What makes NS so hard?

[JillFRN]

What was it for you? Is it that there is so much information or is it that the information is just really difficult beyond that of other classes. I just began last week and I am so nervous already. I feel like these next 1 year and 7 months will never end!

[mybrowneyedgirl, BSN, RN]

To me it's just that there is so much to study. PLUS - those multiple choice questions. You really really need to carefully read through them to find the one clue or word that helps you pick the correct answer. If there's 4 mult choice options, two will seem like excellent responses until you REALLY look it over and have to decide.

[missjennmb]

There are two things that I find are difficult about Nursing classes compared to other classes. First, it IS a lot of information. We study 7 chapters a week, so 3-4 chapters are covered in a 3 hour class. There is not enough time to cover EVERYTHING or even close to it. Last week our instructor had technical difficulties and we covered two chapters in 10 minutes, and were left to our own devices to learn the material. The information on the test, in our class, is not even necessarily what the teacher discussed in class. Anything in those 7 chapters is fair game. anything. No matter how minute the detail, how obscure the reference, or if it was in a table but not in the actual reading. It is so much that the only way I have found to "get it" is to think in application terms, and not to try to memorize anything. We only have about 3-5 memorization questions and the rest is all application so pulling every single possible scenario out of the chapter is more important than knowing the year that the NFLPN was created.

The other thing about it? It doesnt matter to them if you pass or fail. They don't have to pass a certain amount of people. In fact, they fully expect half the class to fail, so are not going to go to extreme measures to make sure you understand and pass. Nobody is going to chide the teacher for too many bad student evals in a nursing class. We are constantly looking around to see who will not be with us two months from now, fully expecting a good half dozen to be gone. I took a math class this summer, and a teacher took over for our prior professor half way through. On his first exam, the class average was in the 60s. This continued and suddenly the teacher was scrambling to give extra credit and help people catch up. This came out of nowhere because he started off very "my way or the high way" and then suddenly realized that most of the class was going to fail. I don't think anyone at all failed after the extra 10 points on the final he gave, 1/2 credit back for fixing errors on one exam, and additional 6 points added to the final grade for perfect attendence. He went overboard to that extreme, but in nursing its the opposite way. Atleast in our school.

[Blove86]

Sheer volume of required knowledge!

[Panda8]

If you aren't interested in nursing, then that makes it 10x harder!

I think that if you really are interested in what you are learning and studying, then the word "hard" won't even exist in your vocabulary =)

[txpatches]

Lots and lots of information!!

[FUTURE_RN_08]

I think what makes nursing school so difficult is because you are overwhelmed the entire time you are in school. Then at test time, they have 4 correct answers and you have to pick the "BEST ANSWER". It is just never ending stress!

[ADPIE10]

What was it for you? Is it that there is so much information or is it that the information is just really difficult beyond that of other classes. I just began last week and I am so nervous already. I feel like these next 1 year and 7 months will never end!

Trust and love makes us or breaks us. Nursing is a profession that requires a high level of trust and love. After you review the Nursing Code of Ethics, ask yourself how you feel about your instructors and your peers. What would you do for others, what do you think they would do for you?