How hard is nursing school?

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brightness

brightness

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I guess I just wonder. I've looked at the curriculum and it doesn't look incredibly difficult, but I've also heard a lot of people say that it is really hard. I'm not sure what I should do...I've considered graduate training in a lot of fields, but because I'm so unsure I've been thinking maybe it would be a good idea to do something at the bachelors level. Near me are two or three accelerated nursing bachelors, which would be ideal for me to get certified as a nurse.

My grades are ok, I have about a 3.4 or so, and I have good study habits. But I guess of all the things I've thought about applying for, nursing is the easiest to get into; but I'm wondering if the admission requirements reflect the difficultly of the coursework.
 
It depends on the program, your background, and how many hours you work outside of school.

IME it was tough but doable. the interpersonal relationships with certain instructors and certain other students were often more difficult than the actual content. You definitely have to study, and there were three freaking million papers so it's time consuming, but again, it's doable.
 
Farmer Jane said:
It depends on the program, your background, and how many hours you work outside of school.

IME it was tough but doable. the interpersonal relationships with certain instructors and certain other students were often more difficult than the actual content. You definitely have to study, and there were three freaking million papers so it's time consuming, but again, it's doable.
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The OP would be wise to refer back to her numerous posts and previous threads on this subject and the advice she has been given in the past on this subject. I rather doubt that much has changed.
 
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fab4fan said:
The OP would be wise to refer back to her numerous posts and previous threads on this subject and the advice she has been given in the past on this subject. I rather doubt that much has changed.
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Please tell me this is another Laur account.
 
sorry, not me. if i made up another account i wouldn't have almost 300 posts, wouldn't be a 2+ year member on it, and i definitely wouldn't pick Michigan as my residence! 😉
 
Tired said:
Please tell me this is another Laur account.
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No. Someone else w/ career issues who has gotten a lot of advice on numerous career paths from numerous members. The MO is very similar, but they are not the same.

There's nothing wrong with asking questions, but after a while you either fish or cut bait.
 
😱

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=471706

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=506557

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=506555

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=491312

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=489209

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=469144

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=468704

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=466973

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=460870

That's just a few of them...

See also the numerous thread posted by Lauren; the OP posted many questions about nursing on those threads and her questions on nursing were amply addressed.

I'm not trying to be mean here; it's just really annoying when people ask for advice over and over again and don't act on it. I don't understand what the motivation is for that. Is it attention seeking behavior? Some of these career decisions come within days of the other. How can you whipsaw from one career to another? That's what you do when you're a kid--not an adult.
 
fab4fan said:
There's nothing wrong with asking questions, but after a while you either fish or cut bait.
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I like the "Is it hard?" questions, because the answer is pretty simple, although no one wants to ever come out and say it.

But I will.

Are you smart? Because if you're smart, you probably won't have trouble with it. On the other hand, if you're dumb, then yeah, it's probably pretty hard.

My wife says the hardest part for her was math. Some people struggle with algebra and dimensional analysis. She had to study a lot to get through that. Now she just uses a calculator.

Like most decisions in life, it's really one of honest self-assessment: Are you bright or are you dumb? Are you willing to work hard so that you can pass tests that are difficult for you, or are you a lazy-a$$ who would rather complain than study?
 
OK I haven't been that all over the board. I know I want to practice medicine but decided to pursue that late. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get into a medical career and which one best fits me and my future goals.
 
Tired said:
I like the "Is it hard?" questions, because the answer is pretty simple, although no one wants to ever come out and say it.

But I will.

Are you smart? Because if you're smart, you probably won't have trouble with it. On the other hand, if you're dumb, then yeah, it's probably pretty hard.

My wife says the hardest part for her was math. Some people struggle with algebra and dimensional analysis. She had to study a lot to get through that. Now she just uses a calculator.

Like most decisions in life, it's really one of honest self-assessment: Are you bright or are you dumb? Are you willing to work hard so that you can pass tests that are difficult for you, or are you a lazy-a$$ who would rather complain than study?
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It's not always about academics, either. I saw some smart people flame-out because they couldn't handle the patient care aspect. So asking "Is nursing school hard?" is like a person who was born blind asking you to describe the sky to him. There are way too many factors that go into it. There were times I thought it was a cakewalk. There were times I was convinced I'd die.

