Hello nursing students!! I have a question for you...
I am currently working on my pre-reqs, and the sooner I get to applying, I am hearing more and more how "hard" nursing school is...how it "sucks"...and how it is "really hard on relationships"......
My advisor has even said you have no life while going to NS.
Please, please tell me what is it EXACTLY that makes them say this. Is it the work/study load? Is it clinical time? Is it that "hard"? what exactly? how is it different from what I am doing now with my classes?
I really appreciate what you have to say. At least I will know the whys of what I am hearing!
(I've also heard of how bad chemistry is, and I'm loving that...so it's all relative, isn't it??)
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Only you will know what you can handle. Your attitude going into it will determine how you handle it. It doesn't have to be all the negative things you here and it doesn't have to take every ounce of your time.
I don't have time to read through all of these, so hopefully I won't repeat too much of the same. The thing is that NS is COMPLETELY different than any other major you have probably had, if you have already gone to school. The material is harder for most of us, especially if you are not naturally a science person. There is SO MUCH information thrown at you: you don't just learn about diseases, you have to know the pathophysiology, the signs and symptoms, the nursing and medical interventions, the meds given, nursing diagnoses, expected outcomes, etc. etc. Oh, and you have to know any lab values associated with the disease and the labs and diagnostic tests used. There are also skills to be learned, and you have to test off on those; dosage calculation tests; required videos to watch, online learning activities, and other activities; papers to write. And there's clinicals, clinical simulations, and care plans. That's just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head!
In alot of nursing programs you aren't even going full-time and it takes everything you have to keep up with all the work. I am taking OB (lecture and clinical), Med Surg II (lecture and clinical), and an 8-week health assessment class. It only adds up to about 9 or 10 hours. But I am working my butt off to keep up with everything! There's just alot of studying and reading to be done.
I don't have a social life because I am a single parent, and I spend most of my time studying. I get to hang out with my boyfriend about once a week, usually (we don't live together). Some significant others can't stand not having constant attention, or they just feel hurt because you spend all of your time doing other stuff. That's why it's hard on relationships. It takes a special person to let you do everything you need to do and to understand why you can't be around them all the time. Also, usually the only friends you will have time to hang out with will be the friends you make in NS, and when you DO hang out, it will be in a study group.
There are some people out there that don't have as hard a time with NS as most of us. If you are lucky, you might be one of those people. Personally (for me), NS is alot of work, some of it hard, but it's still not AS HARD as I was led to believe. Everybody's different though.
NS is hard, and there are lots of hoops to jump through. But think about it: would you want just ANYONE to be able to take care of you or your family members? Of course not! There is alot of weeding out and it starts even before you get into the program. They have to make sure that it's mostly people who really want to be nurses. And, honestly, not everybody is cut out to do it. Peoples' lives depend on us. It SHOULD be hard.
It is worth it but I am going to be honest if your married or in a serious relationship make sure they are supportive and they realize what your going thru. The dean of nrsing told us more then half of us would be divorced by the time we finished and I thought now way.... My husband and I are divorced and his excuse for having a girlfriend was because of my schooling. It can be down but it wrecks and testes relationship. I dont regret going though. I just regret that I didn' t give him enough attention, but it was my choice to leave when I found out. Good luck!
I tell my daughter, who is in NS working on her BSN, that the reason school is so hard, aside from the obvious reasons that have been mentioned above, is that she will graduate making more money than I make as a teacher with a Master's Degree and 22 years of experience. My degree was an easy one and my pay reflects it.
Nursing school is more challenging for me than my Master's degree was, largely due to the accelerated pace (it's an Accelerated BSN)! I want to learn everything very well, and I think I've been keeping up fairly well. I'm fortunate to have a husband who is very independent and can keep himself occupied while I bury my nose in the books or my laptop. :-) I agree with the other posters, the volume is worse than the content. Some subjects are more challenging for some than others due to varying backgrounds in our program (patho was tricky for me, but I'm flying through community health). Overall, it more or less evens out. Learn what your profs want and DO IT, follow any rubrics to a T and keep a really good planner with you at all times. I'm not saying to shortchange your learning, but some people make things more complicated than they need to be (which leads to more stress!!). Your schedule will change frequently! This was tricky for me because I work part time and needed to change my hours around...but I'm making it work. Pare down your schedule to the things that matter most to you. I tend to see good friends maybe once a week to every other week and my parents usually once a week (they live nearby). I see my husband less than I did while I was working full time, but in a few months I will be making real money for a change. That, and knowing I have a great career ahead of me, will make the sacrifice of this one-year program worth it for both of us. Congratulations on your journey!
Nursing school is one tough degree to get. I prayed before each test, hoping I would pass. I cried in clinicals when an instructor got on to me. I struggled with some stuff and took the instructor out to a nice dinner when she helped me. I jumped through hoops to get this degree. I would not let it get me.I studied and did not go out of the house until I knew the material. Many instructors told us that we would not see our families and down time would be few. Boy, that was an understatement. Nursing is hard, but it should be, because a patient's life is in your hands, and nurses run the hospital and doctors are in and out. My advice is study hard and don't let it get you. You will see the light at the end of the road.
Yes, nursing school is very demanding. It can be done and you can still have a social/ family life but it takes a lot of self discipline. You will feel overwhelmed and exhausted the entire time. If you are ready to work hard and sacrifice it is worth it.
It is one of the hardest things you will ever do. If you have family committments (husband, children) you will find you reinvent quite a bit, and you give up and miss quite a bit. BUT, you also grow and learn, your family finds a way, your relationship matures, you learn to bend and sway with the gusting torrents in ways you never knew possible.
You can do it, it can be done!!! But you have to let go of many preconceptions and form a new you along the way (which might be harder than all of the work combined).
I just graduated in this past December and I was 47 when I returned back to school (second degree). I was a nearly a straight A student in a BS program in NY. The program sucked the life out of me and my family and caused riffs at times. As my father-in-law said to me, "It's one hell-of-a-sacrifice." I agree with ALL the previous posts. It requires sacrifice not only on behalf of yourself, but also your family and friends. You just can't have it all. If you want great grades, then other things in your life will have to be put on the back burner. Those who tried to work full-time while attending my nursing program found it nearly impossible to pass. Some did and some didn't. You need a strong support system in place because rarely can anyone do it totally alone, especially in the 3rd and 4th years. We had to attend a mandatory assembly at which the Dean of the Division of Nursing gave a speech. She told us to stand up. We did. She said, "Look to your right. Now, look to your left. One of those people will not be with you when you graduate." She was right. This program was grueling to say the least, unless of course, you're a gifted student who does well academically without too much effort. Nursing is a calling and is the most rewarding job I've ever done. I love it! Good luck in all your endeavors!
Specializes in Wilderness Medicine, ICU, Adult Ed..
becoming a nurse is not just learning, it is also changing into a different person. "nurse" is something you become, not just a job that you do. for this transformation to happen, you have to endure the pressure cooker. it is physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually exhausting. however, the pain is not without a purpose. like an athlete who pushes herself to the point of pain, and then pushes harder, in order to become something better than she was, nursing school pushes you to the point of pain, and beyond, so that you will be changed into a nurse. keep your focus (remember the athlete metaphor) and enjoy the rough camaraderie of your fellow students. those friendships help allot, and as another poster wrote, some of them will be the closest friendships you will ever form. keep in your mind the vision of what you are being transformed into, and never give up!
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ChervRN
97 Posts
THANK YOU ALL so very very much!!!
That was exactly what I was looking for!
I just wanted know what's ahead, and prepare mentally for it......
every single post was helpful! ....and I'm not at all deterred, I am ready for this journey!!