College is the best years of life, right? That's what everyone tells me at least. I wouldn't know because I'm a nursing major and my life consists of endless hours spent in the library and a closet full of scrubs. While everyone else is partying and experiencing life for the first time, my head is buried in my pharmacology book wondering if the test is going to be multiple choice. Between clinicals, skills lab, studying and preparing for the NCLEX, I don't have time to enjoy college. I'm too busy worrying about inserting a catheter for the first time, that there's no time to float the river and go on weekend road trips with friends. These are ten reasons why being a nursing major is the absolute worst.
1. All I wear is scrubs.
I never get to show off the cute new outfit I bought because nearly everyday of school means wearing scrubs.
2. The library is my second home.
Don't call me or beep me if you want to reach me because I'm probably in the library and ringing phones aren't allowed in the library.
3. Books on books on books.
I had 29 books just for the first semester alone. And they gave them to me in a box. That weighed 50 pounds. And how many books did I actually use? Seven.
4. No more free time.
What's free time? Not a term I'm familiar with, just a distant memory that will never return.
5. No one gets it.
"Why can't you come to the party?" "Why do you complain so much?" "Why are you always crying?"
6. So many extra fees.
Lab fees, clinical fees, "hate your life" fee. None of which I can afford, by the way.
7. No more skipping class.
You miss a class and you missed a skill that you need to be able to perform expertly on the first try so just don't miss class.
8. No one trusts a student.
Don't get your feelings hurt if the patient won't let you use them as a test dummy for inserting your very first IV. It makes sense, its not like you know what you're doing anyways.
9. You will be treated like an aide.
You're a student who knows basically nothing about nursing so you will be used to fetch supplies, change dirty sheets and wheel countless patients to their countless physical therapy appointments.
10. Care plans.
Need I say more? I didn't think so.
Nursing is a great profession and one that I am excited to begin soon, but the preparation is less-than-great and excrusiatingly stressful. In the end, it will all have been worth it, but it's hard to see that light at the end of this very long tunnel. Being a student in general just sucks, but being a nursing student? Forget about the experience and focus on the goal, that's the only thing that will keep you afloat.
