Question about A&P and nursing school future

julie731 · May 19, 2014

Nursing school is probably going to be much harder than A & P. There's going to be a lot more information to learn.

lakmom12 · May 19, 2014

AP I and II are hard for most people, so don't get discouraged that you had to work at it. Most people have to work hard in those classes and if they don't work at it they don't get the grades they really want. Just think of it as you spent all that time trying to absorb the material that you will be using later during nursing school and it's going to pay off!

RunBabyRN · May 19, 2014

AP I and II are hard for most people, so don't get discouraged that you had to work at it. Most people have to work hard in those classes and if they don't work at it they don't get the grades they really want. Just think of it as you spent all that time trying to absorb the material that you will be using later during nursing school and it's going to pay off!

Agreed. They're tough! The study skills you've developed in those classes, however, will help you in nursing school. Nursing school will be faster-paced, so you may not be able to delve as deep as you've done in A&P, but you'll still be glad you built those skills.

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · May 19, 2014

There is nothing easy about A & P, especially in a condensed semester (I took A & P one in a Maymester, five weeks. UGH!) Nursing school is similar as far as how much studying, but there is MORE to study and you also can't just memorize. You have to be a critical thinker. So, it's the same, and it's different. :banghead:

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · May 19, 2014

I know very few people who didn't have to work hard in A/P I and II. Nursing school is harder, but you'll get through it.

Blueberry7782 · May 19, 2014

Can somebody kindly explain more about the nursing courses? Where is the tough part, the memorizing, or the comprehensive part?

dt70 · May 19, 2014

The more you read the book, the easier the material is. The stuff you struggled with, will eventually become easy concepts.

Keep reviewing material until you feel you will learn nothing new, easy peasy :).

RunBabyRN · May 19, 2014

Can somebody kindly explain more about the nursing courses? Where is the tough part, the memorizing, or the comprehensive part?

You have 127 chapters to read in 3 days. Exaggeration, yes, but it feels that way. Realistically about 12-15 chapters in a week or so. Plus, you have papers (in APA format, no less) to do, often in groups, so you have to coordinate everyone's schedule and scrutinize every comma. There is little memorization beyond normal lab values. The rest is really critical thinking, so the biggest thing about nursing school is learning to think as a nurse (and you will hear that phrase over and over again). Comprehensive, well, A&P is a very specific class. Nursing school is MUCH more involved. You're learning about abnormal states of the body, so you need to have a strong foundation in the normal states of the body. You have to know how to treat it, when to question orders, how to communicate therapeutically to your patients and their loved ones, how to communicate with doctors, what info to have when you call them, WHEN to call them... I could go on and on. There's a lot to know, and most people are (or at least I was) overwhelmed to say the least, especially in the beginning, when you realize HOW MUCH nurses have to know.

RN9742 · May 19, 2014

So I've completed A&P1 and A&P2. I got the grades I wanted and I worked my tail off for them. My question: If you had to work extremely hard to get a good grade in A&P 1 & 2, does that mean you'll have a hard time in nursing school? Is A&P 1 & 2 supposed to come easier to a promising prospective nursing student?

I could have done better in my A&P classes, and during the course of my nursing program i noticed something. Those who did extremely well in A&P, seemed to be ones who struggled to make those same grades in the program (I'm talking students who put in effort here, not those who do not work to their full potential), i however did not seem to have that same struggle to get decent grades. I attributed to memorization, many people tend to (whether on purpose or not) memorize and regurgitate in classes, which works great in sciences, but not always so well in nursing courses where you really need to think through questions since the answer is not always obvious. I have never been able to just memorize the material, I had to figure out why A makes B work, or C will screw it up.

Good Luck!

Irish_Mist, BSN, RN · May 19, 2014

Nursing school is probably going to be much harder than A & P. There's going to be a lot more information to learn.

Yes, of course. I gathered that. My question is: Does one having to work hard to earn a good grade in A&P mean that they're going to have a difficult time in nursing school.

Irish_Mist, BSN, RN · May 19, 2014

Thanks for the feedback, lakmom12. I just got to thinking.... If I had to work THIS hard for my grades in A&P, maybe nursing school would prove to be too much. I appreciate the encouragment and information!