Hello everyone! Well, I made it through Week One! I decided to do a brutally honest post about my first week of nursing school and such. I am sure I will write more posts similar to these as time goes on, but let us begin!

The non-traditional students act superior.

Not all are like this, some are actually really nice and just want to get to work. I literally had one tell me “Oh, now I have to deal with all of y’all’s preteen drama”. Needless to say, I intend to steer clear of that individual (Especially since she called me a weird pet name). It’s fine and dandy that you are a mom, or you already have a degree, etc., but there is no need to put people down, we all share the same purpose, to pass that NCLEX. If you cannot respect your peers for where they come from and be open-minded, well…Some of the non-traditional students are extremely uptight as well, and I can understand why some may feel that way. It is still no excuse to act pretentious.

The CNAs too.

“Hi. My name is so-and-so and I’m a CNA”. Geez! It’s like some CNAs are the cross-fitters of nursing school. All my fitness people will know what I mean. The majority like to trya and make you feel bad if you aren’t one either, but let’s face it. If you are paying the same money they are to be there, their comments should not matter. After all, they won’t be handing you your license. They also like to stop lecture to argue with the professor about how things are done, or to show off how much experience they have. It really slows class time down, especially when they cut off the professor to answer questions.

Cliques. Cliques. Cliques.

The sorority girls, the newlyweds, the bromance, the “My Mom is a Nurse”, the CNAs, the Moms, there are so many. What makes it funnier is that there are about only sixty four of us! I definitely plan on doing a blog post about each clique. It’ll be great to look back on and see how I interpreted things.

People talk too much.

I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m a quiet, observant person, but a lot of my peers just talk too much (especially the guys). I could just be a party-pooper, since I do have a serious personality and I can’t stand small talk.

A lot of people are freaking out.

This is normal, but it sounds like a lot of my peers are struggling. However, based on what I hear, I believe it may just be it’ll take them a couple weeks to get used to managing their time. What is really odd is that the CNAs in our class seemed to be panicking the most (especially over ADPIE, SBAR, AIDET…). They said the way they are being asked to think now is different and it is hard.  Many of them are also stressing so much and getting nothing done. This is a challenge, but I’m sure we’ll get the hang of it eventually!

“I couldn’t afford to be a doctor so I’m here.”

I cringed every time I heard someone say this. They make it sound like nursing is for people who couldn’t make it through medical school and that is just not the case for everyone. During my internship-style program, I had the pleasure of working alongside many students striving to get to medical school. Guess what? Not all of them could afford it, but because it is their passion they are going.

I say if medical school is were you want to go and you don’t have anything tying you down then go. Otherwise, you may regret your choice in the next five years (but, they could still go back to school which is great). Honestly, no one would want a coworker who is just bitter towards nursing because it was not their first choice. Find where you believe you can ‘do the most good’ (I hate that saying), in healthcare and go!

I dare not share my age.

Although there is someone younger than me in the program and she has shared her age, I dare not share mine. I have decided I may not share it until the very end. I’m sure people can guess because I look twelve. People will just try to insert their opinion about how ill-experienced/immature I am. Less drama and cattiness that way.

I hope I’m professional.

This may sound pathetic, but I’ve always been a quiet person and growing up being bullied never helped that. However, as I became older I made sure to push myself to become more comfortable in professional environments/social environments. It is still awkward for me, but I’m doing the best I can.

I was observing one of the older students in my class and was genuinely impressed at how professional she was. I’ve always admired people like that (which sounds weird). I was secretly hoping that people and my instructors/professors see me that way, but who knows what people are thinking!

 

My first week of nursing school has been a whirlwind. Between six hours of class two days a week and three hours long lectures the other days, I can see how this is draining. Once in a while, I have slight feelings of being overwhelmed, but then I remember that I plan everything in my planner. I have not felt extremely nervous yet, I am just trying to keep a clear mind and keep my ducks in a row. At this point my goal is to learn to pass the NCLEX (because NCLEX is not real-life), and go on with life from there. I look forward to continue sharing my journey with you all!

Share your brutally honest thoughts from first week in the comments!