If you lack focus, though, then it is going to be impossible. I wouldn't even attempt it, particularly for someone contemplating an accelerated program.
 
1) whats wrong with Michigan - it snowed on the first day of spring!
2) what is late? I am 41 and a 3.5 year medical student???
3) any new career decisions?

🙂
 
oldManDO2009 said:
1) whats wrong with Michigan - it snowed on the first day of spring!
2) what is late? I am 41 and a 3.5 year medical student???
3) any new career decisions?

🙂
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1. I'm a Buckeye!! Michigan isn't even considered a state to us. Well and I hate cold/snow.
2. Well, late in my college life. I wish I was one of the lucky ones who graduated high school and knew exactly what I wanted to do and did it. If I could go back I would do so many things differently...
3. Still planning to get my BA in Psych, do a 1 year ABSN, work as a nurse for about two years, and head off to PA school. The only thing I foresee potentially changing is being at a point where going back to PA school isn't the best option [[kids or something]] and just sticking to being a nurse. We'll see once I get a good feel for how RN life is.
 
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foreverLaur said:
OK I haven't been that all over the board. I know I want to practice medicine but decided to pursue that late. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get into a medical career and which one best fits me and my future goals.
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options are never a bad thing. 😀

i'd feel worse if i had NO direction of where to go in life. i'm happy that i have a pretty general idea and i know that once i start working as a RT that picture should become much, much clearer.

good luck
 
Yes, I am crazy and unfocused. And I can't keep my head screwed on straight half the time.

But I still need a job, I still need to pay my bills....and as a senior in psychology, there really are no job prospects.

I never really asked about nursing school content, and I've become curious about that. I've had a lot of advice regarding being an NP, but very little about becoming an RN in itself. Also, I have job shadowed numerous RNs and NPs in many settings, but I guess I haven't gotten a lot of information about what the schooling is like.

Anyway, this is good advice: (fab4fan) It's not always about academics, either. I saw some smart people flame-out because they couldn't handle the patient care aspect. So asking "Is nursing school hard?" is like a person who was born blind asking you to describe the sky to him. There are way too many factors that go into it. There were times I thought it was a cakewalk. There were times I was convinced I'd die.

If you lack focus, though, then it is going to be impossible. I wouldn't even attempt it, particularly for someone contemplating an accelerated program.


But I digress. I've posted a lot of threads on SDN and I'm sure I've posted about the same subject too many times. I probably should have done a search.
 
fab4fan said:
😱

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=471706

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=506557

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=506555

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=491312

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=489209

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=469144

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=468704

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=466973

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=460870

That's just a few of them...

See also the numerous thread posted by Lauren; the OP posted many questions about nursing on those threads and her questions on nursing were amply addressed.

I'm not trying to be mean here; it's just really annoying when people ask for advice over and over again and don't act on it. I don't understand what the motivation is for that. Is it attention seeking behavior? Some of these career decisions come within days of the other. How can you whipsaw from one career to another? That's what you do when you're a kid--not an adult.
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*sigh* This confirms my suspicion that I am, in fact crazy. 😱 Sometimes I forget.
 
brightness said:
*sigh* This confirms my suspicion that I am, in fact crazy. 😱 Sometimes I forget.
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cheer up.

you can't make an assumption that you're crazy.

you don't have enough schooling to make that diagnosis. 😀 :laugh:
 
fab4fan said:
I just think you need some really serious time with a career counselor. Nobody bounces all around like that without having some major issues. No offense intended, but...
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Career counseling?! Brilliant!! 😀

I didn't even think about that (which is dumb).
 
RAMPA said:
cheer up.

you can't make an assumption that you're crazy.

you don't have enough schooling to make that diagnosis. 😀 :laugh:
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Several psychiatrists and a psychologist did have enough schooling....

