Which class is the most difficult?

RN always, BSN, RN · May 16, 2003

I graduated over a year ago and I would have to say that I thought micro was the hardest. Although the nursing classes were tough, it was just that with nursing classes there is a tremendous amount of preparation and paperwork (clinicals, careplans, research, meds, etc.) Micro was fun but very tough, so I would give put it at the top of my list as being the most difficult! Hope this answers your question.

straba · May 16, 2003

I thought micro was pretty easy. O-chem on the other hand had me twisted every which way. What I do well in, someone else may really struggle with, and vice versa. I think most would agree that Micro, Chem, and A&P (and maybe math) are some of the tougher classes you will take in school.

dianacs · May 16, 2003

I think that the content of A&P and micro is heavy with lots of memorization involved. So, I think that those classes are harder in that regard. But I think that nursing classes are hard too, because you have to be "on" all the time--not just in clinicals, but in class too. It is so important to really understand the concepts, and in order to do that, you have to spend the time going over them. Recognition of key points is not enough to get by. And even though you can and will have a life outside of nursing school, I have found that since starting nursing classes, they are never far from my mind. I can't quite turn them off (when I'm not in class or clinicals or studying) like I could non-nursing classes. Well, between semesters I can, and I make every effort to do so, but that's about it!

babynursewannab · May 17, 2003

Organic and Biochemistry. Definitely!

busybeaver · May 17, 2003

I thought the A&P I lab was the most difficult. All those bones, muscles and nerves! A&PII and Micro seemed a bit easier to me, because it was more theory and definitions. Not just straight memorization of words I could barely pronounce or spell!! (and spelling counted in my class)

memphispanda, RN · May 17, 2003

I thought the regular college classes were a breeze compared to the nursing classes. I can't pick a nursing class that was the toughest...all of the med/surg content is difficult.

jschut, BSN, RN · May 17, 2003

I have to agree with Med-Surg being most difficult for me. And I start Microbiology on Monday morning, so now...I'M SCARED!

Mkue · May 17, 2003

I had really anal detail oriented A&P instructors so those courses were more challenging. The nursing courses were a breeze compared to EEK A&P's.. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Good Luck:)

Vsummer1 · May 17, 2003

Think of it like this:

You take A & P, micro, chem etc. and it is hard. You are learning concepts, with a lot of memorization.

You move on to the nursing classes. In the nursing classes, you are expected to KNOW what you learned in the pre-reqs. Only now, you are applying that knowledge. So, say you have a patient with a certain disease. You have to call upon the knowledge of your A & P, the chemistry for the blood work, and the micro if the disease involves a pathogen. You pull it all together and use the nursing process to determine WHY you are treating a patient the way you are, why the doctor ordered what he ordered, and what you can do to help that patient get better.

Nursing classes are harder, because they are constantly making you define why you do what you do. They want you to use rational. You can't just say, well, the doctor ordered it so therefore I do it. You can't just say, well, common sense says you do this or that. You need to know WHY you do what you do, WHEN to do what you do, WHAT is most important and a priority for your patient, and then make the decision on an individual basis for each patient about every little thing you do. After all of that, you then have to explain it all to your instructors in the form of a care plan or one of the many reports you will write. They drill you on every move you do or do not make with a patient, and you had better be able to explain it all to your instructor!

These nursing classes are much harder because it isn't a matter of regurgitation like the pre-reqs were. It is a matter of application with a real person, in real time.

wishingmary · May 18, 2003

Vsummer1,

You nailed it. I printed out your comment to hand to people who ask. Anyway for me, the hardest part is learning how to budget my time as a nursing student, mother, and employee. Nursing school really isn't that hard, it is just a lot very quickly, everything is due tomorrow... lots of paper work. I found I couldn't be perfectionistic. I had to learn to do the best I could in a given time frame and let it go. At my school, theory exams have to be passed with a 76% before any paper work grades would be averaged into the final grade. However a failing grade in any of the paper work could also flunk you. So studying for theory exams got weighted higher in my time allocations but I made sure what I turned in was acceptable. I hear stories of students getting by without reading their texts. At my school, the instructors lectured but test questions came from the text more so than lecture. Granted, it is hard to read everything word for word but you have to look at the content and make that decision as to what may be rambling and what has a lot of content. The most important is ask yourself what would the nurse do? Why? and how would you prioritize with emphasis on most important. I loved my anatomy class and physiology classes. They made sense to me and yes I took them alone so I could devote my full attention to them because I knew nursing school depended on my understanding.

Vsummer1 · May 18, 2003

Originally posted by wishingmary
Vsummer1,

You nailed it. I printed out your comment to hand to people who ask.

Thank you, I think my instructors would be happy that I got their basic theory down! :chuckle

Anyway for me, the hardest part is learning how to budget my time as a nursing student, mother, and employee. Nursing school really isn't that hard, it is just a lot very quickly, everything is due tomorrow... lots of paper work. I found I couldn't be perfectionistic. I had to learn to do the best I could in a given time frame and let it go.

I think they are teaching us to get ready for the real world. We will never be able to do everything we want with a patient, so we have to decide the priority issues.

At my school, theory exams have to be passed with a 76% before any paper work grades would be averaged into the final grade. However a failing grade in any of the paper work could also flunk you. So studying for theory exams got weighted higher in my time allocations but I made sure what I turned in was acceptable. I hear stories of students getting by without reading their texts. At my school, the instructors lectured but test questions came from the text more so than lecture. Granted, it is hard to read everything word for word but you have to look at the content and make that decision as to what may be rambling and what has a lot of content.

Same thing here. The way our program is structured you can fail either clinic (the paperwork along with the patient care) or theory (the exams). You must pass both, then at the end your final grade is both sections together. If you fail one, you fail both.

As for the part about the reading, I think those people who say they never read the text are stretching the truth a bit. It would be impossible to pass the program I am in without at least reading the background material. Maybe they don't read all the text (we are assigned thousands of pages from 5 different books!) but if they don't read the basic parts forget it. They may not "study" the text, but if they do not read it all no way could they pass our exams.

The most important is ask yourself what would the nurse do? Why? and how would you prioritize with emphasis on most important. I loved my anatomy class and physiology classes. They made sense to me and yes I took them alone so I could devote my full attention to them because I knew nursing school depended on my understanding.

I too am taking my core nursing alone. It is enough! I am all done with everything for the degree EXCEPT them. The syllabus says we are in school 16 hours a week, but that is baloney! We are in school (including clinical) more like 19 hours a week, including the time spent the day before an assignment going over the patient's chart for our next days assignment. That does NOT include the study time, the careplans or the reports we write. Careplans take hours, and we have 6 due (each is 2 pages) in this 5 week session along with a "mini careplan" due every day on each patient we see. Then there is the 5 page research paper also due.

Sounds like you are about the same place I am~ how long do you have left?