Scared to start nursing school

TLizS · Oct 8, 2014

I start nursing school in January.....at first all of the stories about HOW HARD it is and how terrible it can be scared me....but I'm choosing to take all of these opinions with a grain of salt. It's going to be different for everyone student/every program. I refuse to let myself get too stressed out over it. I know it won't be EASY but I in no way expect it to be impossible.

I like hearing other people's stories about nursing though and advice on how to be prepared I am so excited to start thought lol

dannygurl84 · Oct 8, 2014

That's good, what school r u starting in the Spring @TLizS? It is different for each person/program. I will try not to stress but I'm a stressor lol. I like hearing their stories too. I'm excited to start too. We can maybe keep in touch or something.

LabRat3 · Oct 9, 2014

I'm scared too! I am quitting my nice, cushy full-time job to go to nursing school and I am terrified just about that. I may be starting in January. I'm hoping I can work while in school. I was a pretty good student and I have almost a 4.0 in science and math but I know nursing classes are different so I am anxious to see what it will be like in that respect. I'm 29 and this will be a second career (already, lol). I'm hoping my biology degree will help me out a lot and the job I work now is in a clinical lab so I have some foundation laid. My best friend is a nurse and she is my best resource. Good luck to you!

MurseJJ · Oct 9, 2014

I'm in my first semester of nursing school (BSN). It isn't necessarily that the material is difficult. It's that there is so much to learn and do in a given time frame. You will have your classes, labs, and clinicals. You'll also have random meetings, skills checks, care plans, papers, etc to do. Pharmacology will essentially be pure memorization. For our first exam we had to memorize a ton of drugs, including brand and generic names, mechanism of action, important side effects, etc. It's all very doable, just be very organized and keep up with the reading. You absolutely must study a little every day of the week (maybe have one day off if you can) to keep up with everything going on. You'll be stressed (at least a little), but just remember that other people got through it, and you can too.

Get your sleep in now! :)

mrsboots87 · Oct 9, 2014

Definitely take all the horror stories here with a grain of salt. First, I learned in retail management for years, that to every complaint, there are easily at least 10 who would compliment the same thing. Basically, this is an online forum and it is a great place to vent the frustrations you feel throughout your education because it is pretty anonymous. Most people dont come here to gloat when they do well. And those that do get congrats, but also get the negative nancys who post as well.

Your nursing school experience will be mostly what you make of it. There are some terrible schools and terrible instructors that can make the vents true (or be the source of them). But outside of those types of institutions, most schools are pretty good and respectful. Yes some have cattiness, but most dont. Yes some have mean instructors or facilities have mean nurses, but a lot dont.

I have yet to experience any of the negativity that is widespread on this site. And I dont cry, nor to I live in constant stress under piles of reading and homework. ( I am in an ADN program though, and a BSN program will have more workload than I do, so keep that in mind). I don't work, but I am a stay at home mom with young children who would take all my time if they could. I dont spend every waking hour studying. I would even go as far as to say that I dont really read the chapters, just what I dont understand after lecture, and I only actually study maybe 5 hours a week oustide of class. If I study too much, I actually do worse because I start to mix things up or lose learned material because there is so much. I missed an A by mere points last semester and have an A so far this semester. And no I am not the smartest person in my class, I just know how I learn and take advantage of that. And my program is rather difficult as about half of the class failed last semester and a third of last semesters block 2 students also failed. You need to take a good look at yourself and know your strong suits and your weak areas.

You may have a "harder" school that is nothing like mine. You may have a good one like mine. You may do well without trying. You may be stressed the whole time and crying because you passed the final by 1 point above what you needed. It is different for everyone and depends highly on how you manage your time, how you learn, and how well you absorb the material and apply it to the NCLEX style questions. Good luck future student nurses, and dont be scared. Go in with an open mind and be very flexible. Study a lot or a little (however you best learn) and keep up with material. You will be fine and you will make it. The more stressed you are about things, the less you will learn for various reasons. You can do this. GL

nlitened · Oct 9, 2014

I am starting in the Spring as well...scared and excited here I am quitting my job :nailbiting: but will finally be starting school to do something I am passionate about :woot: I think it is scary for everybody at first. Just take one day at a time and strive to do your best. Don't let other people's opinions of the program influence you...everyone has a different experience.

