10 Struggles of A Nursing Student

1.) Not Enough Time

This is the most common. When I am studying all day, in and out, to pass the next exam, I usually don't have time for the other classes. One of the ways to fix this is to be structured! Manage your time wisely.

2.) Feeling of Self-Doubt

Feeling like you can't do something is the worst! You just shut down and feel like giving up. Sometimes you sit in class and don't feel like you can do anything, and that you should just change your major. DON'T! There are many days where I feel like this but I just think of how rewarding this field is. What is pushing me through is to see the look on the patient's face and how I will be with them and their family every step of the way.

3.) Small Friend Groups

Honestly, being a nursing major, most of the friends you make will also be nursing majors. They just get you and the common struggles you're both going through. It's even better if you find someone in your classes and get really close with them because you can help each other out and grow a stronger friendship. If someone is serious in their major, they wouldn't be going out every weekend. My friend group is small and I am 100% okay with this.

4.) No "You" Time

If you give yourself time for yourself, good!! Chances are, five minutes in you feel guilty and start studying instead. At this point in the semester, I feel like I cannot give myself the time I need to stay sane because I have to be worrying about getting good grades in all of my classes.

5.) Always Tired

*YAWNS* When you are studying, it can make you really tired. Also, you didn't get the proper "eight hours" because you have class the next day, it can be hard. Sleep is so important! For me, I cannot function if I get less than 7 hours of sleep. It is important to get up and walk around for three minutes when you are studying all day to wake yourself up. If you are tired and trying to study, you run the risk of not retaining anything!

6.) Stress

STRESS!!! This is one of my least enjoyable things of being a nursing major. I feel stress all the time, and if I try to give myself a break, I feel like I physically can't because I have to study. Then, when I get over stressed, the self-doubt kicks in and I start to worry for no reason. The ideas that I won't "make it" and that I am not good enough, even though I am studying and giving it my all, starts to haunt me and I feel this way every moment during the day.

7.) All-Nighters

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS! I have never done this and I don't plan on it because it is just unhealthy. However, I do know people who are up all night in the library studying, or staying in the Anatomy and Physiology Lab to study the night before a practical exam. I, personally, don't recommend this, but hey... you do you!

8.) No One Understand You

When I go home, I will still speak in, what my friends call, "A&P Talk". My friends are used to it up at school because they either know what I am talking about or they are around me enough to start to learn what I mean. The way I learn is by repeating things that I am trying to understand. For example, when I was learning about why it hurts when you are in a dark room and someone turns the lights on, and you feel like you are dying, I would go over that when I would be home. After, I would say it my whole family looked at me like I was insane.

9.) So much is happening all at once.

At Mount Saint Mary College, you need to maintain a 2.75 GPA while getting a C or better in A&P and Nursing Chemistry. However, just having a C in both of these classes (which is mandatory to continue in the nursing program), you also have to do your best in all to other classes to get to that 2.75 GPA, and this doesn't include all of the work each class requires. First semester of freshman year, I was so focused on getting at least a C in A&P that I, sadly, did not pay as much attention in my other classes. In the end, I got a passing grade, but I was disappointed because I knew I could've done better.

10.) Personal Hygiene

By far, this is probably the grossest one, but we have all been there. When you are studying in your room and next thing you know it is 10 P.M. and you have an 8 A.M. the next day, you may not have time to shower. Personally, I always make sure I am clean, but if I look bad because of this, don't judge! I rarely have time to pick out a cute outfit and do my makeup everyday, and I constantly rub my eyes and yawn because I am so tired.