What is nursing school like?

theantichick · May 16, 2012

[color=#333333]carol burnett described what labor pains feel like. she said, "take your bottom lip and pull it over your head." it's about as easy to tell you what nursing school will be like.

what are you expected to do? learn how to be a nurse. oh, you want more of an answer than that? well, you are expected to learn the material, and learn to apply it with critical thinking. you are expected to learn to document your findings, what they mean, and what you plan to do about it. you are expected to learn and return demonstrate a set of skills that you will be completely unfamiliar with and freaked out by when you start. you'll take tests in a format and with a level of requirement unmatched by anything you've done before. oh, and make sure you smile.

how long are your days? well, theory class for me is 4 hours a week and clinicals work out to be about 10. take that and times it by 2 (more for some of my classmates) for studying, and add another 5 or 6 for clinical prep, and you're somewhere close. and if you have a family or have to work, add all that time in too.

how hard is it? depends on too many factors to say. i will tell you that almost all of the people in my nursing class were straight a or high a-b students before they hit nursing school, and a large number of us are glad for our c's now. it's completely *different* than any school you've been in before.

IndyElmer · May 16, 2012

You might have an easier time getting an answer if you do some networking at a nearby community college or university with a program. You could see the school of nursing has student ambassadors with whom you could speak, possibly attend a student nurse association meeting so you can introduce yourself and ask a few questions, or ask your friends if they can put you in touch with any of their friends. Your question is so broad that it seems like a 10 or 15 minute conversation would probably help more than any response that I could type here.

If you're shy about trying any of the above, maybe just call any school of nursing and ask to speak to the adviser for prospective students. If you're nervous/paranoid that they're going to think your questions are dumb and put you on their eternal "do not admit" list (highly unlikely!), you could give a false name or call a school that is too far away / too expensive to consider.

Merlyn · May 16, 2012

It is were you learn to be a nurse. All schools are different but the experience is like Basic Training in the service.

They knock you down just to build you up again. You will learn a new language(based on Greek, Latin,or people's names such as Fallopius (1523-1562) discoverer of the Fallopian Tubes. You will try to cram into 2-4 years knowledge that Doctors learn in 12. Some courses may be easy and some will drive you to tears, some may even drive you to drink. May things that you learn may have nothing to do with the reality that awaits you when you graduate. Then you start your real education in Nursing. In this real world school of Nursing you don't go for grades, you go for life saving enlightenment. The nursing life is laden with some happiness and a lot of tears. Think well before you enter it, Grasshopper. Nurses are some of the most non respected people on the planet. But, as I end my career, I can say If I wasn't there as a Nurse there would be 34 people that would not be alive today.

RT->CRNA · May 16, 2012

All schools are different but the experience is like Basic Training in the service. They knock you down just to build you up again.
You will try to cram into 2-4 years knowledge that Doctors learn in 12.

Coming from someone just out of the service, and a RT (highest attrition rate program in military, even higher than nursing program) I don't know if I can equate ANY school to those 2 things.

For one, basic training was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. Because of that training, everything that has ever come in front of me has been so much easier. When I was given the choice between nursing or RT after my tours, I was told RT was a much harder program because it is somewhat physics heavy. We had 8 out of 16 drop out my RT class. My friend in that was in the nursing program said 1 dropped out, and was readmitted later. I admit I was knocked down hard in basic training, but I am sorry, there is not a school program hard enough to do this for me outside of the military.

I am a prior pre-med student. I will NEVER EVER equate any allied health or nursing program to medical school. For those that do not know, the first 2 years of medical school is purely book work. They go over everything a nurse should know in the first months of their program. On top of that , they have to struggle through advanced A&P, which should not be compared to the HARDEST A&P class undergrad programs can offer. Infact, some schools don't even recommend you take A&P because it is so basic and general that it can actually mess up your learning pattern while in med school.

Believe me, as a prior pre-med, you can believe it was hard for me to decide to go nursing instead. But with my goal being a great payscale, and just the "be" in the medical field, I am aiming for NP or CRNA school. I will never ever believe as a NP or CRNA I am equal to a MD/DO in the same specialty... EVER! But I do see that the job plays a crucial role in what I want to do.

