4 weeks in ...

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Hello future nursing students, nursing students & seasoned nurses,

Here I am, 4 weeks into my first semester of nursing. I am currently enrolled in a 2 year nursing program. Right now my curriculum is microbiology, A&P and Nursing 1. The school I am in had a 5 year waiting list for the program and decided to do away with it and base entrance on the TEAS & the applicant's qualifications. Luckily (I believe) I was accepted; Out of 5000 applicants I was one of the 188 accepted. I also graduated last year with my BA in Psychology; GPA 3.8. Going into the nursing program I knew that it was going to be demanding and difficult but now I am realizing that it is harder than I had expected. This week I took my first Micro & nursing exams.. to say the least, I did not do as well as I would have liked. I do so so in nursing and micro, well I got a D. We've had 2 nursing skills exams which I passed the first time. The majority of my classmates had to take it twice and a lot failed the second time around and had to go through mediation. So what I'm getting at is that I feel that I am better at the skills than the paper tests, however, the skills do not count towards our GPA. My ego and psyche have taken a huge hit with these first exams. I know that in the end I am going to make a wonderful nurse but now I'm questioning if I'm going to make it. I quit my job to go to school full time. I was working 60+ hours a week while finishing up my undergrad and I feel like I had more down time than I do now. While I find A&P easy (although we haven't had an exam yet) I am struggling in micro and I'm perplexed at my nursing grade. I second guessed myself and changed answers. DUMB... I KNOW! At least with the nursing I know which answers I changed and why and what was the right answer. I have 2 friends in another local nursing program who have compared my program and material to theirs and both admitted that mine is much harder than theirs. Yet, I get very jealous when they tell me about their fantastic grades while I'm pulling C's and D's.

I hope whoever is reading this has followed thus far.... Why I'm writing this because I want to know if anyone else is in my situation. I was previously a great student and now I find myself struggling. Does anyone have any advice? Also, my ultimate goal is to continue on to get my NP. I have a friend who is in her senior year of CRNA school. Her advice was to do as well as I can in A&P. She said she got a C in Micro, which makes me feel comforted. Will my BA factor in when I apply for grad school?? I'm so confused and upset. I know that my heart is in nursing but now I'm starting to go through the "what ifs" because I chose nursing over the PsyD program due to the cost of education and tuition costs.

Any words of wisdom and advice will help!! I'm freaking out a little. :confused:

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

First of all, congratulations on being selected for what appears to be a very selective program. Obviously, the school feel you have 'the right stuff', even if you are in doubt right now.

Professional Nursing education IS harder than other types of education - and it should be. Nursing practice involves life-or-death decisions with relatively low amounts of educational preparation as compared to other health care professions. Let's face it, what is the worst potential outcome for a (PhD) psychologist?? Now compare that to the responsiblity of an (ADN) nurse - see? Most second-career folks experience exactly the same thing you are going through because it's difficult to understand the level of intellectual horsepower and overall effort associated it takes. Hang in there - as you become more acclimated to NS, your results will improve.

If you're referring to applying to an MSN program, I doubt whether your BA will make any difference unless you are interested in pursuing an NP in behavioral health. Somewhere along the way, you will need to get a BSN - either going through a bridge (ADN-BSN) or an accelerated (ADN-MSN) program in which the BSN requirements are factored into the curriculum. The second option can shave about a year off education time since they substitute grad-level classes for undergrad ... but it requires more focus and effort.

In the meantime, don't hesitate to take advantage of resources that are available to you such as tutors or study groups.

Best of Luck to you!

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You aren't alone. I'm a junior in a BSN program so this is our first semester of nursing coursework. Most students got a D on the first exam in two of our classes. It seems like that's pretty normal--it's just a different ballgame than in other majors, with the NCLEX-style questions and so on. Don't freak out. Strive to do your best, but set achievable goals. My goal is to do better on my next exam than I did on the first one, but I'm not so worried about the letter grade as long as I'm improving.

My instructors have also suggested getting an NCLEX book to practice on. I haven't done that yet because the one I want (Saunders) is coming out with a new edition next month I believe, and when it does, I will definitely be buying it!

