Should I complete the program or shoud I leave?

seasidesoul · Jan 6, 2016

Nursing school IS stressful. It's going to push you out of your comfort zone. I remember being terrified during my first semester of clinicals. Ultimately the decision is yours and yours alone, but many of us went through similar experiences.

Xlorgguss · Jan 6, 2016

Don't let self doubt and confidence wreck everything you have worked towards. It will all come with time. I didn't start to become comfortable with patients until I got a nursing assistant job. Don't be so hard on yourself.

backtoLV · Jan 6, 2016

first of all, If you haven't been in the environment it can be very intimidating starting out. B's in nursing school are just fine! Nursing school is completely different then most other programs and can be very challenging. Also, your young! I would say give it at least another semester so you can acclimate a little more before making a decision like quitting. Now it's not for everybody and that's completely fine, but if it's something you've always wanted to do I would stick it out a little bit longer, If it's not for you that's OK! better to figure that out now! I wish you the best of luck, trust your instincts and do what's best for you :) Good luck!

AJJKRN · Jan 6, 2016

Before you make such a life altering decision, why don't you try to get a prn CNA job at a place you were thinking of working at after graduating. This could either build your confidence and familiarity solidifying your deision to stay your course or finalize that nursing is not for you. Good luck either way!

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jan 6, 2016

Perfectly normal. Nursing education is very different because unlike other majors, we not only have to learn and remember information, but we also have to APPLY this knowledge in a clinical setting at the same time we're acquiring a whole realm of physical skills. Sheesh - like continuously rubbing your stomach & patting your head while riding a unicycle up a steep ramp to leap through the ring of fire and land on a teeny platform 50 feet in the air - without a net .... while someone's watching to make sure you do it perfectly every dang time. Right?

It's very normal for GPA's to take a sudden dive when you begin clinical education. Don't worry, it'll recover as you become accustomed to your new clinical education world. As for being afraid? I think that is very healthy. It means you realize the importance of your role and how much effect you have your patients' well being. It will lessen over time as you gain confidence, but if you ever find that you have lost all twinges of stress/anxiety, you probably should not be providing patient care.

You're going to make it. A few years from now, you'll be here on AN providing reassurance to nursing students by sharing your own success story.

RescueNinjaKy · Jan 6, 2016

I never thought I would ask this question but the past couple of months all I've been doing is doubting myself. I'm 23 years old and right out of HS I went to college majoring in nursing and took all my prerqs and GE courses then got into the nursing program of my choice. I've worked so hard to get where i am and I'm not happy. My goal was to get into a good nursing program and I used to say if I get in I will be happiest person in the world! I used to say I can't wait to start nursing school. Now after all the hard work and after my first semester of nursing school I don't think I can do it.
I went from being a straight A student in my prereqs to all Bs in my first semester of nursing school. I qualify for the bridge program to get my BSN but that doesn't even excite me anymore. During clinicals I felt so out of place and didn't feel comfortable. So many of the students in my class were CNAs before and knew the basics that I was just learning. The only thing I realized after the first semester of nursing school is how much I do not know. I am terrified, and I feel stupid. I got a good score in clinicals but was told to know my meds better. Odd part is I was doing ok in pharm, averaging at 86% but during clinicals I would forget everything. I have zero confidence in myself and I feel like if I become a nurse I'll harm someone. I like helping people but the fear that someone will depend on me to care for them makes me so nervous I want to run far away from nursing. I knew the reality of it, but it didn't hit me until I went to clinicals and faced situations where I was responsible for someone and then realized the extent of stress and self doubt that I faced.
The past month I have been thinking of all these different majors and if I should quit nursing, but I want to first know if these feelings are normal or am I just not cut out for this?

I could totally be off base but Welcome to mediocrity. Similar to you, I had great grades in high school and in my pre reqs, and then that all went down hill once I was in nursing school. What you're feeling is apprehension and the feeling of being mediocre. This can be a tough feeling for people who usually never get anything below a 90 and are usually on top of their game on everything.

It is of course unpleasant and a hard hit to the ego when you realize that you're no longer the smartest or that things aren't coming together as easily as they did in the past. Add in the unfamiliarity of clinicals and the fact that other students have some related clinical experience and you don't. The unknown is scary and stressful, so is being 2nd when you're used to being 1st.

But hey if it makes you feel any better, grades don't necessarily determine how great a nurse will be. Nursing includes the bedside care, the compassion, and the critical thinking aspects that aren't readily graded in nursing school. Heck the nclex is a joke compared to real nursing.

