Going into nursing school I knew it would be hard but I didn't know it would be THIS hard.
Between having over six hours of homework on a Monday night and begging for a coffee IV drip I've had a lot of time to find myself, my drive, and my courage to stick with it. I've come to realize that nursing school will be full of tears and failure, however, I know when I finish this program I will have so much pride in my self for finally succeeding.
SEE ALSO: Why Nursing Is Different Than Any Other Major
Here are a few of the daily struggles us first-year nursing students encounter:
1. Making Plans
Your friends want to go out on a Friday night but you have a seven-chapter exam on Monday and you still can't recite the passage of blood flow through the heart so you're gonna have to stay in.
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2. Note-taking
Sitting at your computer for hours and hours taking notes over 60+ page chapters, hoping you highlight every key point you think you need to know and then questioning if you really know what you need to know or even have a clue of what the chapter is over.
3. Failure
Failure is a big part of nursing. If you were a 4.0 student before nursing school FORGET THAT BECAUSE UNLESS YOU'RE A GENIUS IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. I don't think I've ever been so excited to see a C on my transcript until I got into nursing school. C's GET DEGREES PEOPLE and when you're in nursing school you're lucky if you even get a 77% to pass your test.
4. Relationships
You have friends buttttt you never really see them unless they're in the nursing program and studying with you, AND FORGET ABOUT HAVING A BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND (just joking). But really, you need to be a magician to be able to divide your time between relationships, friends, eating, studying, and sleeping.
5. Sleep
Let's talk about sleep. You never do. Simple as that. Yeah, you might get a nap in here or there, or you might pass out from lack of sleep and coffee but that's pretty much the only time. I'm a grandma and like to stick to my 10:30 bedtime, but you know, when you have to outline two chapters, list all the key terms, and level up on your EAQ's before tomorrow's 7:30 class, that won't happen. Which leaves me whining and crying in the library when 10:30 rolls around.
6. Crying
There's been plenty of nights where I'm scrolling through facebook and I see a cute picture of a cat and I just start crying. Nursing school is stressful and I have no shame. I'm tired? I'll probably cry. Fail a test? Yep, those are tears. Overslept? BRING ON THE TEARS. If you don't cry once a week, are you really in nursing school?
7. Wanting to drop out
At least once a week I begin to plan my escape from nursing school and plan my future career as an ice cream shop-owner in Hawaii or a bed and breakfast hotel owner in the Caribbean with my best friend. If you fail out you need to have a second plan, right?
8. Scrubs that don't fit
Being a first-year nursing student you aren't really sure what scrubs to get or where to buy them so you end up buying scrubs that don't fit because the unisex ones are cheaper than the fitted and you walk around looking like you're wearing a big blue trash bag.
9. $500 worth of books each semester for one class
"Yeah, you're in nursing school now so you need 4 e-books with the Elsevier code that goes with them. So your book bundle will cost $500, I hope you don't have other classes" :-)
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10. Clinicals
Waking up at the butt crack of dawn to spend the morning at a nursing home are the kind of clinicals you will be encountering. No, you will not feel like you're part of Grey's Anatomy. You will see lots and lots of body fluids other than blood, though!
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All jokes aside, nursing will be a great profession. Yes, it's hard now but we can make it through! Just keep studying and keep your head up. One day we will finally be nurses.
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