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I am surprised that being in a 2 year program they are having you take Micro and A&P and didn't require it prior. Those 2 classes and a Nursing class on top of that can be a hefty load. I would look into some tutoring or something, your school might have free help available. Hang in there and try to find your niche. Best of luck to you.

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An NCLEX review book can be helpful to improve test-taking skills. Doing well on an NCLEX-style test involves not only knowing the content but also having NCLEX-specific test-taking strategies. And even then, some questions just aren't that clear about what exactly they are asking for, so getting straight A's can be next to impossible even if you were super-nursing-student and go on to become super-nurse.

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I am surprised that being in a 2 year program they are having you take Micro and A&P and didn't require it prior. Those 2 classes and a Nursing class on top of that can be a hefty load. I would look into some tutoring or something, your school might have free help available. Hang in there and try to find your niche. Best of luck to you.

I'm in a two year program and microbiology as well as A&P 1 & 2 are required pre-reqs. The only difference with us is that while the program is technically designed for students to be taking their sciences and nursing courses concurrently, my school really isn't accepting anyone into the program itself until they've finished all their pre-req work (especially their sciences)...So they'll put you in as 'general studies' until you're accepted in.

So now I'm in the program and the only courses I'm taking are nursing theory courses...but there's so much with even just that, I'm thanking the holy (fill in blank with your deity of choice) that I'm not bogged down with that other stuff. I work full time as well and there's no way I could handle the work load that I have now as well as Biology I, II, Micro or the two A&Ps....

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I'm in a two year program and microbiology as well as A&P 1 & 2 are required pre-reqs. The only difference with us is that while the program is technically designed for students to be taking their sciences and nursing courses concurrently, my school really isn't accepting anyone into the program itself until they've finished all their pre-req work (especially their sciences)...So they'll put you in as 'general studies' until you're accepted in.

So now I'm in the program and the only courses I'm taking are nursing theory courses...but there's so much with even just that, I'm thanking the holy (fill in blank with your deity of choice) that I'm not bogged down with that other stuff. I work full time as well and there's no way I could handle the work load that I have now as well as Biology I, II, Micro or the two A&Ps....

That just surprised me because we had to do them all before starting the program and our 2 years that we do nursing courses is full time already. I can't imagine them throwing those classes in also. There isn't enough time in the day to fit them with what they already have us in. You can't even apply to our program until you have both A&P and Micro done as well as some other courses. The only one that didn't have to be done prior was nutrition and pathophysiology, you could do those during the program but I got those out of the way too.

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Hello future nursing students, nursing students & seasoned nurses,

Here I am, 4 weeks into my first semester of nursing. I am currently enrolled in a 2 year nursing program. Right now my curriculum is microbiology, A&P and Nursing 1. The school I am in had a 5 year waiting list for the program and decided to do away with it and base entrance on the TEAS & the applicant's qualifications. Luckily (I believe) I was accepted; Out of 5000 applicants I was one of the 188 accepted. I also graduated last year with my BA in Psychology; GPA 3.8. Going into the nursing program I knew that it was going to be demanding and difficult but now I am realizing that it is harder than I had expected. This week I took my first Micro & nursing exams.. to say the least, I did not do as well as I would have liked. I do so so in nursing and micro, well I got a D. We've had 2 nursing skills exams which I passed the first time. The majority of my classmates had to take it twice and a lot failed the second time around and had to go through mediation. So what I'm getting at is that I feel that I am better at the skills than the paper tests, however, the skills do not count towards our GPA. My ego and psyche have taken a huge hit with these first exams. I know that in the end I am going to make a wonderful nurse but now I'm questioning if I'm going to make it. I quit my job to go to school full time. I was working 60+ hours a week while finishing up my undergrad and I feel like I had more down time than I do now. While I find A&P easy (although we haven't had an exam yet) I am struggling in micro and I'm perplexed at my nursing grade. I second guessed myself and changed answers. DUMB... I KNOW! At least with the nursing I know which answers I changed and why and what was the right answer. I have 2 friends in another local nursing program who have compared my program and material to theirs and both admitted that mine is much harder than theirs. Yet, I get very jealous when they tell me about their fantastic grades while I'm pulling C's and D's.

