What was/is the hardest part of your undergraduate nursing education

KaksRN · Jul 17, 2011

dealing with classmates :lol2:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

The actual nursing classes were not very difficult to me.

However, immature classmates, passive-aggressive instructors, and nurses at the clinical sites who did not want to be bothered with students all were far more difficult contenders than the coursework ever would have been.

butterfly134 · Jul 17, 2011

The hardest part for me wasn't the school work or classmates. I started studying for my BSN straight out of high school and I was quite young. I found the hardest part was being on placement and trying to get on with the RN's who I would be assigned to. Most of them were nice and friendly but I was very shy and I found myself very nervous and scared when I was working with an RN that wasn't friendly towards me. Apart from that I loved clinicals, school and my I got on great with my classmates and made plenty of great friends :)

mz-purposedriven_rn · Jul 17, 2011

For my particular program, the schoolwork was difficult. I've always been an A/B student, but it's difficult to understand new material,especially when you have other courses and clinicals.I think time management is everything in undergrad because its not about what you know,but how u APPLY it. My most difficult class was PEDS, but I made it through:)

Good luck!

nurseypoo87 · Jul 17, 2011

dealing with classmates

LOL Couldn't have said it better myself.

A room full of young females (95% females at my school) ... you can imagine. My 1st year ... all we did was cry. My tutor would encourage it... weird year. Tons of drama. Feels like you're on some reality show... nevermind, nursing school. :uhoh3:

and then on top of that if you end up with horrible clinical tutors- Oh the joys of nursing school. I had my share of bad clinical teachers. One in particular... made my life hell. :mad:

nocturncal · Jul 17, 2011

dealing with classmates

yup...especially when they were type-a students.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

The most difficult single task that I think I ever had to do in nursing school was the complete head to toe physical assessment in my first semester. We had to do it in front of our lab instructors on a classmate for a grade and everything was worth points. I basically typed up a 3 page script for it to get it right. There were critical steps that, if missed, would automatically fail you. It was nerve-wracking and comprehensive, even down to checking cranial nerves (no pun intended). I almost forgot to assess the skin, which would have failed me!

After that though, every other skill was a bit less comprehensive and straightforward, even though I think sterile gloving for a nursing lab instructor is scary lol (then you get out in clinical and your "sterile field" is on a dirty sheet on a bed 10 inches beneath you). Otherwise what everyone else said is true - the politics of nursing school is the most difficult to navigate. I did not make a ton of great friends and did not relate to most of the people in my class, although I did do enough to get by on group assignments and projects and such. I could talk to people in my clinical groups. Many people did get close through nursing - just depends on your situation.

I'm going into my last semester and will graduate in December, so we'll see what comes of this one.

diva rn, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

Uh, taking the IQ test!

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

Anatomy class and peds lecture were the second worst for me. My research class was the absolute worst. I figure if I could pass that, I can do anything!

joanna73, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2011

Nursing research class....very very boring. Condescending instructor.

porridge · Jul 17, 2011

Community nursing project. Shudder.