The Difficulties of Nursing School

Imagine this:

You just got out of your 3-hour long pharmacology class. You make it back home after picking up fast food on the way, but as you get ready to take your mind off of school, you receive a notification on your phone that the test has been graded. You slide the notification open to see your grade and…a 75%. You scold yourself, knowing you could have done better, and get the sudden urge to get a head start reading the next two chapters. And after 2 hours of careful reading and reviewing, you realize you really only made it through 5 of the 40 pages assigned. As much as you want to get through more, you can’t, because now, you’ve got to drive to the hospital to look up information of the patient you’ll be taking care of tomorrow. And just like that, your day is gone. From the scenario described above, it is no surprise that nursing students place an incredible amount of pressure on themselves to do well in nursing school. However, with this pressure comes problems that are too often blamed on the student. Because of this, the structure of nursing programs need to change due to its negative impacts on nursing students’ mental and physical health, time consumption, and lack of support.

What makes nursing school difficult?

As nursing students adapt to the increased stress and workload, their health becomes compromised as school work takes precedence. Problems such as lack of sleep, anxiety, and weight gain may develop at this time. Several studies to identify sources of stressors have been done and may even include coping strategies nursing students can develop to overcome these issues (Shanmugam). However, there is a lack of research on how nursing programs and educators implement ways to reduce stress and aid in students’ academic performance.

As demonstrated from the scenario above, nursing students must devote many hours of the day and prioritize what they need to do. Between going to classes, studying, working in hospitals, and other concerns, such as jobs or children, seldom time is spent on themselves. One research study recommends nursing students should receive time management and stress management training programs during orientation (Elsasalm Eldeeb and Eldosoky). Due to nursing students having to adapt to changing course loads every semester, they must revise their personal schedules and adjust everything around nursing school.

My class and clinical schedule for my first semester of nursing school.

Nursing programs should look to provide more support and resources for nursing students, whether it is providing workshops on studying or frequently reminding students to visit their school’s health clinic. By offering students these opportunities to take care of themselves, they are able to transition into the program more easily and prevent their internal stress from building.

Nursing programs, rather than only the students, should take responsibility in adjusting their structure to accommodate for students’ increase in stress and school work. Nursing school can be mentally and physically exhausting without proper self-care, more time flexibility, and access to resources.