What did nursing school do to you?

AAHHHHH! I remember well. I was a nervous wreck! I needed Xanax or something, lol. I couldn't eat, sleep, do anything the nights before clinical. Then clinicals would be over for a few weeks, I'd relax, then here we go again next quarter. I remember my very last day of clinical. I fell out the door going to the hospital that AM. 530 in the morning. I had a very bad sprain and was in PAIN! I went anyway, and the instructor said to go back home, I had completed enough hours. I was like NOOOOOO FREAKING WAY!!!! I am going to enjoy every minute of this. I hobbled around that floor all day. There was no better feeling than walking out those doors that afternoon, even in tremendous pain. Hang in there. It'll be over soon! (the school part anyway)

I am not finished yet. This week is our last Med-Surg week, and then we start leadership which is 11 days long. All together we have 20 days left to complete. The closer it gets to completion, the more anxious I get. I am excited, scared, and I can't wait until I am finished. I don't know where I am going to work at yet. I thought maybe the hospital, but now I don't know. Since financially I have lost so much (i.e. currently have no real addy because I lost my apt., not working and left my job last month d/t the stress of trying to complete school assignments in the wee hours of the night) I may have to consider other options. Good luck to ya future nurse;)

Well other than the weight gain, I was pretty anxious and worried part of the semester... I think a lot of nursing school is confidence and psychological! However I did gain confidence in my abilities and learned a lot of new things! Good luck on finals everyone :)

All I can say is-YES! Today was my last day of clinical and I graduate in June. I've gotten all As and Bs in nursing school, but I feel like a loser. Chewed up and spit out says it perfectly. I feel beaten down, have a permanent headache, and about 20 extra pounds that I sure hope aren't permanent. All that despite being an emotionally secure, stable, driven person who knows how to juggle lots of responsibilities and get the job done. I have such negative feelings about the nursing school process and have met so many honestly DUMB instructors that it's made me wonder about the intellectual quality of nurses in general.

But I love clinicals, and my clinical instructors have been mostly inspiring. And I've met many tough-a**, do-it-right nurses in clinicals. So, I'm hoping to just get through school with my sanity, choose a good hospital to work in, and get on with the process of becoming a good nurse.

Hang in there.

It has put my self esteem through the ringer. I have all B's this semester. I use to be an A student. I was hoping to retain that, for at least the first year anyway. I just hope it is not down hill from here.

yea I lost my "A" student status too. So far in nursing courses have 2 As (foundations and psych) and 4 Bs (adult health, mother/baby, and patho and pharm) But it's all good. I just want to be DONE don't care about the grade so much anymore lol. One semester to go. I love working at the hospital and it's a drag when I have to study and can't work lol. I'm ready to be HOME when I'm home..not studying my butt off. I want to be back with my family. And I want to figure out my specialty and learn all about that.

The worst part I guess is being so BROKE. I juggled pretty good the first couple years..then my hubby took a paycut to have a saner schedule. But now I am getting behind on bills and haven't paid my credit cards in 3 months..sigh.... So my credit is going to be SHOT when I graduate.

Well at least we'll be making a whole lot more money so I can buy things with cash lol... It's so hard focusing on school when you are so worried about finances. But I just keep juggling as best I can and hope I come out a better person for all this sacrifice we have made.

what did it do to me.. what is it doing to me.. what it will continue to do to me till May...:deadhorse

its been some time but here is the list.

20lb wt gain

3 month seperation from husband

1 year post school feelings of guilt for reading/watching TV

still 4 years latter have nightmares about tests/naked in class.

gave me the foundation to become the nurse I am today.

didnt help all that much with spelling though.

1. gave me 25 extra pounds

2. gave me head splitting headaches weekly

3. gave me an ulcer or two

4. took me away from my family

But after it was all said and done.......it gave me a new motto. If I can get through that **** and graduate magna cum laude, I can do anything!!!

What nursing school did for me...

Nursing school robbed me of every drop of confidence I ever possessed, and then slowly built it back up until it was stronger than ever before!

It gave me the knowledge to properly diagnose myself with every condition known to man:lol2:

Nursing school opened my eyes to how much I have left to learn. The more I learn, the more I realize I need to know, and the more I want to learn what I don't know. You know?

It prepared me to pass the nclex and provide safe and confident patient care, but the insight to know that it is up to me to build upon that foundation and become a truly great nurse.

It taught me to never quit, and how to take life one day at a time.

It gave me friendships that will very well last a lifetime.

It grew me up.

Most importantly, it gave me a purpose.

it was the best and the worst thing in the world possibly me... i lost a a future wife, i lost most of my friends and all of my social life i was bitter. What did it do for me? gave me an amazing career to start on... so professionally im happy but my personal life sucks from it...

Somehow I felt like if I could survive nursing school with 5 teens at home (with support from my husband), I could survive anything. And yes....nursing school was a humbling experience....I still shudder when people say they are planning to go to nursing school (with stars in their eyes) but I also know that once they are finished, should they survive, they will never see human beings nor themselves in the same way again....

Nursing school took over my life. Friends fell by the wayside, I slept with nursing books piled up on my bed. I even remember sitting in church running things through my mind I needed to remember for tests.....

I'll never forget graduation and watching as the young woman in front of me was dancing on her chair...I whispered to the woman sitting next to me..." yep, folks witnessing our graduation have no idea what we have just been through and why she feels like dancing".