Starting Monday. Need some advice!

RN403, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2014

There are many threads on this topic that you might find of assistance.

First, please, do not listen to the "horror stories"... every school has them. As long as you study hard and show up to clinical prepared and ready to work hard you can make it through. Try your best to ignore these horror stories - they don't do you any good.

Yes, nursing school is demanding,but certainly do-able. You will spend most of your time studying but with the right balancing act you can certainly have down time where you can hang with friends, have time for hobbies, etc. you will get into your groove once you get started. You will learn over time how much study time you need vs how much down time you can fit in. Some weeks will be busier than others. Some weeks you might have a little more down time. It will vary.

As far as nursing being harder than pre-reqs....I personally found micro and chem to be hard. They're not my strongest subjects. I found nursing school to be "harder" however. At least at first, that changed once I got deeper into my program. I learned that nursing school was not necessarily hard; it was just a different way of learning, testing, and doing. It was demanding, I was busier than I'd ever been, and there is a lot of information to memorize and APPLY. You take what you learn and you apply it to clinical situations, basically. Which was different than any test that I've ever taken.

You will find that as you get further along down your nursing school road, things will get a little easier. You will find your groove, you'll become familiar c NCLEX style Qs, you'll get more comfortable with your clinical skills, etc. Be sure to surround yourself with a good support system - especially when you have those moments when you are feeling down - which you will. Just be sure to get back up! Also, it is important to have a good stress reliever. (Exercise,your favorite funny movie, etc. )

Anyway, trying to keep this brief......

So, here's your honest answer: yes, these next two years of your life will be hard. Yes, NS will be more demanding than your pre-reqs, and yes, it is do-able.

Good Luck!

ShelbyDee · Aug 23, 2014

Thank you so much for this post. Honestly made me feel a lot better!

I appreciate it :)

peacelover · Aug 29, 2014

First off-congrats on starting the program! Way to go!

Second, do not listen to all the scary stories people tell you. The next time someone starts to relay something negative either walk away or stop them mid-sentence and ask them to tell you what they loved from that day instead of what they hated.

It is tough. Tougher than pre-reqs but in a different way. You don't memorize most stuff aside from drugs and lab values. You have to know it so it might require you study a different way. that is all. It is not impossible. It is busy. A lot to do and there is no reminding. Plan your time well. Even plan study time-that way you are less tempted to play around or get distracted during study.

Stay away from groups unless this is the best way for you to learn. They are wholly distracting and time-suckers.

Plan some time for you so that you can decompress and reset your happy-button weekly.

You can control a lot of this with your hard-work and planning. The other stuff you just have to be flexible and know it is coming at ya.

You can do this-you got in a program and if you were not capable of passing you would not have been given this chance!

Rock it out!

ShelbyDee · Aug 30, 2014

Thank you peacelover!

My first week is over, and let me tell you...it's already overwhelming. I have two classes, Health Assessment and Foundations. It doesn't seem like much, but they are definitely giving us some work! For our first exam in Foundations, we have 15 chapters of material to cover! In just two weeks! That's craziness. Not to mention outside homework, assignments, and on top of all the other chapters and assignments due in Health Assessment. We were all experiencing that "deer in the headlights" look the first day lol.

I'm trying to manage my time well so far and study as much as possible. But also planning down time so I don't over-due it and not absorb any material.

Skills start next week, so that's another thing to tack on to the list! lol I'm looking forward to skills though.

Thanks for the response though! Wish me luck!

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2014

The responses from the others are correct. Yes it is demanding. Depending on the way you learn, it may or may not be difficult. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, you will have some classes are an "easy A", and others that you have to struggle with full time. Will you have a life outside of school-maybe! Will it be worth it--yes!

In my case, pharm was close to impossible, all I ever did was study. Other classes were easier and I had time for a social life.

Yes there will be students in the hallway crying, but that happens in the business school, fine arts, and every other major because some subjects in school will be hard and some people cry when they are frustrated.

To me A&P was the worst, but we had a terrible teacher. Half the class flunked out. One difference I noticed was that it seemed in the pre-reqs, it was the facilities job to weed out people who were not likely to make it. In nursing school, they know you made it this far and they really want you to succeed, so they are more helpful. Utilize that help if you start to feel overwhelmed or start falling behind.

As RN403 said, it is doable if you want it badly enough. It is also worth it! Think about it from a patient's point of view--as a patient would you want a nurse that just managed to slide by without learning everything he or she needs to know to provide the best care? I wouldn't!