I really am bipolar, tho. I told someone on here once and they said I was "oversharing". That may be true, but it also explain a lot. 😛
 
brightness said:
Several psychiatrists and a psychologist did have enough schooling....

I really am bipolar, tho. I told someone on here once and they said I was "oversharing". That may be true, but it also explain a lot. 😛
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Honestly, you don't come off as mentally ill.

In my minimal experience, mentally ill people don't trot around their diagnoses like badges of honor and use it as an excuse.

You come across as someone who likes to blame everything but your own will power for your lack of direction in life.
 
Yes, some mentally ill pateints do just that. Most times we do not believe the behavior displayed until something bad happens. Tired, are you a Nurse? or Doctor? You seem not to be very experienced in the health care field.
 
julie walker said:
Yes, some mentally ill pateints do just that. Most times we do not believe the behavior displayed until something bad happens. Tired, are you a Nurse? or Doctor? You seem not to be very experienced in the health care field.
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Are you a troll or just spectacularly stupid? Tired is an ortho resident.

You're the one who isn't experienced in the health care field. You're a nursing student. Now go back to your books. More studying, less talking, less trying to look like you know more than you do (which isn't much at all).
 
Here you go again. You are such a mean person here. Why don't you do a course on how to be tactful? I do not care what Tired wants to be. Some of these residents are not as experience as the Patient Care Technician. I know because I have to show them many things. By the way, I am a straight A student. Go figure!
 
julie walker said:
Here you go again. You are such a mean person here. Why don't you do a course on how to be tactful? I do not care what Tired wants to be. Some of these residents are not as experience as the Patient Care Technician. I know because I have to show them many things. By the way, I am a straight A student. Go figure!
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I used to be a patient care technician too, so there.

All your base are belong to us!
 
julie walker said:
Whatever you say Tired. You are the World and the World is you. Goodbye.
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No, you are the world, but the world is all about.

You have walk the path with freedom, but monkey of justice all be upon us all.

All your base are belong to us!

Ka-ching.
 
Tired said:
No, you are the world, but the world is all about.

You have walk the path with freedom, but monkey of justice all be upon us all.

All your base are belong to us!

Ka-ching.
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I thought it was "We are the world, we are the children..."

But I agree, "All your base are belong to us."
 
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fab4fan, you should strive to be a leader not a follower. My parents taught me this and here I am today achieving positively. You do not have the authority to change my opinion so please do not even try. I am not as closed minded as you are.
 
julie walker said:
fab4fan, you should strive to be a leader not a follower. My parents taught me this and here I am today achieving positively. You do not have the authority to change my opinion so please do not even try. I am not as closed minded as you are.
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To quote Bob Dylan: "Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters."
 
You are such a dork! I hope and pray that whatever you chose as your ultimate goal will not contribute to the destruction of good qualities in people. Everyone has good in him/herself but one has to dig very deep to find yours. This is a shame. Let your light shine for a good cause.
 
julie walker said:
You are such a dork! I hope and pray that whatever you chose as your ultimate goal will not contribute to the destruction of good qualities in people. Everyone has good in him/herself but one has to dig very deep to find yours. This is a shame. Let your light shine for a good cause.
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You are the striving of destruction. But evil power are striving also!

Deepness can not are found with this hatred. Restful minding would you doing well.
 
julie walker said:
Everyone has good in him/herself but one has to dig very deep to find yours.
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Good, then at least I'm not superficial.

Let me know when you want to actually have a conversation about nursing and not just nonsensical attempts at insulting people which, BTW, don't work. "Mr/Ms Puke?" Is that the best you can come up with? And you're 40 years old? That's the kind of insult I'd expect from a 6 year old.

Until then, you can expect your ridiculous posts to get the sort of replies they deserve.
 
"How hard is nursing?" is the title of this thread. I have to tell you that anyone asking that probably needs to think about why they want to be a nurse.

