What's nursing school like?

$Blankfrack$ · May 21, 2005

Hey Doug, nursing school is both horrible and great. The exams are like no other you'll have in college, you study until you almost wanna vomit, but on the good side if you like helping people less fortunate than yourself then it's all worth it. You'll make some good friends in nursing school and perhaps students you took classes like Micro with will be with you until you graduate.
The thing about nursing school is study study study study study and when you get sick of studying study some more.
I am 52 years old, started back to college in my middle 40's, got my LPN license then worked for a few years collecting work memories of things that would make most people throw up and now I have 3 weeks left to get my RN license. I love the stress, the action, and the excitement that is constant in nursing. It's never the same and it's never boring.
So I hope this helps in your education.

Hey Gary...

I'm 47 and I started college at 44. I will apply to the nursing program of Miami University, Middletown next August. I'll be around 49 by the time I graduate.

Rick_s3 · May 22, 2005

nursing school is hard....you are tested daily one way or another,...but it should be!would anyone want a nurse caring for their loved one who had an easy time and was not pushed too the point of knowing their limits?

I'm working on my prereqs and hope to attend a nursing school next fall. What can I expect? Do you feel overwhelmed and outnumbered at times?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 22, 2005

I'm working on my prereqs and hope to attend a nursing school next fall. What can I expect? Do you feel overwhelmed and outnumbered at times?

Dear Doug,

Although I'm not a man, I am a nurse of 30 years and there were 11 men in my nursing class of 44 back in 1975. One of my fellow students had the misfortune of having just about every one of his clinical patients go Code Blue (cardiac arrest) and die in the first semester. We all felt so bad for him including the instructor. It was hard for him to keep up with care plans. We all cheered the day we came back for a second day of clinicals and his patient from the day before was still alive!

The hardest part for men is OB, I've always heard. We were fortunate that one of our classmates fathers was an OB in the town where I went to school. He took the guys in our class and had a "talk" with them. He put them all up in stirrups and went through labor with them--on his own time. He was a wonderful man. You might want to keep that in mind and look for a sympathetic doctor to latch onto who might help you out a little.

People are people, kiddo. You are going to be working with patients who will be kind, sweet, nasty, foul-mouthed, cooperative, belligerant, and on and on. Use your communication skills from Communication 101. You will also learn more communication skills in a BSN program. Men and women work together in lots of other professions. You have to settle the man/woman thing with yourself first before you can deal with it in others. You have to settle the issue of being a minority with yourself first so you can deal with any others who might be bigoted toward you, a male nurse. That way you will have a response at your ready for them. There are some things male nurses are able to accomplish better. There are some things female nurses are able to accomplish better. It's a fact of life and you cannot ignore the gender thing. But, you don't have to put up with sexual abuse. Anyway, you'll also be busy figuring out how to deal with death and illness along with your fellow classmates because during your clinicals you are going to see a lot of nasty, yucky things.

Go for your BSN if you can do it first. I went the AA and the BSN route and it took a long time. To get anywhere in the profession you will need a BSN anyway. Try to get all your prerequisites out of the way before you start any of the clinical nursing classes. The clinical nursing takes up the most of your time and study. Don't believe that you can finish a BSN in 4 years like any other Bacchelors degree. The study during clinicals is very intensive because you are combining both anatomy and physiology of different diseases along with the nursing process. The nursing process is something that will be new to you and will take most of your time studying. It helps to form a study group with several other nursing students in your class (like in the movie The Paper Chase). Plan to pretty much eat, breathe and sleep nursing while you are in the clinical nursing classes.

And, hang in there. What kept me going was thinking that millions of other people got through nursing school and if they could do it, I could too. :)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 22, 2005

:confused:

Go to med school!

