The overwhelming stress of nursing school

Thank you!! I'm in an accelerated program, so I either have clinical or class from Monday to Saturday. I always feel guilty when I'm not doing the busy work or studying for exam, so sadly I never take a day off...

Get over it and take one.

If you feel that you cant take a whole day, dedicate 3 hours/ half a day that are solely for non nursing recreation and make sure that you take it every single week.

Why is this important?

Because if you are unable to take care of yourself how do you ever hope to take care of patients in a safe and effective manner?

I learned and am still learning this the hard way since my mum died. I jumped back into work less than 10 days after she had died and we'd had the funeral. When I found myself unable to go less than 15 minutes without crying and had told a patient who was being very challenging "congratulations you bloody well made me cry"

I had to realise that I'd come back to work much to soon and that not only could i not hold it together I was loosing it with patients and while what I said was fairly tame, it was so not ok and completely unprofessional. I also made a medication error, giving metoprolol and digoxin to a patient who didnt need it. Fortunately the patient suffered no adverse effects and I didnt get my ass completely kicked (possibly management felt that would have been very mean given that I was not only grieving my mum, also grieving my brother in law who had died six weeks previously)

So learn how to take care of yourself now. It will make you a far better nurse in the long run

Nursing care plans are a waste of time. Half the interventions are never implemented.

Keep your head up and take it one day at a time. It will all be over soon.

You're in the thick of the gauntlet. You gotta take a day or two off from time to time. Every Friday I usually see a movie with the husband, have a kid free lunch & just sit & enjoy a coffee with him. He's my favorite person to hang with & has a calming demeanor. It's helped with the stress of NS. Find something that calms your soul and make some time for it, you won't regret it.

I don't know if someone already said this or not because I didn't read through all the comments, but I wanted to take the time to say it just in case it wasn't....

Just like you said, I used to wake up constantly worried that I overslept and would fall back asleep only to wake up again and again! I started getting wake-up calls...just like in hotels. You can get it to your cell phone or house phone. For some reason, it made it so I was able to sleep without waking up a million times worried I'd overslept. I have no reason why I felt more comfortable using the wake-up call than just my alarm, but I did!

There are a lot of free options and ones you can subscribe to that are really cheap. The ones you pay for, you can even only use once or you can get like 3 calls in a bundle, or you can pay per month. The calls even have snooze, so you can get calls back to wake you up again if you think you'll fall back asleep or want those 5 more minutes lol!

Here are some options:

Wake Up Calls - Snoozester Wake Up Call Service

Hotel Style Wake Up and Reminder Calls. Now with unlimited snoozes!

WakeUpDialer.com

Wakeupcallme.com - Free wake up calls

I used snoozster and wakeupcalls.net they both worked great! I liked snoozster because it has a heavy sleeper option ("SecureAwake"), which made me feel more comfortable that I would NOT sleep through it. It calls you every few minutes until you answer and say you are awake. It also has the option of 10 free wakeup calls. If you want multiple calls, you can compare snoozester and wakeupcalls.net prices. Monthly it's actually really cheap and gives you your sanity by allowing you a worry free sleep! Lol!

My mom is actually the one that suggested it to me and I thought it wouldn't be any better than my alarm. I am actually a really light sleeper. Usually, the slightest sound would wake me up. But, it wasn't that I didn't get up to my alarm, it was that I was so worried that I would NOT get up for my alarm because I was so darn tired, so I was waking up every 30 minutes or so and hardly getting any sleep. Once I started using the wake up calls (I tested it out first) and was confident that I would get that call, I slept like a baby every night!

Maybe it's something that will help you! I hope you figure out something that does, because its hard enough to get enough sleep in nursing school, you don't need to add in waking up every 30 minutes worried you overslept! Good luck!

I completely relate. I think we put so much additional pressure on ourselves (in addition to the pressure of nursing school, clinicals, etc) to "be the best". This past semester I cried because I was 0.2 away from getting an A in pharm. Looking back, I should have been proud of myself for doing well in such a hard class, but instead I beat myself up because I felt that this would ruin my chances of getting a good job out of the program. But you're right, it's so cliché, C's get degrees though! There is truth to it. I think that things like meditation, yoga, and finding little times throughout the day to yourself are sacred. Find time to unwind, your body, mind, and soul will thank you!

Thank you!! I'm in an accelerated program, so I either have clinical or class from Monday to Saturday. I always feel guilty when I'm not doing the busy work or studying for exam, so sadly I never take a day off...

Even if you only take a half day, take it! You'll burn yourself out before you even get started. Do something for you: Get a massage, a pedicure, go to the movies. Something frivolous or silly. Trust me, it will help you feel better!

I worked while doing an accelerated BSN program. My best advice is to make a plan the first day of each term. Check all those syllabi you get. When are the projects, exams, and papers? Are there things you could get done NOW even though they're not due until way later in the term? (Think papers and projects that you're given a lot of time for but don't necessarily take all term or can be started early. Get all those pesky little quizzes done early too.) Focus on getting those things out of the way earlier in the term when things are a little lighter so you have more time and energy to study for exams later.

Thank you!! I'm in an accelerated program, so I either have clinical or class from Monday to Saturday. I always feel guilty when I'm not doing the busy work or studying for exam, so sadly I never take a day off...

I am in an accelerated program myself. It is the most stressful course I have ever done in my life. I have literally only taken days off on the semester breaks, which are no more than 3 weeks. Thankfully I am on my last semester and already looking into applying to nurse residency programs.

But let me encourage you.....it is doable and it will be worth it. I tell myself if others have done it before, then I can do it too.

Best wishes and God bless

I really hope a real shortage REALLY comes to the point where nursing schools are like less "this isn't for you", and more "we'll try and make this as straightfoward as we can". That's all this is is a business. You get frustrated, you scream, you yell, you disagree with them, but they're still there, existing and making money, and you're not. It's just business. There isn't really a shortage. Whoever said that is a ******* moron. Imo, nursing schools and the career itself is a tumor and you need to starve that tumor until it dies. Just get out of nursing. This pathophysiology class I'm taking ******* sucks. Nursing school ******* sucks and that's all it is, a tumor. It's villanous at what it does and does it give a ****? Nope. It just continues outliving you.