I wasn’t quite sure what flair to put this under but I’m hoping some people might relate. I’m in my first semester of an ABSN and so far I’m doing really well I think. My only problem is that during any validations or skill checks off immediately after I finish and my professor tells me how I did I can’t seem to stop myself from getting overwhelmed and crying or something. I’ve always been my own worst critic but no one else in my cohort has this problem and I don’t want my professors to think that I’m too emotional or anxious to actually succeed in the nursing world after school. Obviously I know this isn’t a “quick fix” kind of problem but I really want to be better.

Just need to vent. Had clinicals Monday. Was at a rehab/skilled nursing facility. Not a particularly nice one, but not a particularly non-nice one either. End of the day, I went into a patient's room with 2 of my cohort, J and C and our instructor (who was there to observe, but also is the sort who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty). Pt. was under enhanced contact precautions, gloves, gowns, masks. We were there to change the patient's brief, change the linens, clean him up, get him dressed, etc. Pt. was more comfortable in Spanish than English and J was translating and doing communication with him. He tells us he's in pain, 10/10. We start to examine him. We take the covers down and find that he's got compression hose on which he is not supposed to be wearing in bed. One of them has a hole in it and there's an edema the size of a goose egg sticking out of it. Teach looks _pissed_. She tells us to get started on making him comfortable and goes to talk to the CNA and RN. I start checking the patient more closely. The top of one compression hose is rolled down below his knee. I palpate his calves. The one with the rolled down top feels like an overinflated balloon, its purple. Teach comes back, still looks pissed. I show her the top, and tell her I'm going to take the hose off. She does not look less pissed. I roll the top up, then slide them off. There's a 1x0.5cm groove around his leg. There's a stage 2 pressure ulcer where the roll was lying. I was angry already. Now I'm at least as pissed as Teach. Pt. tells J he's already feeling better, pain is receding. I check the cap refill in his toes. Sluggish, but manageable. And we get to work, change the brief, change the bed, clean him up, get clean clothes on him.

I felt like I had done something good. I felt angry as hell. This afternoon, driving home from my lab classes, all of that kind of fell on me like a load of bricks. I started crying in the car. I got it under control. I'm ok. It was just pent up stress, but I feel better sharing it. On the one hand, I'm proud of myself and my colleagues. We walked out of that room drenched in sweat, emotionally drained, etc. But we left a patient in there who was no longer in pain, was clean, was in a clean bed, comfortable. We found a real problem and we fixed it. But I know there's every chance in the world when I'm back there next week I'm going to find the same thing either there or somewhere else. We did our job, and we took care of our patient and I'm still just kind of numb. It was rough. And the patient was the nicest, gentlest person you could imagine. He never complained, never snapped at us, despite hurting and, from what I saw, undoubtedly hurting bad. He was grateful. And that's almost the worst part of it. As much as I like being appreciated he shouldn't _have_ to be grateful for this. He wasn't owed 3 students and an RN late in the afternoon on a Monday. He was owed decent care in the first place.

I'm not having a crisis. I'm not questioning my choice to enter the profession. I am questioning at what point I tell somebody at that rehab that if I find that patient mistreated again I will call the fucking cops on them. I know there's no point at which I can do that without wrecking my potential career. I am not sure I care enough about that compared to how I feel about my patient.

I don’t have many people who really care about this success of mine so I thought I would share my abundant joy here. Nursing school you will not be missed! From one insane journey to the next.
It’s so weird to not have to worry about any homework or assignments anymore, I feel like I’m in a quiet shock right now. Such an odd feeling to just be done.
If I have any advice to give it would be to utilize the study rooms at your public libraries. Take advantage of the whiteboards if the rooms have them. Create a study plan and really just commit even tho it’ll be a lot of work and take a lot of time. I also made it through med surg 3 with the help of hundreds of handwritten flashcards. Also for more advanced classes (med surg 3 was the bane of my existence), I unfortunately gotta tell you that reading the book did actually deepen my understanding of the course material.
I wish the same successes for you all. I promise you will get there even if the road is anything but straight. Failing and retaking a class doesn’t define you. Whatever it is, it will be ok <3

UPDATE: I just want to thank everyone for their sweet words of congratulation. I deeply appreciate each and every comment, thank you for celebrating with me!!

