What is it...

To me it is learning all the new material really fast and then having to reatain it while learning all new information.

Nursing school is both hard and stressful, it sincerely is NOT easy.

There is a lot of work expected of you - and they do try to "weed out" those who are not seriously committed.

I can remember having 300-400 pages to read nearly every night, a paper due every week, care plans due (really difficult in school, in real life, the computer does them), a write up of my clinical patient, drugs - their uses and side effects and interactions to memorize - not to mention all the hands on skills we were learning in lab - lot's and lot's of work - but the rewards were great if you gave it your all.

I studied every night and all day Sunday.

Good luck

To me, it is the politics, the fast turnaround time between getting the new information, studying and retaining it, and then, the time involved. You have lectures, labs, clinicals, and each of these areas demand assignments to be turned in on time. Or else.

Time management is of utmost importance. I had a calender with dates written in pencil (because dates changed so quickly-even with a carefully planned syllabus) with dates of lectures, labs, tests, when to study what, how long to cover material for the first time and then to revisit information again to summarize what was probably the most important. I don't miss those days, but I did what I had to do in order to get where I am now.

It's a whole different way of thinking....a completely different language....and even a different written language and way of writing.

My personal experience? Each instructor has something different that's important to them. My semesters were 16 weeks long. So about week 10, I'm FINALLY feeling good about getting something done the "right" way, and BAM!!! Semester's over. On to the next instructor, and whatever THEY'RE picky about!

There's just a whole crap load of reading - 400+ pages every class, terminology that you don't understand (so the reading takes 4X as long in the beginning), clinical prep paperwork to complete, meds to look up every day....and then the random project/paper/speech/whatever thrown in just to spice things up.

Now you toss in personality conflicts...some instructors who are not very pleasant or fair (and total hypocrites)....and the constant feeling of "What in the heck am I doing???"....and "Wait - did I just totally screw that up? Will that kill somebody?".....and there you have it: Nursing school.

BUT - it was SO worth it. I made some life-long friends, learned SO much (from the good AND the bad), and I love my job. I mean - I LOVE it. :redbeathe It's kind of like pregnancy and labor - some parts stunk, some were awesome, and the pain is somewhere in the back of my brain....but I look at my kids and want to weep because they are so beautiful. Worth every minute.

Or else.

Oh my gosh - the "or else." How could I forget the "or else?!?"

Miss more than 10 hours a semester? You fail. "I'm sorry your grandmother died, and your child was in a car accident - maybe you should take a semester off and reapply. You're chances are pretty good. There are no exceptions." (Unless your dad works here, then we'll give you a special exception, and YOU can complete your clinicals over the summer)

Less than a 76%? Repeat the class! Do it again? "You can reapply next semester."

Every time I had a sniffle, I was petrified that I would come down with something and have to miss a class. I can't remember how many times I heard someone say..."I don't know....how many clock hours is that worth??"

Oh my gosh - the "or else." How could I forget the "or else?!?"

Miss more than 10 hours a semester? You fail. "I'm sorry your grandmother died, and your child was in a car accident - maybe you should take a semester off and reapply. You're chances are pretty good. There are no exceptions." (Unless your dad works here, then we'll give you a special exception, and YOU can complete your clinicals over the summer)

Less than a 76%? Repeat the class! Do it again? "You can reapply next semester."

Every time I had a sniffle, I was petrified that I would come down with something and have to miss a class. I can't remember how many times I heard someone say..."I don't know....how many clock hours is that worth??"

Isn't it something that even after it is all over, you STILL remember "...or else..."?? What a nightmare! :)

For me it was the constant pressure of always having something due or a test to study for. I could never fully relax, because I knew that as soon as I turned in my paper, I would have to do a care plan and then study for a test.

Ugh! It has been a little over a year for me since classes ended. I try not to think about it. Everything was constant. No breaks really. At least for your mind.

And, the first years as a nurse can be just as overwhelming, because then...is correlation of all of the facts you learned, and what needs to be thrown away in the real world. Having more than the typically assigned 2-3 patients as in class, the co-workers thinking that you can just dive in and swim with no lifejacket, impatient doctors, fearful patients and the anxious new grad trying to take it all in.

I think most folks underestimate the amount of work involved in nursing school, especially ADN programs. For students who had been able to listen and pay attention in their core classes and get A's, the shock of having to read and understand 4 to 12 chapters for a test in a week is more than a lot of students can handle, that's why so many fail the first couple semesters. Nursing school also requires you to get organized and prepared for whatever your next task is, especially when you get into the clinical setting.

The other thing is the stress of clinicals which in some programs can make students feel like they have been sent off to boot camp. My clinical experience was like that and I could not believe a profession that preached compassion and caring as pillars of the nursing profession/practice would treat their students the way ours did. I don't believe it has to be that way and hope things have improved dramatically since I went to school.

For me it was the critical thinking skills and actually being able to apply everything you have learned when on the unit during clinical. Anyone can sit there and study material to prepare for a test, but like one of the other posters said you need to be able to put everything you learned together when you have a patient- that's the hardest part. Clinicals were always very stressful for me, I often didn't sleep the night after clinicals when I gave meds because I was so worried that I would get a phone call in the middle of the night telling me I gave the wrong med or wrong dose to a patient. That was my all time worst fear! Even though you do have your clinical instructor checking your work it seems sooo easy to make a mistake!

Good luck!

Thanks a million for the responses... Sometimes, I don't give myself enough credit. The critical thinking process I think is what will get me... (((SIGH)))!!!