Also studying in nursing school is a whole lot different than general Ed classes. The exams are different too. Just discover your groove and hopefully you can pull up your grades and regain your confidence.

On a last note, if it really does make you feel miserable and you're sure that this is no longer what you want to do, then there is no shame in leaving. Nursing is not for everybody. Sometimes we have this romanticized notion of how something will be and it just isn't when we are dealt with reality. That happened to me in accounting. Good luck.

summer2000 · Jan 8, 2016

Thank you all for your comments! I decided to stick it out and try my best and hope I can be a good nurse one day :)

mrsboots87 · Jan 8, 2016

Consider, also, that if you knew everything and were comfortable in clinical right out the gate then what would you need nursing school. Your program is meant to test your confidence and knowledge safely. Each semester you will build on the previous semester knowledge and clinical skill. Each semester you will get more comfortable. If after another semester or two, you just really don't think you want this anymore, then there is no shame in leaving. Like another poster stated, nursing is not for everyone. Do what makes you happy. Just don't run away from nursing after one semester or you may later regret it and go back anyway.

MidwifeAPRN219, MSN, RN, APRN, CNM · Jan 8, 2016

Nursing school tests and grades are completely different than pre-reqs so don't let your GPA get to you. I would also say to not let clinical get to you. A lot of clinical in nursing school is med-surg, and not necessarily the greatest reflection of what you do as a nurse as you aren't doing exactly what the floor nurse would be doing on a day to day basis. I didn't get to experience what it truly felt like to be a nurse until my last semester of school when I did my preceptorship which was 1 to 1. Med-surg might not be the area of nursing for you. It certainly is not my area of nursing and I did not enjoy med-surg clinicals in school. I'm not saying that med-surg experience isn't important. It is a good basis. However, it's not for everyone.

BWright81188 · Jan 8, 2016

Long reply here, sorry.

I just graduated this September, so the wounds and pains of nursing school are still fresh ;-). I was a former EMT/ED tech, I had straight As, and I was feeling as stressed and low as you in an accelerated program. It's absolutely normal to feel this way. Nursing school is EXTREMELY hard. All Bs are really good. I've heard this to be true of other cohorts, but by junior year, none of us cared about our GPAs anymore. We just wanted to do as well as we could and learn as much as we could. Having that mentality lifted a HUGE burden off our backs. As an ED tech, the first two terms were the easiest, but after a few terms it didn't matter as much that I had prior medical experience and some of my counterparts did not. Yes, I understood medical jargon more than my counterparts who were not CNAs/techs, there were some skills or equipments that I was more familiar with, and my comfort in talking to and working with patients was high, but before long, my counterparts without medical experience were using the same jargon, skills, equipment, and bedside care. In fact, most of my cohort did not have prior medical experience and every single one of us passed the NCLEX on the first try, got jobs before we even graduated, and made the best of our nursing school program. Keep working hard, and you'll be right there with your CNA classmates.

In my experience, the lows you're feeling come and go. I was excited at first, then lost interest in everything, then back to excited. I went through an entire term of acute--the one term I had been looking forward to, given my emergency background--and I was so bored, exhausted, and NOT excited. I especially disliked my ER rotations! Oddly enough, what got me excited again was my very last rotations at the end of the term in OB. I didn't become an OB nurse, but it sparked my curiosity about nursing again and I went into the next term excited. One student in my cohort felt this similar indifference toward everything all the time. She constantly questioned whether nursing was right for her. Nothing made her excited about nursing. She feared that she would graduate and never find a specialty that interested her. But she got through it, and is loving her current nursing job. One thing that helped us both during our lows was going to a professor and venting. We texted, emailed, had coffee with, and cried constantly to them. I thought something was wrong with me until at the end of that acute term, my clinical instructor reassured me that it was completely normal and that I was not the only one.

So I hope you power through this, use your resources (e.g., professors, mentors, etc.), and know that you are not alone.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jan 8, 2016

From what I read, you just finished your 1st semester. Please don't be so hard on yourself after just one semester![emoji3]

Nursing school inundates you with tons of information. It can take awhile to feel comfortable applying all of the knowledge.

If you are truly questioning whether nursing is for you, please don't base this on your feelings during rough patches at school.

Rather, try to find a way to gain a better understanding of a nurses actual working role.

For me, I questioned my decision to become a nurse during prereqs at one point and again during my 3rd of 4 semesters to become an RN.

Things I did to help me decide/know that nursing was indeed the career path I wanted to pursue:

I spoke to other nurses I knew in real life about the challenges of school, working conditions and career satisfaction.

I became a CNA. This really opened my eyes to the role of a nurse.