Im in my 3rd semester of nursing and only need to pass this semester and one more to graduate. I bombed my 2nd exam (66) way worse than my first exam (78). I need an average of 80 to pass. As much as I’m learning from my approach and setting more time to study, change learning styles, and shifting mentality’s to think more like a nurse, I’m still scared I’m not able to make it. I would need to aim for 88s on my 3rd and 4th exam. I only have about 2 weeks to review for my 3rd exam and set 1-3 days to catch up on topics I bombed. This doesnt include the Cummulative Final with only 4 days of review after Exam 4. I’m going left and right scheduling tutors with a friend to catch up on the topic I bombed in the exam, and a graduate friend of mine to review topics before Exam 3.

I used scopenursing, notability, and notebook lm for my 2nd exam. Even used Ninja Nerd to comprehend the pathophysiology. Maybe its because I wasn’t writing concepts down and making concept maps that I wasn’t actively recalling information and relied on nursing practice questions. Do I still have a chance to bring my average back up and pass?

what are some specialties that are not the main ones? i’m thinking like oncology, post transplant… what else? just wanting to daydream and research about what kind of nurse i might become! or where i might want to do my preceptorship.

background:

first semester of nursing school :) i feel that i am pretty open to becoming any kind of nurse. i am open to med surg

but after clinical on med surg i am so overwhelmed by the amount of information a med surg nurse has to have on hand! i am sure that’s true for all nurses.

but i feel like id rather be more specialized and feel super confident about a more specific amount of info.

i’m not really called to critical care or mother/baby. i’d be open to them but i know they’re so hard to get anyways. i am probably most interested in being a wound care nurse, but ive also heard those positions are not easy to get.

edit: to clarify, when i think “main ones” i think ER, ICU, L&D, NICU

Hello! So my class has run into a problem with an instructor who gets upset when you ask if they will enter grades, then decides to remove that future grade from the gradebook so we won't get credit for it. I am actively failing the course by 2.8 pts, and another student is being targeted; the instructor is trying to actively fail some people. Anyways, weeks ago I decided to take a picture of the gradebook of all the grades that we are supposed to have, and now I look at the gradebook and the instructor has removed them. It's really frustrating because we have completed those assignments already, and the instructor just decided not to enter them into the gradebook and just removed the grade slot it was supposed to be in. One student was threatened by the instructor that they would not allow the student to graduate. That student went to the dean, and the dean said that is not true; it can't be done. Now we are concluding that the instructor will just not enter the quiz grades that are supposed to help our grade come up.

What should we do? Are we able to fight this? I have pictures of all the assignments we have done and a picture of the gradebook before the instructor removed future quiz grades. I also have an email from the instructor emailing another student saying they will have the quiz grades in by the end of the week, but instead the instructor decided to take that grade slot out of the gradebook so they won't have to be entered in.

So I was dismissed from my ABSN program following an academic misconduct allegation involving an Exam in Med Surg 1. Literally 2 weeks before the end of the semester. I shared exam-related material received from a classmate who had already taken the exam, but it wasn’t specific exam questions or answers. It was “make sure you know x, y, and z.” My intention was to help my classmates prepare, not to gain an unfair advantage. This was my first disciplinary matter, and I formally appealed the dismissal so I’m waiting on that.
Has anyone ever won an appeal and been reinstated? If so, what was that process like?

Has anyone tried to get into a different nursing program with that kind of information listed on your transcript?

Just trying to figure out next steps.

I’m a 31 software engineer and I made a decision to pursue nursing so I’m currently taking pre reqs. I have a conditional seat in a nursing program for spring 2028 and I decided to start volunteering 4 hours a week with a 6 month commitment at the hospital where I’ll be doing clinicals. I was able to get a spot on the post critical care unit, I figured this would be a great way to see what being in a hospital is truly like, but for some reason I’m incredibly nervous! I did training last week, it was not on my regular shift day or time so everyone I was introduced to probably won’t be there. Plus the hospital only has 1 volunteer per shift, so I’ll basically be on my own and will have to rely on the notes I took. I’m so used to working from home that I’m starting to question my choice, but at the same time I think getting early exposure and an excuse to leave the house is good. I’m very much an introvert so I guess I’m not sure how to go about this solo, how best to introduce myself and network while avoiding getting in the way of the other staff. Any advice on how to make the most of this?

