Is nursing school hard?

How hard is nursing school..looking for some insight from past nursing students..?

• Hello! I am a 23 year old female. I have a high school diploma, and for the past 5 years I have had a full time job instead of going to school. I love my job, but I want more out of ...show more

• Answer:

  No matter how smart and hard working you are, almost everyone finds nursing programs to be extremely challenging, if for no other reason than the demands of your time. Some of the content is mildly complex, but it's the sheer volume of work you have to do in such a short time span that makes it stressful. Also, nursing is program where when you graduate, you will still feel like you are totally not competent. This confidence in your skills only comes from one thing - work experience. Many strong, type-A overachievers have a hard time with feeling those uncomfortable feelings while in school and in the first few years of practice. If you've always had things come easy to you, nursing might be the same way, but there is still this underlying pressure of the enormity of the decisions you make and the implications that go along with it. So - the work load, how bad is it? Well, once you get into the nursing core courses, it is not unusual to have 5 or more chapters of heavy reading assigned for the week - for each class you take. Plus the papers you write. Plus having one full day of clinicals each week. And exams to prepare for every few weeks. And group projects that you have to fit in around other peoples' schedules. No joke. Every nursing instructor I ever had has said they don't feel the number of credits accurately reflects the amount of work and time spent. Every credit hour feels like double the work compared to your non-nursing, general education courses. So just be prepared. You will need to learn how to study more efficiently - not reading every page word for word, learn to pick out important highlighted themes, use the end of chapter reviews to make sure you hit all the key points, etc. Use your instructors as resources, ask questions, request study guides to focus your test prep (no all will offer them unless students ask for them). One last thing, is that every student will reach a point during their program where they will ask themselves if it is all worth it. And remind yourself that yes, it is. You have chosen a career path that will offer you such diverse opportunities should you ever find yourself bored in a position. There are so many job settings, specialty areas, etc. Financially you will be able to support yourself and contribute to a comfortable lifestyle for your future family, or a really decent lifestyle if you remain single with no dependents. Best of luck to you.