The road to being a nurse looks easy to everyone except nursing students. We’re on a long and tough journey that is always setting us us up for failure. Being able to help people is the thing we want to do. Below are struggles every nursing student knows too well.
-
No Social Life
If you come across a nursing major and ask them to go out tonight the answer will most likely fall along the line of “I want to, but I have so much more studying to do.” All we ever do is study because there is so much things to learn. Even when we think we’re done, we really aren’t. They may even have designated study time throughout each day. It’s hard to have friends who are a non-nursing majors. They really don’t understand the workload and how much needs to be learnt by yourself. If you do manage to go, you’d probably be that friend that has to leave at 10pm.
2. Overly Tired
As a nursing major, all I ever do now is go to school and sleep. Never before was it a struggle to pull an all-nighter and still go to classes and lab the next day. Nursing classes themselves are almost always in the morning around 8am and will probably end at 5pm. I never knew the struggle of taking classes, working while being a full time student and somehow managing to not look like a walking zombie everyday. You almost notice how easy it is to fall asleep anywhere and you just don’t care.
3. You End Up Becoming Everyone’s Nurse
When someone finds out you’re a nursing student, everyone runs to you as if you’re a doctor. Both family and friends will go to you asking for your diagnosis. “What is this rash?” “Is this mole cancer?” “Can you read my blood work and tell me what’s wrong?” We’re not doctors, we aren’t allowed to diagnose anyone.
4. Select All That Apply Questions
Nursing tests are not simple multiple choice questions like high school, in fact they are very complex and hard. A type of question your professor will love to put on exams are “select all that apply.” This is where more than one answer is correct for the question and you must select multiple. You either get all the choices right or none. Even if you get one of the choices wrong, the entire question is wrong. If you miss a right answer, the question is wrong. There really is no way to win.
5. All The Answers Are Right
Looking at the possible choices on the multiple choice questions, you will probably notice there is more than one correct answer. But wait, this isn’t a select all that apply question! You’re telling me you have to pick the best answer between two right answers? How is that even possible? These questions are definitely trying to trick you. You have to think critically instead of just memorizing facts. Isn’t that fun?
5. The Constant Argument with Life
As a nursing student, you’re always studying every chance you get; in the morning, on the train to school, even on break… but it still doesn’t seem to be enough. You may be caught constantly trying to add more hours during the day or add another day to the week. Maybe have a 36/8 week wouldn’t be so bad and make you less anxious. We would have more time to study or even a day of relaxing.
6. Anxiety Central
Nursing is so hard. You must be able to juggle your life, work, study time, and school. At times it will cause you to have a mental breakdown. I know I’ve had a few already since the semester has started. Will the loop of constant stress and anxiety ever end? ProTip: Get a planner and plan everything out, studying, classes, sleeping, eating…all of it.
7. Caffeine Diet
With all the studying and the need to stay awake to cover more material, caffeine will become your best friend. I used to prefer tea, but then I became a nursing major. Now I drink coffee almost everyday to keep me up. Even then sometimes when I am too tired, I will still sleep with the caffeine in my system.
8. Beating the Stigma of Nursing
On the media nurses are shown to only to give a shot and take a patient’s temperature. Truth is, we do a lot more than that. If we only did that, schooling for us would be a breeze. Nursing is not just a female job, there are many male nurses that are challenging the stigma everyday. Nurses spend the most time with their patients and we do more than just vitals. We have to learn to care for the patient needs, calm their anxiety, and take care of them in a therapeutic way. Knowing that you will make a difference and help so many people will erase all of the bad moments. It is a gratifying aspect of the job.