Off my bandwagon,

Ivan

MoniqueS · May 16, 2012

As a patient, I know that I currently have a NP who is a lot more professional and better than my last general practice MD! There are bad doctors and great NPs and vice versa. -- Although... From what you said, it seems that MD program is more intense and just different from a nursing program.--

-- I'm sure you will make an outstanding NP who will help a lot of people. The most important thing is doing what you want to do.... as you said. :)

Iridescent Orchid, CNA, LPN · May 17, 2012

in nursing school you are expected to be able to apply everything that you learn in a quick manner. critical thinking skills are major. you are expected to perform procedures and tasks in a timely manner. trust me, if you aren't that well at time management, nursing school will give you a crash course, as it will with organization as well.

i attend full-time in my program. that is all my college offers. i go monday through friday 8am to 3pm and 6:45am to 3:00pm on clinical days. you might as well say i live, breath, and eat nursing school because when i'm not attending lecture, i am usually chin-deep in my textbooks and lecture notes.

nursing school is hard...it isn't meant to be easy, but it can be done! you definitely have to have your heart in it and be ready to give up some things in your life, or put them on the back burner. it's still important to have a life outside of school or else you'd go insane and definitely get burned out relatively quick. it's hard to think some people have actually made it through the program just for the paycheck. i could not be going through everything i have had to go through just for the money. my heart is in this 110% and there is no way i could ever succeed in this career choice without being passionate and completely devoted.

Merlyn · May 17, 2012

Coming from someone just out of the service, and a RT (highest attrition rate program in military, even higher than nursing program) I don't know if I can equate ANY school to those 2 things.
For one, basic training was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. Because of that training, everything that has ever come in front of me has been so much easier. When I was given the choice between nursing or RT after my tours, I was told RT was a much harder program because it is somewhat physics heavy. We had 8 out of 16 drop out my RT class. My friend in that was in the nursing program said 1 dropped out, and was readmitted later. I admit I was knocked down hard in basic training, but I am sorry, there is not a school program hard enough to do this for me outside of the military.
I am a prior pre-med student. I will NEVER EVER equate any allied health or nursing program to medical school. For those that do not know, the first 2 years of medical school is purely book work. They go over everything a nurse should know in the first months of their program. On top of that , they have to struggle through advanced A&P, which should not be compared to the HARDEST A&P class undergrad programs can offer. Infact, some schools don't even recommend you take A&P because it is so basic and general that it can actually mess up your learning pattern while in med school.
Believe me, as a prior pre-med, you can believe it was hard for me to decide to go nursing instead. But with my goal being a great payscale, and just the "be" in the medical field, I am aiming for NP or CRNA school. I will never ever believe as a NP or CRNA I am equal to a MD/DO in the same specialty... EVER! But I do see that the job plays a crucial role in what I want to do.
Off my bandwagon,
Ivan
Ivan my friend and fellow veteran, to me Basic was a lot easier than Nursing school. I trained at a hospital were the DON was hostile to Nursing students. She would call us all idiots and dumb let's pretend nurses. She was a Nun that gave the Sisters of Mercy a bad name. We students worked for 8 hrs. as if we were staff. In the Air force I was just told to get my head out of my... But then after 8 weeks of Basic and 8 more weeks of special training I was call an Airman. After about 6 months at that hospital we were still called Lets pretend nurses. My nursing training was back in 1970 - 1971. I don't think the DON would get away with the treatment to day. So to me I used to wish I was back in Basic. At least they gave me a M-16. Oh If no one has said it yet Thank us for our service to our country.

PepeSilvia · May 18, 2012

I just graduated with my BSN last week, and I'll tell you this- it was a long and hard road to get through all 4 years of nursing school. I remember people telling me it was going to be hard and I thought I'd be able to handle it no problem. Boy was I in for a surprise! Getting through nursing school was just about the toughest thing I think I'll ever do. I'll tell you a little about my experience.

Freshman and sophomore year are mostly sciences and liberal arts prereqs. We started slow in the nursing homes are were pretty babied but I learned so much in these first nursing classes that carried through the next two years- we were all like little sponges ready to soak up all the medical terminology and learn all about taking vital signs. By junior year the lecture classes tripled in difficulty and it was a major shock for a lot of people. A lot of people failed simply because they underestimated the caliber of the classes and what was expected of us. Just a tip- a lot of the problem was getting used to NCLEX style questions so practice practice practice! You feel thrown into a stampede as you take care of truly sick patients in the hospital for the first time. By senior year you are getting more independent and learning how to care for critical patients. I'm not sure if all nursing programs do this, but we had a preceptorship where we got to choose a department in the hospital and work one-on-one with a nurse for about a month. I chose the ER and I feel like that really prepared me for the real world of nursing and I got a lot of experience to talk about in job interviews.

At my school we had clinicals every Tuesday and Thursday from about 7a-3p or 3p-9p. Then Mondays and Wednesday we had nursing lecture and our other non-nursing classes. Every night we had so much reading to do and I had to keep telling myself not to give up. It's tough getting through the work of nursing school but you meet a lot of friends, learn from great professors, and get to care for all sorts of patients. By the end, I feel very prepared to enter the real world of nursing and take the NCLEX. It's a very rewarding profession, and if you are dedicated and put your mind to it, you'll have a great time despite all the work. Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy nursing!