For people looking for an easy career choice, PLEASE DONT GO INTO NURSING!! People that dont belong as nurses aare people who dont have a brain in their head and cant do a great job do not belong in nursing. My only son was KILLED by a nurse with 6 months experience, that had taken over 6 years to get her degree after going back to school and then dropping out and attending a community college only to go back again to the university where she finally graduated. She then killed my son doing a procedure she was not trained on and then stood by and watched him die as she pretended he was faking his shortness of breath and sweating and chest pains AND then was she was ORDERED to call a code, she took that info with her and LEFT THE FLOOR without calling the code as the team assumed she had called the code and was getting help.

So please for anyone on this board, unless you plan on working hard, learning ALL you can and take ALL your lesssons seriously, please in the name of God, dont go into nursing. Because in a blink of an eye, you can ruin a family FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Amy B said:
"How hard is nursing?" is the title of this thread. I have to tell you that anyone asking that probably needs to think about why they want to be a nurse.

For people looking for an easy career choice, PLEASE DONT GO INTO NURSING!! People that dont belong as nurses aare people who dont have a brain in their head and cant do a great job do not belong in nursing. My only son was KILLED by a nurse with 6 months experience, that had taken over 6 years to get her degree after going back to school and then dropping out and attending a community college only to go back again to the university where she finally graduated. She then killed my son doing a procedure she was not trained on and then stood by and watched him die as she pretended he was faking his shortness of breath and sweating and chest pains AND then was she was ORDERED to call a code, she took that info with her and LEFT THE FLOOR without calling the code as the team assumed she had called the code and was getting help.

So please for anyone on this board, unless you plan on working hard, learning ALL you can and take ALL your lesssons seriously, please in the name of God, dont go into nursing. Because in a blink of an eye, you can ruin a family FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Amy, I am so sorry for what your family experienced. There really are no words for something like that. I hope there were legal repercussions, even though that hardly makes up for the loss of a child.

You're right, if you have to ask, you need to go back and do more research on the subject and some soul searching.
 
Good advice. Amy, I know it is hard for you at this time to forgive that nurse but eventually you will find it in your heart to do the right thing. We all make mistakes, however, this nurse was not trained properly. There are many people in the healthcare field who should not be working with patients. As a nurse, one is required to think critically at all times and be conizant of what is happening around him or her. I am so sorry to hear of your misfortunes but God will continue to wipe away your tears and you will be okay. Love!
 
julie walker i fear for any patient you treat. as for the rest of the people you've been bashing on this forum? i feel they're quite competent and would trust the things they said to me. i've been around here longer than you have. take the advice of the older and wiser on this forum.

you try going through 4 years of medical school and then doing a surgical residency and then see how ticked you'd be if some lowly undergraduate student started telling you that you were incompetent.
 
Ha! Lowly undergraduate studen...Oh boy, please, please, learn how to present your writing before you speak. Just looking at what you have written makes me want to give you my sympathy. Keep learning my dear, you will reach my level of understanding.
 
julie walker said:
Ha! Lowly undergraduate studen...Oh boy, please, please, learn how to present your writing before you speak. Just looking at what you have written makes me want to give you my sympathy. Keep learning my dear, you will reach my level of understanding.
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I am an undergraduate student. I am lowly in terms of my knowledge and capabilities when compared to someone with BSN or MD after their name. We all have much to learn, but their knowledge base is much larger. Learn from them.
 
In my book, only bachelors degrees count as real degrees. Before you start bashing, that doesn't mean others aren't educated. I know many people without bachelors degrees who are extremely educated, extremely smart, and extremely successful. A degree just means you can read books and pay colleges lots of money.
 
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How many bachelors do you have? What is your worth academically? hmmm...you need to humble yourself and learn from the wise. Be an intellectual not a grasshopper.
 
You should try learning to read before responding. Or maybe you can read but don't yet know how to understand. Whichever it is, give it a try. Then respond.

And like above - keep the personal attacks out. If you have some good advice to give on the topic of the forum, please give it. If you have a real question, please ask. There are some great people on here who are a great help. If you have anything else to say, keep it out of SDN.
 
Ha! Great minds think great things. lazy minds is always accompanied with small brains. Be of substance to make sense. Keep learning.
 
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