What is it about nursing school....

littlebitwf · Apr 12, 2005

I am a male with a nursing major. I am about to be going into my 2nd year of of

pre-re. When I tell people i am a nursing major some people say that is good and some people say to me'' man I dont want to be giving people baths all day and helping them go to the bathroom.'' I was wondering if someone can tell that there is a lot more to it than that.

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2005

I went to nursing school when I was 31, got pregnant during my first year and had to take a year off. I was so focused on getting that nursing license that everything I had to endure was ok with me. I was planning to divorce and take now 3 kids with me so I needed a good income in a stable career area. Nursing was the answer to my problems. I love to learn so each part was so interesting. I had my squabbles with a few instructors as I was already a paramedic. I really tried to keep that a secret but an instructor found out and of course it was one that hates paramedics. I really shut her up when she pointed me out just once too often for my comfort level in asking, AGAIN.... what a paramedic would do in this situation. I responded that what a paramedic would do in the field really wasn't relative to what I was trying to learn in nursing school so please continue teaching me how to be a nurse.

Oh yeh, nursing school is awesome. I have been an RN for 13 years now and am planning to go back for my MSN with a focus on teaching.

Some hints, if you are really good in some prereq area, test out, its quicker and helps your confidence a lot. Take A&P 1 over the summer as a fast track course, 4 weeks and its over and you learn a lot more if you are the type who gets bored easily with long lectures. Chemistry courses and microbiology will really help with evaluating medical conditions and looking at labs, critical thinking skills. English composition classes will help you to write nurses notes that will help others to care for that patient and will hold up in medical law suits. Yes you need math, how else to calculate mg/kg medications and to check to see if a doc has ordered something really bizarre the you wouldn't want to give. Yes you will be responsible for that too, docs mistakes. Establish team work within your clinical group, it will prepare you for nursing when you graduate. Take one class just for fun, it helps you keep life in perspective. I took a pottery class and still have my works of art. Smile, laugh and get serious when necessary.

Yes it all was hard, took a lot of work, lots of hours of limited sleep because of kids and homework. The hardest part for me was working with burned out nurses during clinical who were no longer patient advocates. The rest was just part of the process of learning.

Oh yeh, I had my whole class to my house for our graduation party, the ex's place was 15 acres with lots of parking fields. And yes, he went to the firehall instead of being present....lol. Kinda my last effort in getting him involved in my life.

We also had our final exam at my church as the school wasn't going to let us use their facility on a weekend that was a holiday (community college). We would have had to wait 3 weeks to take our final test otherwise.

Get busy and come work with me someday.

Good luck

nurse34 · Apr 12, 2005

I went to nursing school when I was 31, got pregnant during my first year and had to take a year off. I was so focused on getting that nursing license that everything I had to endure was ok with me. I was planning to divorce and take now 3 kids with me so I needed a good income in a stable career area. Nursing was the answer to my problems. I love to learn so each part was so interesting. I had my squabbles with a few instructors as I was already a paramedic. I really tried to keep that a secret but an instructor found out and of course it was one that hates paramedics. I really shut her up when she pointed me out just once too often for my comfort level in asking, AGAIN.... what a paramedic would do in this situation. I responded that what a paramedic would do in the field really wasn't relative to what I was trying to learn in nursing school so please continue teaching me how to be a nurse.
Oh yeh, nursing school is awesome. I have been an RN for 13 years now and am planning to go back for my MSN with a focus on teaching.
Some hints, if you are really good in some prereq area, test out, its quicker and helps your confidence a lot. Take A&P 1 over the summer as a fast track course, 4 weeks and its over and you learn a lot more if you are the type who gets bored easily with long lectures. Chemistry courses and microbiology will really help with evaluating medical conditions and looking at labs, critical thinking skills. English composition classes will help you to write nurses notes that will help others to care for that patient and will hold up in medical law suits. Yes you need math, how else to calculate mg/kg medications and to check to see if a doc has ordered something really bizarre the you wouldn't want to give. Yes you will be responsible for that too, docs mistakes. Establish team work within your clinical group, it will prepare you for nursing when you graduate. Take one class just for fun, it helps you keep life in perspective. I took a pottery class and still have my works of art. Smile, laugh and get serious when necessary.
Yes it all was hard, took a lot of work, lots of hours of limited sleep because of kids and homework. The hardest part for me was working with burned out nurses during clinical who were no longer patient advocates. The rest was just part of the process of learning.
Oh yeh, I had my whole class to my house for our graduation party, the ex's place was 15 acres with lots of parking fields. And yes, he went to the firehall instead of being present....lol. Kinda my last effort in getting him involved in my life.
We also had our final exam at my church as the school wasn't going to let us use their facility on a weekend that was a holiday (community college). We would have had to wait 3 weeks to take our final test otherwise.
Get busy and come work with me someday.
Good luck

Snowfreeze...what an inspiring story! I have wanted to do this for so long and I think I'm just scared of the unknown. I keep hearing these horror stories and it makes me think twice but this is something that I have to do for me. It is so nice to hear stories where yes it was hard but they love being a nurse like yourself! I just think once I got into clinicals that I would just eat it up! Or atleast I hope so! Thanks again for your input!

hypnotic_nurse · Apr 13, 2005

I worked nearly full time, so for me nursing school was horribly exhausting. I'd get up early to study and drag myself to the library to keep myself from falling asleep. Then those clinicals and going to work afterward. Just horrible overwhelming fatigue at the volume of work to do is what I remember the most. The acedemic work was challenging but not horribly difficult, just time consuming.
You'll do fine, when there's a will, there's a way. Sounds like you're being very realistic about how challenging it is going to be for you, but you can do it! Good luck!

I'm with Tweety, only I was also a single mom with two kids.

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2005

Nurse 34

Go for what you want...It is worth it. It is surprising how much of the world you drag along with you in your quest to achieve your dreams. And you never feel a drag, just share what you are doing...they tell you after the fact more often than not.