I had two college friends that went on to med school. It was incredibly stressful. You're talking about 4 years of school, plus at least 3 years of a residency where you earn practically nothing and work double shifts almost every day. If you don't have a spouse or a family to financially and emotionally support you and stick with you for the whole 7 (more like 10) years, forget it. :twocents:

gwt · Jun 3, 2005

Nursing school is a lot like bootcamp, except you spend at least 20 hours per week typing, 20 driving and getting the laundry done when you can!

fethahed · Jun 4, 2005

Nursing school is a lot like bootcamp, except you spend at least 20 hours per week typing, 20 driving and getting the laundry done when you can!

I wouldnt say it was like boot camp... i think its much more difficult and i can say so because i been through both ( well going through nursing school now), boot camp is easy as long as your physically fit but nursing school is hours of mentally and physically draining studying and drilling things into your brains and critical thinking...its fun though and im sure it will all be well worth it in the end!!!

ranxerox · Jun 5, 2005

I wouldnt say it was like boot camp... i think its much more difficult and i can say so because i been through both ( well going through nursing school now), boot camp is easy as long as your physically fit but nursing school is hours of mentally and physically draining studying and drilling things into your brains and critical thinking...its fun though and im sure it will all be well worth it in the end!!!

Well I made a mistake and thought that it was an intellectual, academic environment....

When they say they like questions = stop asking so many questions.

The first round was kicked out for low test scores, fluids and electrolytes got a lot of people. Everyone else seems to be getting kicked from the clinicals.

You will not get the information that you think you need or deserve...when are the tests/classes, what they will cover, when can I re-take my skills lab.

You will be asked questions that you never had the information for, or the answer that you memorized won't be a choice, or the 'right answer' directly contradicts the book.

The clinical instructors are all crazy....I mean that with respect of course, and they can and will kick you out for arbitrary reasons.

It is not a...if I study hard I will get through this. It's a 'if I study hard, I'm lucky, I'm a good clinician, and my clinical instructors like ( believe in ) me I'll get through this.

I hope this wasn't too sardonic, and it helps. I wish I knew this before I started.

Kabin · Jun 5, 2005

Well I made a mistake and thought that it was an intellectual, academic environment....
When they say they like questions = stop asking so many questions.
The first round was kicked out for low test scores, fluids and electrolytes got a lot of people. Everyone else seems to be getting kicked from the clinicals.
You will not get the information that you think you need or deserve...when are the tests/classes, what they will cover, when can I re-take my skills lab.
You will be asked questions that you never had the information for, or the answer that you memorized won't be a choice, or the 'right answer' directly contradicts the book.
The clinical instructors are all crazy....I mean that with respect of course, and they can and will kick you out for arbitrary reasons.
It is not a...if I study hard I will get through this. It's a 'if I study hard, I'm lucky, I'm a good clinician, and my clinical instructors like ( believe in ) me I'll get through this.
I hope this wasn't too sardonic, and it helps. I wish I knew this before I started.

Yikes, I'd run run from that program.

Euskadi1946 · Jun 5, 2005

You haven't lived or died until you've gone through nursing school and taken NCLEX. Every nurse has EARNED their title whether it's RN or LPN, trust me.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2005

I'd take Boot Camp over Nursing School anyday! LOL

Life was so much more simpler :chuckle

evans_c1 · Jun 13, 2005

Some people honestly are not cut out for any nursing program. I only work part time 16 hrs a week on a med surg unit and go full time at school and it just drains me! It is physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausting...but its worth it in the end. It sux that we dont have lives at all while in school too.

titohan · Jun 14, 2005

I'm working on my prereqs and hope to attend a nursing school next fall. What can I expect? Do you feel overwhelmed and outnumbered at times?

on your first day in nursing school, you will literally feel your head begin to swell from all the info that is thrown @ you. your first day of nursing school will mark the beginning of a very intimate relationship with your books. You will love your books, you will care for them, and you will not let them go (except when you graduate).

Nursing school is rough, tough, but worth it, as they all say :) :) :)

Don't let our replies scare you. It's is an awesome challenge!!!