I hope whoever is reading this has followed thus far.... Why I'm writing this because I want to know if anyone else is in my situation. I was previously a great student and now I find myself struggling. Does anyone have any advice? Also, my ultimate goal is to continue on to get my NP. I have a friend who is in her senior year of CRNA school. Her advice was to do as well as I can in A&P. She said she got a C in Micro, which makes me feel comforted. Will my BA factor in when I apply for grad school?? I'm so confused and upset. I know that my heart is in nursing but now I'm starting to go through the "what ifs" because I chose nursing over the PsyD program due to the cost of education and tuition costs.

Any words of wisdom and advice will help!! I'm freaking out a little. :confused:

I'm four weeks into a BSN program as well, and I also have a B.S. degree although I got mine seven years ago which was also when I had the microbiology and countless other biologies that you're taking now. Your program doesn't seem fun. Mine is rather student-oriented and very different from your's it seems. There are only 21 students in my cohort, and my cohort is the program. There aren't others. I don't share the stressors that the traditional students have for some reason. I don't know why, but honestly I don't think my program is very difficult. I kind of like going to lecture. The skills labs are kind of drawn out, and nursing instructors don't seem nearly as skill-driven as my former paramedic instructors. We practiced skills until we could largely do them in the dark. In nursing school it seems like you do it once and move on. I don't know why programs allow A&P to be taken corequisitely. That seems illogical to me. Perhaps that you don't already have that foundation is why your nurse class is difficult. The biggest "thing" for me is that the prinicipal nursing course we're taking now, termed "Foundations" seems more focused on longterm care and/or home health neither of which I'm at all interested in. Each semester we'll have a "major" nursing course with others taken along with them like health assessment, pharmacology, pathophysiology, management, research methods, public health, informatics, etc.

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nursing instructors don't seem nearly as skill-driven as my former paramedic instructors. We practiced skills until we could largely do them in the dark. In nursing school it seems like you do it once and move on

This is going off-topic but that's an interesting observation... "do it once and move on"... yeah, that about sums it up... I could've used more actual practice but nursing education these days is about "critical thinking"...

Okay back to the OP...

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My advice....go back in time and take micro and A&P seperate and NOT with nursing classes. LOL I'm sorry....I had to say it. Schools are ridiculous for allowing all to be taken together. It's way too much work. My school requires at least A&P 1 before nursing 1. I took A&P 1 AND 2 before nursing and took micro this summer. I can't imagine taking such hard classes with nursing. Keep in mind....so many people do bad on the 1st nursing test. They're like no other so you just have to learn how to take them. It's tough, especially with the science courses....I wish you luck! Don't give up!

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Wow! I'm surprised that so many of you think it's weird to take A&P and micro with nursing classes! The only prereqs for my school are contained in a normal high school curriculum...and in my particular program, I had a year of college classes as prereqs including A&P, soc, psych and critical writing, but less than half the students at my school are in this program, so for most people, all that is required is a high school diploma...

Many people take A&P with the nursing classes, and most people take micro etc. with our nursing classes. The only people who don't are those who took it previously, and those who take it during the summer.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Wow! I'm surprised that so many of you think it's weird to take A&P and micro with nursing classes! The only prereqs for my school are contained in a normal high school curriculum...and in my particular program, I had a year of college classes as prereqs including A&P, soc, psych and critical writing, but less than half the students at my school are in this program, so for most people, all that is required is a high school diploma...

Many people take A&P with the nursing classes, and most people take micro etc. with our nursing classes. The only people who don't are those who took it previously, and those who take it during the summer.

That's interesting. I have heard of it for a BSN program, but not a 2 year program. Like I said, I couldn't imaging taking all those on top of our nursing program at the same time, our 2 year of strictly nursing classes is already full time. I don't know where they would fit it. I guess I am glad my program is set up the way it is.

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