So, I am new to allnurses. I have heard great things and often been referred to this site through google or friends.
I have been a nurse for four years on a cardiothoracic unit. Though I love it, I've been very burnt out because we don't only get heart/lung patients but we get it all. Also, being short staffed doesn't help. I am usually a very motivated energetic person especially at work. However, recently have been feeling the opposite. I am also in my NP program. I didn't start off on the write note and continue to struggle in Np school and struggle to strike a balance between work and school. I have finally updated my resume and considered going part-time or finding a new job so I can maintain my mental sanity. I studied in nursing school, however I never had to be that person that locked themselves up in their room for hours to do well in exams. Gradschool was a major eye-opener. I realize I need to put in hard work and the level of difficulty is much higher. I am wondering what happens if you fail in a NP program? I took patho and pharm this summer and regret it because I had way too much going on to give it my undivided attention. I am doing better in pharm but what happens if i fail the courses and get kicked out? Usually not a pessimist but I would like to know if that ever happens? I am not going to lie I am freaking out a little. I would do anything to bounce back and give school first priority. There is so much I am capable of doing, I just need a second chance!
First off, take a deep breath. You are not the first person to have a bit of shock entering grad school. There are those that have never stepped foot in a grad school classroom that will talk about how easy NP school is, but the truth is (for most programs) it is extremely rigorous. It takes adjustment and perhaps some sacrifice but you can do it.
You will likely have to drop to part time work or per diem work in your last two clinical semesters, so perhaps you do that now.
I want to thank everyone who answered. I was really in need of guidance and support. I know I have a lot of potential I'm very active at work and I know I am a very good RN. I think I definitely bit
off more than I can chew. My program required to take patho and pharm together and summer session was extended. I seriously thank you for your luck, advice, and empathy. Once a nurse always nurse.
Hi! I know this an old post, but thank you for posting this because you made me feel a lot less alone now that I am in grad school and working on a step down unit part time, and also have been burnt out from getting everything under the sun, to short staffing, and environmental factors out of my control (lack of supplies, physician support) I felt everything you said to my core as I wrote this post myself. Nursing school was definitely not as challenging for me, nor was the balance of work and school, procrastination or time management. Ever since I started Grad school I have felt incredibly drained all the time. I'm trying so hard to find the balance and there is a part of me that wants to keep pushing so not ready to give up yet. I hope you ended up finding yourself again, and if you did finish please share any tips on how you made it through ! Regardless of you took time off or not I respect Your honesty in this post and had to tell you how normal it made me feel about myself. Heres to hoping we both figure it out!
Thanks so much for posting this question. I've not been in any type of school since graduating back in the mid "90's with my associate's degree RN. I want to hopefully become a PMHNP within the next 2 years; I need to finish up my BSN then hopefully my GPA will be high enough to go straight into the PMHNP program. Thankfully my husband makes a very good salary, so I cut way back at my facility to PRN/30 hrs max per month to devote most of my time to schooling. The first semester I decided to just take one course to ease myself into online learning as I have only ever attended B&M schools and to assess my learning style and get used to the technology also.
My hope is to be able to handle the full-time student classes which, at the university I've been accepted to, is 2 classes per semester instead of 1. We did make some budget tweaks in general as some of my costs will be covered by student loans yet some will be out of my own pocket. We cut a lot of extras completely from our budget and consolidated some personal debt.
My point to the OP is to do your due diligence and not bite off more than you can chew. If your finances dictate you must work full-time, then only attend part-time school. And hopefully your university offers online tutoring to help you through any rough patches you encounter in your courses. I know I struggle the most with test taking (timed tests) so I need to be very focused and know the subject material forwards and backwards so I plan to devote as much time as possible to studying. But any extra resources my school offers, I plan to utilize. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses from prior education/colleges really helps.
It does make me a bit nervous knowing I will be prescribing medications for people so I need any extra time I have to devote to learning all I can, not just in coursework, but in clinicals too. I'm already feeling out potential hospitals and clinics for preceptorships. I'm trying not to put my cart before my horse, but I want to be successful with planning and not waiting until the last minute for everything. At times, in RN school, I would get very bogged down in small stuff and miss the bigger picture.
Anyway, much luck to you and I always say, where there's a will there's a way and if you want it bad enough and know in your very being that this is what you are meant to do, you will do it and be successful. Peace and blessings.
BostonFNP, APRN
2 Articles; 5,584 Posts
First off, take a deep breath. You are not the first person to have a bit of shock entering grad school. There are those that have never stepped foot in a grad school classroom that will talk about how easy NP school is, but the truth is (for most programs) it is extremely rigorous. It takes adjustment and perhaps some sacrifice but you can do it.
You will likely have to drop to part time work or per diem work in your last two clinical semesters, so perhaps you do that now.