What did you struggle with most in nursing school?

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2011

I understand that you already have an idea of what you want to do and I'm not going to to try to persuade you otherwise, debate with you, or judge you about that. However, in nursing school your instructors don't give a you-know-what about what you "want to do". You have to learn everything, do everything, and suck it up or you're out. Nursing school is the place to get as much experience as you can - that's why they make us go to different clinical sites and have different patients. They do it for your own good so if you can't get a position in your chosen area, you're free to get a position somewhere else.
And, most of the time, the nurse isn't the one telling the pt that they "have HIV" or whatever, the nurse is the person explaining to the pt on how to take their new meds for HIV and teaching them about virus counts, etc. The nurse is the one who holds the pt's hand and offers them a shoulder to cry on when they breakdown over their new diagnosis. I'm not trying to tell you what you already know, I'm trying to reemphasize a major point - nurses are teachers, no matter what. I don't want you to spend tons of money on an education and a career and not know how things are. The ONLY nurse I have ever met who didn't have to teach AT ALL is my aunt - she is temporarily disabled and stays at home going over medicare care plans. And she constantly complains about how BORING it is, but it's the only thing she can do right now. If you want to have any patient interaction, you will have to do some teaching. And if you want to pass nursing school, you will have to do A LOT of teaching - probably while your instructor is breathing down your back - and you will most likely even have special projects based on teaching alone. After nursing school, it will become second nature to you and you won't even realize that you're doing it - so if you don't think you're good at it or you don't think you like it, don't worry - you'll get better and you will like it! Patients look up to and respect a good nurse who can teach them and help them and not make them feel stupid (most of the time anyway). So, it's better to know your stuff know so you don't come off like an idiot later.

Ah, assumptions. I never said I was not going to teach anything. However, I would certainly not go into the detail as in the scenario in question, and I did mention meds in my reply as dry, short, and quippy as it was. Counts would be equally interesting. Viral replication isn't something I'd explain, however, the comments that I made were rather important and should be shared. The reality of it is that I would rather know it than teach it but teaching is the job and knowing is the pleasure. Granted, it doesn't take being a nurse to know it, but working around it will help me know it better, i.e. retain it...supposedly.

livelaughlove09 · Jan 7, 2011

i'm going into my third semester of a five semester program, and in med-surg i struggled with fluid and electrolyte imbalance.

amen. you either get it or you don't, and if you don't, you better get it because it rears its ugly head for the rest of your nursing school career and the rest of your life. i graduate in august and i still get confused with it. :eek:

Punch · Jan 7, 2011

What I had the most trouble with, was EKG's. Buy yourself a book and learn this! Also, you can never have enough NClex books! You can learn a lot from them....one i recommend, is Saunders Comprehensive Review. It has lots of written information along with many many NClex questions. This will also come in handy once you enter nursing school, because you will be able to draw from it for quizzes, exams, etc. Check it out! :)

Guest463881 · Jan 7, 2011

normal lab values

missnurse2011 · Jan 7, 2011

my struggle is with med-surge (cardiac), staying focused (because i have soo much on my plate), money (single parent so i have to work), & time management (because i have to work it leaves little time to study).

gemimi · Jan 8, 2011

For the heck of it, if you're on a waiting list you might want to check out physical therapy. They make good money, less work, less paperwork, still have patient contact and leave the worry at the door. You can also specialize in hands, etc. and make even more money.

Servingshots · Jan 8, 2011

Nursing school is only difficult (for me at least) because of the amount of studying/homework there is to do. So really its time management that I struggle with. BUT if you are looking to get a head start I would get a pathophysio book and start looking at the disease processes ( I really like pathophysiology reviews and rationals by mary ann hogan) Good luck!

Sarah010101 · Jan 8, 2011

originally posted by kale724
i'm going into my third semester of a five semester program, and in med-surg i struggled with fluid and electrolyte imbalance.
amen. you either get it or you don't, and if you don't, you better get it because it rears its ugly head for the rest of your nursing school career and the rest of your life. i graduate in august and i still get confused with it.

oh thank god... i am still on winter vacation and i always pull out my a&p and patho to figure this stuff out...grrrrrrrr

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Jan 8, 2011

i struggled with that stupid antedotal (the paperwork consisting of careplans, nutrition, etc.) my grade was a 90%, but they failed me on this antedotal. i feel this was wrong, because i pulled it all together on the last day and got it right, but they didn't care.

you are so right about this. i graduated with a 95 average, but it would have been higher if i had not have listened to a classmate about how she solved her algebraic problem. we had a quiz, i applied what she told me, and i got a 28 on that quiz. :down:

ps...just to let you know, i'm not bragging here. i just loved to do things as perfectly as i possibly could. i wasn't class valedictorian nor salutitorian. i was 4 th in a class of 27 graduates.

Nurse Hossanna · Jan 15, 2011

Still live your life as you, but make sure you bring out time to study everyday. skip some social activities, if you think you're not reading enough.

I continued living my life as me in my 1st and 2nd yr, and i was doing so well. I'm an 'above-average' candidate, but somehow i was so afraid of our house-exam, so as i was entering my final(3rd) year. I skipped a lot of things including marriage, (though now i regret missing that opportunity), i cut my hair and wore spotting waves.( i noticed i was taking a lot of time braiding, loosening and fixing my hair at the salon). Now it has grown back, even longer.

The only thing i did was sleep, bath, eat, do laundry pray and study. i studied about 12 hrs a day(class or clinical hrs included). Yet i was still the vice president of our student union government (SUG) and active in my role (a post i held for 2 consecutive years(tenures).

Though i had a re-sit in clinicals in my promotion to 3rd yr exam.(but it was out of a mere wickedness of one of our nurse-tutors; my examiner, who stood me at a point lashing out at me without allowing me carry out the clinical test she assigned to me until my time was up, then she released me)

My most difficult subject was pharmacology. But it didn't affect my total score.

I passed my house exam with flying colors. i went in for final council exam and made it as well. I was among the 12 candidates that graduated in my set. We were 60 when we matriculated, 41 after pre-training studies(PTS), about 36 after 1st yr, about 26 after 2nd yr, 15 after house-exam, who sat for finals.

Glory to God, Now I'm a practicing full-time clinical nurse and midwife.

My best subject was 'nursing research'. I did very well in my research topics both in schools of nursing and midwifery.

If you focus on making it, you'll make it. It's about sacrificing your time, and praying. Use a time-table, if it's your style. Do not imitate anybody. Find out what works for you and follow it. I did not use a time table, my 'instinct/urge' tells me what to read at any given time.

I wish you success.

starmickey03, MSN, RN · Jan 15, 2011

For the heck of it, if you're on a waiting list you might want to check out physical therapy. They make good money, less work, less paperwork, still have patient contact and leave the worry at the door. You can also specialize in hands, etc. and make even more money.

Im assuming you mean physical therapy assisting, because you need a PhD to be a Physical Therapist now. I hope her wait list wouldnt be long enough to have time to go back to school and get a PhD. It would suck to be on that wait list, lol.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2011

Im assuming you mean physical therapy assisting, because you need a PhD to be a Physical Therapist now. I hope her wait list wouldnt be long enough to have time to go back to school and get a PhD. It would suck to be on that wait list, lol.

A doctorate though not necessarily a Ph.D. The trend is DPT.