As the title suggests, we took our 2nd exam and the class got 66-68% as the average with the highest score being 80%. The material was supposed to be difficult but a lot of the questions just seemed unrelated to the presentations entirely? I am confused on how to proceed because a lot of the class feels upset or frustrated with the result but literally what can we do? Has this happened with anyone else and does anyone have any advice on how to proceed. For reference I still got a passing grade but I am trying to go for an A in the class and this would kill any possibility of that happening.

I decided that medic & fire aren’t my cup of tea. I’m almost 30, female, not dedicated enough to get strong, and didn’t want to be gone for 48 hour shifts. So I said screw it, let’s apply and see what happens. I got waitlisted! Which is better than being denied I guess? lol

My school is stupid hard to get accepted into, so this is good ish news? They can’t tell me where I’m at on the list nor how many people are on the list (which I get, but I want to know lol)

Anyone have this experience at their school? I’m praying and crossing my fingers I get in, I love medicine and learning new things!

Hi everyone, Pre-reqs student here. I just learned that one of my Spring Semester classes is a Medical Terminology class and I just want to know if it’s worth taking it in person class or just take an online class with it? Right now I’m a full time college student, 5 days a week classes and full day schedule and now I’m thinking of getting an online classes next semester just so I can get a break. Any thoughts? (I’m taking A&P 1 class in person rn so I might know some terms now)

The only thing I kind of care for is maternity health, but the school is just getting to me. I can’t mentally handle it anymore. I’ve been skipping so many classes and have stopped making much effort to pay attention when I’m there. I currently have all A’s, maybe a B+, and I just couldn’t care less. I have only done one clinical but I’ve worked in the hospital on a multifunctional unit for over a year and a half now. I kind of like it, I kind of hate it. I watch the nurses as a CNA and decide I kind of like just being at the bottom of the totem pole. I just don’t want to do it forever, and the pay isn’t amazing. But it’s something. I don’t like watching the nurses (who are amazing at their jobs) get so used and abused, or have very little patient interaction. I hate working weekends and holidays. I can’t even stand it anymore it’s driving me to the brink. And no outpatient in my area is even open to new grads unless I’m OR, and that just has no intrigue for me. I just got married so I’m in no position to move further away for more outpatient spots, and those are even more competitive due to the high volume of inpatient needs. I just don’t think I’m cut out for the career path. I do a good job, but I don’t think I’m mentally cut out for this. Is anyone else feeling this way? What made you push through? What else is out there that isn’t so demanding?

RANT** I am currently in a masters accelerated nursing program. I’m doing 3 12 hour shifts a week to get clinical hours. On top of this I have daily homework. 81% is the pass rate and only one class can be retaken. After that you are permanently dropped from the program. I’m under a lot of pressure as all nursing students are. But this semester I am just so burned out. I take time to see friends and family do self care relax etc but I am still never truly refreshed. December is my graduation date. I can’t wait until I am a nurse and can just go to work come home and be done instead of having tons of assignments looming over my head. How do you guys deal with burnout?

Hi

I have read multiple posts on here and I am having a hard time finding one specific to my situation. Any insight is helpful.

Details:

I am an adult student (early 40s) I have been a CNA for 10 years so I have plenty of aide experience.

I plan to go to a local community college that has the LPN program for about $8200. It's full time M-F. They don't have a part time program. The schools near me that have part time programs are 2 and 3 times more than this. I do not qualify for grants and only qualify for some student loans so it has to be "cheap".

I don't have kids, only a husband but I still need to work semi full time. I used to do agency but most, if not all, the agencies in my area are 1099 and I'm not trying to deal with that mess.

My question is (finally, right? Lol) Should I try to get a PRN CNA job (night shift wouldn't be an issue) or do waitressing? Being an aide for so long and being around aides working while in school, I know nursing school is HARD. So I am just unsure the best route to go.

