1st Semester Nursing Question

[ONEGR8MOM]

Was the 1st semester of nursing the easiest of the 4 for an ADN program?

[trepinCT]

nope..its hell

[Conrad283, BSN, RN]

They're all difficult and should be all be taken very seriously.

[MMARN, BSN, RN]

Personally, my first semester was pretty tough. However, I didn't sweat it that badly. I was overwhelmed, but I took it all in stride and passed with a B. Actually, though, the easiest one for me was my third semester, in which I took Peds, OB, and psych. I'm really good in psych, so that was a no-brainer for me and Peds and OB was AMAZINGLY easy!

[kasia2]

That depends on many factors. If you are other classes with nursing classes with other supplemental classes that are required for your nursing degree but are not considered prereq (like microbiology, sociology) that the first semester gets rough. But if you completed everything else before entering the program it is doable. In our school is actually opposite, our teachers and upper classmates that the higher you go the harder it gets and actually our program looses almost half of the class during second semester, during the first one we approximately loose like one or 2 people. The reason we loose so many people during second semester is that we have additional classes that we are required to take with nursing classes, like pharm. The first semester nursing tests are not so hard, it is a lot of common sense, although you must read a lot but the tests content is not as hard as expected. They start you off really easy, with one diagnosis and plan of treatment and the program gets harder as you enter more advance levels. The hardest things is good time managment because additionally with a theory you have lab and lab final at the end of term, and them you have clinical like two days a week or so for which you have to turn in paper work but like I mentioned before they start you off gradually and then they progress you into more higher level thinking.

[allthingsbright]

Was the 1st semester of nursing the easiest of the 4 for an ADN program?

Looking back, yes it was "easier" but at the time it was very strEssful and time consumming.

All of nursing school is a challenge--just in different ways. gl!

[ZooMommyRN, ADN, RN]

So far my 3rd has been the least stressful, it's Med/Surg II and Assessment, the clinicals are running more smoothly as well

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

I did my ADN program 34 years ago. Putting all four semesters together and ranking them I would have to say that compared to the other semesters, yes, the first semester was the easiest in my opinion. The second and third were the hardest. However, I don't want to mislead you and have you think that the first semester was a cake walk. It was by no means that at all. It was just that we got more of the critical thinking in the second and third semesters. My first semester was mostly hands-on learning and performing of nursing skills.

[Bumashes, MSN, APRN, NP]

It was the easiest level for me. I actually only studied once the whole 1st level and passed with a B. However, I set myself up for a rude awakening when second level came around and bit me in the a$$. First level at my school barely taught anything past how to be a really good CNA, and I had already become a CNA. After that level, though, it's been an uphill struggle ever since.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

They are all difficult in their own special way.

The nice thing is you adapt to the pace. You're overwhelmed at first, but eventually you figure out a way of dealing with it. Take heart. You'll be okay.

[amyk_ncsu]

I would say the first semester is the hardest. You are learning from scratch how to "think like a nurse," how to take the tests, and honing your critical thinking skills. For me, after the first semester, the rest is kind of falling into place and making more sense. The terminology is no longer foreign, I know how to study, and I know what to expect in clinicals. Also, once you get past the basics, the material is just plain more interesting. You're not dealing with basic nursing tasks, rather you learn about more specific disorders and interventions.

It also has to do with what other classes you are taking at the same time. For me, I took fundamentals, a&p and medical terminology during the first semester, and now I'm just in nursing classes without other stuff to worry about.

[StudentNurseAbby]

It was easier than second semester for me but it was different because it was so new. Third has been the easiest for me.