured out all of the fine details involving med school yet but from what the program advisors have told me is that my BSN (that I will receive in MaY) allows me to apply for med school for the fall. Also, I did complete the classes that were stated above just in a different order. This semester I am in now has comprised of Med-surg 2, Maternal, Mental Health, Pediatrics and geriatrics which I have A's in all. Another reason I feel that I do so well is because when I do study I will study to make sure that I know the material and how it works. For example, in pharmacology I rarely studied the side effects of certain drugs, I focused on the mechanism of action. I would further study the chemistry of the drug, the enzymes involved, the target organs that the drug effects, etc. By using that sort of comprehension I would then be able to predict side effects whereas most nursing students just memorize certain side effects. I applied that sort of learning to all of my classes so that way I know every little last detail involved. Also, even if there were something that I never looked at I would be able to apply my knowledge of other things I had studied to be able to make an educated guess.

anything else?

I did take all of those classes in one semester while also being a single mother, dealing with multiple family deaths and still working a full time job. I don't think that the content in nursing school is hard because it builds on a foundation of previously acquired knowledge. The challenge is managing school, work, and family. I never said to do nursing a med together. I advised finishing nursing school then jumping into med.

I dont get why you're trying to be rude for no reason but I will add on to that and definitely admit that a lot of doctors are arrogant and one thing that I have taken from nursing school is to be compassionate and work with the other professions in the hospital as a team. In response to your choice of lines to quote me on... Yes, I do believe that I naturally process information in the way that doctors are trained to think. I'm very analytical, objective and concrete in the way that I learn which is infact a hard skill set for alot of people to achieve. I'm simply recognizing my strengths while I also noted afterwards my weaknesses. I struggle with subjectiveness, socialization and even some common sense. I'm not saying that I am any better than another person I am simply saying that I have different cognitive strengths and weaknesses than most people. It's great in some aspects but it also puts me at a disadvantage in others.

i actually think this is a good way to go. I'm finishing up my nursing school and start medical school in the fall. I think a big reason as to why many people see this as a bad idea is because being a nurse and being a doctor requires a completely different skill set. Nurses generally think in more abstract and subjective ways while doctors are more concrete and innovative. The biggest struggle for me in nursing school has been the subjective abstract thinking. Nursing requires you to critically think about priorities while managing the psychosocial, emotional and physical effects of your patient. Nursing is more hollistic and requires a vast majority of factors to manage a patient while being a doctor is more specific to objective aspects of science (chemistry, micro/biology, A&P) and application in order to treat a patient. Growing up I knew I always had a more advanced development of learning in areas most people do not acquire which is that of how doctors are taught to think. I excelled in math and science classes without having to ever lift a finger because of this skill set however, the classes that I actually found to be difficult were those that others breezed through (ex. english, psychology, psychiatry) partly due to the fact that these classes required more common sense and subjective approaches, skills that I obviously lacked in. I also struggled with socializing and was very bad at reading body language and such. I had to teach myself how to interact with others and how to be socially appropriate because of this impairment in my ability to think in a more abstract, subjective way but I did overcome it because I saw it as a learning opportunity just as I view nursing school. Going to nursing school first gave me a firm foundation and understanding of the multidisciplinary factors that make up the medical field and medical team. The content in nursing school is not hard at all because it basically just goes deeper into the anatomy and physiology of the human body with connections to medical diagnoses, pharmacology and procedures/devices. I think nursing school did a great job of showing me the big picture of the hospital setting and also build on my ability to think more abstractly so that when I go into the medical courses I will have a better understanding of ALL factors involved regardless if I am just diagnosing and treating the illness of the patient.

To be honest I have found nursing school to be quite easy. The most challenging aspect of nursing school for me was learning how to study. In high school and while doing my pre-reqs I NEVER studied. I was the student who would not go to class, who did not buy text books, and completely refused to do homework. I'll admit I was a very lazy student growing up but I believe it was because I was never challenged. Now that I am in nursing school I have learned that it does require me to actually put forth some effort to maintain my 4.0. I never learned good studying habits so that has been my biggest issue. The material taught in the medical field isn't as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. The primary reason so many students do struggle however is because they focus more on memorizing instead of analyzing. I encourage all of my friends to not only memorize what drug goes with whichever disease but to focus more on the mechanism of action of the drug. When you comprehend how a drug produces its effect then 9 times out of 10 you wont have to overwhelm your brain with trying to memorize 30 different side effects. I believe that the reason I have always been so successful is because I focus on how things are connected and truly understanding things. I get that a large majority of people do not think the way I do but I believe you can achieve that skill set if you train your brain to think like that. I am not saying nursing school isn't hard because it definitely is but more due to the amount of information that they require you to learn in a short period of time.