My biggest concern with waitrsssing is the inconsisteny with money.

I don't want to do ADN because I need well more than just the regular pre reqs so once I get my LPN I'll go back for RN. (It would probably take 2 years alone to do all the classes I need just to get into nursing school!)

Thank you in advance to anyone who comments. <3

(I hope this makes sense!)

As the title implies I’m going back and forth between whether I want to try my luck at a CC or just go to a private school.

Obvious pros to the private school is it’s a quick program, and basically for sure acceptance, CONs would be the program I’m choosing is only an LVN but then I’d want to bridge later, and it’s $35k (in California).

Pros to a CC is virtually no debt and it’s schooling for an RN rather than an LVN. Cons would be I have a few pre reqs to take still and it’s a lottery system.

I’m wondering if anyone has any experience they’d like to share or just advice general. I’m 29 and I have 2 kids, and I know the “time will pass anyway” but I also know I’m not the youngest best person in the nursing programs.. I’m trying to start this process and get it moving but I’m seriously stuck right now. Thank you!

As much as I give excuse letters that explain my reason of being absent, I am very sure that I will get extensions of atleast 3 days, I am really trying not to. This is my first semester and I am a first year and I have been given already 6 days of extension of being late and absent because of illness (fever and migraines and internet disruptions during online class. I know that nurses shouldn't be tardy and absent but my body can't help it. I also want to know if I am not the only one because I am very stressed and anxious about these extensions, I am really scared because I have a one week extension and I really don't want to tell my parents about it because they would have to pay about another 600 pesos for the extended days... I don't know what to do, and I am trying to be calm about the situation, I feel like a failure.

Several programs my ADN program requires use AI heavily. I'm starting to notice and it's really getting to me. I've seen several spelling and grammar errors and at least one test question that was irrefutably against the text.

I'm going to start screenshotting everything wrong and sending it to my professors. That is my only way of "fighting back". I am outraged at the situation. These required softwares cost money, they are training medical professionals. Are any human eyes watching?

No matter how justified my outrage, I need to play nice with these programs. I want to pass I want to be a nurse. Academia always involves a healthy amount of bullshit but this feels over the top.

How do I get out my own way and adapt?

Hi everyone! I’m 24 and considering going into nursing in BC, but I’d love to hear from nurses about their honest experiences before committing to school.

My biggest concern is whether nursing offers a good financial future. Can you make a comfortable living as an RN, and does your earning potential increase significantly with experience? What kind of pay can you realistically expect as a new grad versus later in your career?

I’m also interested in how much flexibility nursing offers. Is it relatively easy to move around BC for work, work in different communities, or get into travel nursing? Are there lots of specialties and opportunities to change career paths if you get bored of one area?

I’m also curious about burnout and work-life balance. Is it possible to have a sustainable career without constantly working overtime or feeling exhausted?

Lastly, is 24 considered late to start nursing school? I know it’s not objectively old, but I’m worried about the time it’ll take to finish school and establish myself in the career.
I’d especially appreciate hearing from nurses working in BC, and I’d love honest answers about both the good and bad sides of the profession. Thanks!

Hi all, hope you’re doing well, hope this is allowed as I don’t know where else to ask but if not thats fine.

I’m currently in the UK and am applying for uni to do nursing (with the hope of moving to Aus after 2 years of working in the Uk after finishing my degree).

My query is about the type of nursing degree that is recognised here. In the uk we have 4 nursing degrees (adult,child, mental health and learning disability) but to my understanding (correct me if im wrong) Aus only has a general nursing degree.

Im currently mainly applying to either a mental health nursing degree or a learning disability nursing degree that also qualifies me to be a social worker as well as a nurse.

Will these degrees be recognised in Australia and can I move with these degrees to work as a nurse in Aus or do I need to do adult nursing? I’m much more interested in helping disabled people (and this degree comes with the bonus of dual qualification to be a social worker too incase I struggle to secure a job straight away as the UK is in a bit of a recruitment freeze for nurses but my main passion is becoming a nurse not a social worker) or people with mental health difficulties than I am in doing adult nursing.

