Assignment to Interview Nursing Students

[breezydream]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if any of you could help me with an assignment I have? I need to interview nursing students currently in a program and ask them about their experiences (I'm still in pre-nursing right now). If any of you can help me out at all, it would be so much appreciated!



1) How has being in nursing school different than what you expected?

2) What is the most challenging aspect of being a nursing student for you?

3) What is the best part about being a nursing student for you?

4) What advice would you give to pre-nursing students about what to do before entering nursing school?

5) What are your best survival tips for surviving in a nursing program?

[CCstudent]

1) How has being in nursing school different than what you expected?

it's more work than i expected. our patients are sicker than i expected. some of the professors are not there to be your friend.

2) What is the most challenging aspect of being a nursing student for you?

keeping up with the reading. and getting along with competitive classmates, when you have to work side-by-side with them on a patient.

3) What is the best part about being a nursing student for you?

the material is so interesting -- i really look forward to lectures. it's active -- you are not sitting at a desk the entire time being spoon-fed the information -- so you learn by "doing" which is fun.

4) What advice would you give to pre-nursing students about what to do before entering nursing school?

read, read, read. be prepared. most of my classmates already know half the stuff the teachers are teaching (how to give bed baths, how to ambulate patients, what the popular meds are, etc). a student with NO prior knowledge is at huge risk for flunking out. you will not have time to go back and learn pre-nursing fundamentals once you start nursing school so you must be up on A & P.

5) What are your best survival tips for surviving in a nursing program?

keep up with the material. don't ask any stupid questions in class. don't get involved in gossip or cliques. and be aware that the teachers are constantly watching you to see who needs to be weeded out of the program because they have a duty to protect the public from unsafe nurses.

[breezydream]

Thanks so much! That's some good advice to keep in mind. I'm definitely going to try to learn as much as I can in the pre-nursing phase and be prepared for the program.

If anyone else would like to share their experiences, that would be great...I'm supposed to get two interviews for my assignment.

[Mocha07]

I am currently in a BSN program through UOP, so I'll respond from a different angle due to all of my classes being on-line.

1) Being a UOP online student is different from what I expected due to having deadlines, having to work in teams, and having to complete team assignments. I anticipated having great flexibility with the online learning, with the thought that I was going to be able to work at things on my own, but I was wrong. Being an online student is just as tough as is attending classes on a daily basis.

2) The most challenging aspect of being a nursing student is the self-dicipline. Being a student requires great dicipline on an individual level if one desires to be successful. Working online as opposed to attending class is even more challenging and requires more dicipline for example, I can decide that I'll watch TV rather than log in and do the many chapters of reading that is required to successfully and substantially answer the DQ questions. If I knew I had class on a particular day at a particular time I'd make plans initially to attend class. When your classes are online you have the flexibility to decide whether you're going to class on that day thus leading to procrastinating behaviors.
3) What I enjoy most about being a nursing student is taking learnt knowledge and being able to apply this knowledge to a real life situation with a positive outcome. Seizing the day/moment is always a great experience.

4) The advice I will offer pre-nursing school students is to evaluate your organizational skills, and master the organizational skill prior to entering any nursing program. Purchase a planner, a recorder, and plenty of batteries. Be sure to read the material prior to entering class, record lecture if the instructor allow and PAY ATTENTION DURING LECTURE. The purpose of purchasing a recorder is to allow the recorder to tape the lecture so that you can listen to the lecture for the second time AT HOME where you should take your notes. Do not take notes while sitting in lecture because alot of information is missed while trying to pay attention and write at the same time. You will gain more learning if you listen while in lecture, then listen again while you are taking notes at home. Remember when you're at home you can hit pause while you write, and therefore will not miss important information.

5) The best survival tip I can give a pre-nursing student is to simply understand that you are responsible for your own learning. The instructors are there to help you understand the information, but information can not be understood if the individual do not read the material prior to class. How can one process information provided through lecture if one did not prepare and read the material prior to class? If the material is read and not well understood, it usually makes more sense when heard from the instructor in lamens terms as opposed to the huge medical terms that are not easily understood during the first phase of the nursing program. Hang in there, don't give up, and do not do anything you are uncertain of.
Good Luck, and always feel free to ask questions here. I'll be more than willing to help you if I can.

[cursed_irishman]

1) How has being in nursing school different than what you expected?

I'm set to graduate in March and I'll say its been alot easier than what I expected. The first semester I spent all my time reading every single assigned page plus supplemental reading. I thought the instructors wanted us to know every single iota about medications, diseases, and techniques: they didnt. About a quarter of the way through the second semester I realized they weren't testing me on how much volumous information I could retain, but on whether I understood the fundamentals and could apply them in the various healthcare settings. Ever since I realized this, I haven't had any problems with nursing school.

2) What is the most challenging aspect of being a nursing student for you?

Keeping myself mentally engaged during this final semester. I'm ready for this experience to be over.

3) What is the best part about being a nursing student for you?

Two things:
1. Experiencing the different clinical areas, not saying I enjoyed them all, but the exposure was good.
2. Externing. the hospitals out here offer the opportunity to experience extra clinical time, while being paid. I've learned more real world information in the 6 months of externing than in three years of pre-req's and nursing school

4) What advice would you give to pre-nursing students about what to do before entering nursing school?

Stay up on your A&P, Micro, and Patho. Review it. Then review it again. Learn about tonicity and fluid balance, its very important.

5) What are your best survival tips for surviving in a nursing program?
Alot of your classmates will only talk the talk, without walking the walk. Identify those few who actually deliver on their abilities and work with them, they will make you a better student. And as the above poster said: review the info BEFORE class, the instructor is there to ensure understanding of nursing, not teach you basic concepts you should have learned in pre-reqs..

[Jennifernj]

1.) much harder than I thought, esp all the "critical thinking" questions on the tests. You can't just memorize, because the questions are all about application of knowledge. You really have to know it.
2.) see question number 1
3.) I enjoy learning, and I enjoy knowing that I have a future
4.) I would advise students to save their money or get a roomate or move home. Nursing school involves ALOT of studying and alot of stress. Having to worry about a full time job or too many bills would not be a good thing.
5.) see question 4 and also:

Change the way you study, take your time, and read it but try to understand it as well as remembering it.

When in school, and especially in clinical, be quiet and respectful and humble, and always take advantage of situatuons where you can watch other students or nurses do things. Don't EVER argue with the instructor. Keep a low profile. Absorb all the knowlege you can without getting in anyones way. Learn about therapeutic communication, learn all you can about how to talk with and deal with them. There is alot to it, and as students we must go by the book, don't imitate the way you hear other nurses talking to them!

BE ORGANIZED....I am still struggling with this one. So So So important!!