TLizS · Oct 9, 2014

I start nursing school in January.....at first all of the stories about HOW HARD it is and how terrible it can be scared me....but I'm choosing to take all of these opinions with a grain of salt. It's going to be different for everyone student/every program. I refuse to let myself get too stressed out over it. I know it won't be EASY but I in no way expect it to be impossible.
I like hearing other people's stories about nursing though and advice on how to be prepared I am so excited to start thought lol

I'm in Texas....I got accepted to the ADN program at Weatherford College and plan to apply for the RN-BSN bridge at Texas Tech once I finish

dannygurl84 · Oct 9, 2014

Thank you all for ya'll comments I really appreciate it. I will do my best. I'm in Louisiana and my program is BSN also but that don't matter because we got this. The lord let got us this far and I know he will not let us down. I'm just gonna take it day by day and try to be stress free.

mississippikid · Oct 9, 2014

Don't be afraid! I am in my first semester and I've been pumped about nursing school since before I even applied to the college to finish up my prereqs. I will not lie, nursing school is hard and is a whole different ballgame. Despite the challenges I love my program and I'm so excited to go to school and learn something new every day. It is a LOT of work, a LOT of reading, but it's alll there for a reason. Your program might be completely different than mine, of course, but the best advice I can give you is to be as prepared as you possibly can (do your reading, use outside resources), do the extra assignments even if they are only for your benefit and don't count for a grade, and don't worry so much about test grades. You want to pass, of course, but what a lot of people fail to realize is that the tests aren't a measure of your intelligence, they're testing your clinical reasoning. As you're reading, think of how you'd apply the information in a clinical setting. Try to "think like a nurse".. What really helps me is NCLEX-style questions. I was doing them way before I even started my ADN program. You get a lot of information from the rationales and even if you don't know the information yet it's GOING to come up sooner or later. Familiarizing yourself with those type questions will probably make test-taking a lot easier.

Most of all BE POSITIVE and LOVE NURSING! You can do this!

augurey · Oct 9, 2014

I haven't been in nursing school long. I'm only a couple weeks from completely the first half of my first semester.

I let a lot of the stories on here scare me at first. I've personally found that my attitude each day determines the experience I'm getting out of this. It's overwhelming. There is an overwhelming amount of material to go over and learn and understand. It's not easy.

I come home each night and wonder how I'm ever going to get through this and actually understand the material. If I think about my future classes too much, it gets overwhelming thinking about everything I have to know by the end of 2 years and how it seems so impossible. Instead, take it day by day. It makes it a little easier to get through. It's still overwhelming, but I think you have a lot of power in how it goes.

Even if you have bad days, try to turn it into something positive.

If you do poorly on a test, there's nothing you can do to change your grade on that test. Instead of focusing on a bad grade, find out where you went wrong and what you can do to fix it. I had a test last night. I was very confident in the material. I got the test, and I felt like I knew nothing. I thought for sure I failed. I was so upset. I wanted to cry. I wanted to blame the teacher because I went over everything in those chapters and couldn't understand why I was seeing stuff on the test that wasn't in the chapter.

When I got home, I went through the chapter to see what I missed. I've been studying the same exact way over the last 6 weeks and never ran into this issue. The teacher said everything is in the chapter. She's not out to trick us. So I decided to see where I went wrong and sure enough I missed some stuff! I ended up doing well on the test in the end, but I did realize that I actually haven't been studying everything and have been missing a lot. So, for the next test, I now know where I need to shift my focus to.

Once I got home last night, I realized that there was nothing more I could do for that test other than to change the way I study or go through the chapters.

If something in class seems unfair or seems to be going wrong, try to put a positive spin on it. There are times where I want to blame the instructors for this or that, but if I spend the next 2 years doing that, I'm probably not going to make it. This is going to be a long and hard journey on its own. I want to make this as much of a positive and easier experience as possible.

It can be very hard to keep a positive attitude at times, but you are in charge of how this goes. If you take it day by day, keep the best attitude you possibly can, having good study habits, and prioritize, you'll be fine!

Don't let the stories scare you. Let them influence how you're going to get through school. Take things with a grain of salt, but also really think about what people have to say. These people have been through it. I feel like it's because of these stories and all of the replies that has really shaped the way I've decided to tackle these 2 years.

Caitlin23 · Oct 9, 2014

First off, Congratulations! Being accepted into the nursing program is an accomplishment in and of itself :up:

Second, I think you are justified in being scared, but most things worth doing in life are kind of scary, especially in the beginning. As others have said, the real challenges are time management and learning to "think like a nurse." Invest in a good day planner and NCLEX study guide. Those two items are truly invaluable in nursing school! Truth be told, you probably won't have much free time while you're in nursing school, but as you get the hang of it, things will improve. It will take time and dedication, but you can do it! I like to keep inspirational posters in my study area and that seems to help me stay on track. Also, study groups/ sessions are always helpful. I've been a huge procrastinator my whole life (I'm actually supposed to be working on a care plan right now ) so if I can succeed in the nursing program, so can you. Best of luck!