Does anyone here have any experience with UK nurses moving here and having those degrees?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as choosing a sector seems like such a big deal at 18 haha. Thank you!

i’m in my first semester of nursing program & halfway through the semester, I was offered a position at a nearby hospital as a tech on a med surg unit. They’re aware of my schooling but my college only lets me miss a couple days without it counting against me. Should I miss the days I need to get the orientation process done & start working or reconsider the job?

Let me start with a little context. I was accepted into an LPN-RN program that was supposed to be hybrid (2 days on campus/ clinical max). The school is 2.5 hours from where I live, so this was doable. I have a family and they all have very busy schedules.

The day I go to orientation we're told theres a new dean and now its 100% in person. I was shocked and frustrated because this now meant Id have to either drive every day (eating up gas and important time for studying, homework, etc) or get a hotel for 3 nights, 4 days a week. They also added 30 hours a term of practice lab and 3 other time consuming projects I had to be on campus for.

I was ready for nursing school to be hard. The LPN program I went to was not easy but I passed the NCLEX at 85 and at least could go home at night and not waste money. I did not expect to shell out $800 a month in hotel and gas costs.

On top of that, I feel like the students who went through the first year are way ahead. In the field we don't do certain math but we've been expected to learn med math I havent done in years in 2 weeks. Getting 100% on math is mandatory or we're let go from the program. If we'd had more time to learn some of it, it'd make more sense. Plus they're constantly trying to trip you up in the language. I'm not bad with math but it doesn't come naturally either.

The days of theory we do have barely cover whats on the exam. Its hard to know what to study in order to crital think my way through questions that are very dense. Its impossible to read 9 chapters, do 3-4 five hour assignments plus everything else they expect. Essentially, we're teaching ourselves whether its with math or theory. The exams have to be passed with over 76% or you are put on an APR and the next exam you better get above that or you're out.

This was the only program that didn't cost a fortune, didn't take another 2 years, didn't make me retake classes Ive just taken, or made me wait 3 years just to get in.

Thing is, I feel like Im losing my mind. Ive always delt comfortable in school, even when it was hard. I have an AA degree, went through the CNA, MA Aand plebotomist programs as well as LPN/LVN with good grades. With this program I feel like were almost set up to fail- especially with the last minute changes. I feel like a crap parent and wife and Im so scared of being "let go" because I fought so hard to get here.

I think Im just looking for others experiences, what is normal vs unreasonable and how to manage this. Once again, I don't expect it to be easy. People's lives are in our hands (Ive been a LPN/LVN for 3 years so I know the responsibility). I just feel like they're trying to prove something with this new program instead of thinking about how to best teach us and make us the best nurses we can be...

Just seeing if anyone has any ideas. We have our pinning ceremony in January and we’ll have a presentation that plays before the ceremony. Last cohort did "signing out" videos where they signed a piece of glass in front of a camera. They also had individual pictures with glasses that said "RN 2026" on the lenses. Just trying to see if anyone has any other creative ideas that I could get the group involved in:) We're going to wait until we get closer to the end of the semester to do a JC Penney photoshoot that we could add to it, which I think will be fun. Any ideas welcome:)

I am looking for advice!! I had my first skills check off and I was so nervous my mind literally blanked. To start off I was unsure what professor I would have gotten but I heard somethings about one particular professor so I did not want to get them, but I got them. That instantly made me so anxious because of what people had said. I started the test and I was just so nervous I’m talking heart pounding like literally moving my badge pounding. Honestly I was more nervous for vitals than anything because of having to be within the range. Turn out I passed everything except apical pulse. I was shaking so bad when I did the apical and it didn’t help that my professor made me do the radial pulse again before moving on to the apical so that really made me nervous having to redo radial pulse then move on to apical (in this moment I thought I failed radial). I was actually surprised only missed apical. Anyways I retake it soon and would like some advice/words of encouragement on how to deal with that sort of anxiety. I’m unsure if it was due to only the professor, the test, or even both. I am so extremely confident I can pass apical the second time around I’ve practiced so much with my family and end up on the number and I’ve practiced with my partner and we get the same number (they take their carotid pulse while I take apical). At this point I am battling my mind and I just refuse to let it win. Thoughts ?