I need to lock in but my mind is all cloudy and disjointed. My chest is hot and tight.

I have a big test tomorrow. And I am trying to study. But I have so many worries going through my head that I can't focus. I'll read something and I won't even process what it said.

I am also just terrible at studying and time management. I don't know how to implement any of the tools I've read about. I don't know how to pace myself so I'm not constantly battling an imminent due date. I work best with feedback, bouncing off of someone else, but I don’t have anyone to study with. So I have the additional worry I am going to fail this test on top of all my other concerns.

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this. I just it would help to articulate this and I have no one to listen to me. Although that last sentence makes me feel worse now.

Hi, I’m a 24 yo F I am about a month and a half into my first semester of my ADN. I have liked lecture and lab so far but I had my first clinical at a general acute rehab facility night shift and I was horrified after - I cried and just felt like I don’t think I like nursing in the real world. I love my classmates and socializing with them for projects and our lab days but I’m starting to question if I’m really cut out for nursing and patient care. I thought I was capable and caring enough but I was scared to put it plainly.

I currently work as a legal assistant and make decent money 30/hr. I’ve worked at this job the past 3 years and they let me go part time for school. I’ve been definitely very busy since starting school and continuing to work but I felt like it was worth it until I went to clinical.

I started nursing school because I hated working the same shift 40 hours a week and felt generally unfulfilled by my job. There are other legal assistant jobs out there that I could work that could be more fulfilling and allows for flexibility. I also understand the demand for nursing and of course I’d like job security and the pay.

I am thinking about switching my major to paralegal studies and possibly furthering my career in that because of how unsure I felt after my first clinical. I understand that I’ve only done one clinical but I cannot imagine myself going back.

I also don’t want to feel like a failure if I leave the program but I also don’t want to get a degree in this if it’s not for me. I feel like I’m always trying to do the next thing that will finally bring me a sense of “I know what I’m doing with my life” but I feel like a failure no matter what I do. I need to work on my fulfillment from the inside not external factors.

I just need advice if anyone can help or went through something similar to me. Thank you.

I’m a third semester, second bachelor BSN student who will be graduated by next August. I may have the opportunity to get an externship in the NICU. However, I know when I graduate I want to get experience with adults before fully committing to the pediatric field. If this is my only chance for an externship while I’m still in school should I take it? Or will nicu experience pigeon hole me too much when trying to become an adult ICU nurse upon graduation? In my head, experience is better than no experience but don’t want to make a major mistake. Thanks!

I don't know anything about how to create a care plan, write a diagnosis, etc. I don't like the way the nursing faculty at my university operates; I think they're unbearably haphazard. I don't know what standards should be followed.I need resources to study and learn everything; university is pure nonsens

Please help me to find how I need to study this 💔

Note: I don't have any friends Or relationships with doctors , I do everything alone, so I have to find how to study on my own

I’m 21 and currently in my first quarter of nursing school.

Originally, I planned to get my BSN and would have graduated by summer 2027 at the latest. However, after issues with my prerequisites, taking a gap semester, and getting waitlisted at my top-choice program, I decided to attend a private nursing school and pursue my ADN first. If all goes well, I’ll graduate in May 2028 at 22.

My plan is to pass the NCLEX, start working as an RN, and complete my BSN online while working. My biggest concern is that I really want to relocate immediately after passing the NCLEX, ideally to California or somewhere on the East Coast, like Massachusetts or New York. However, I’ve heard that getting licensed in California can be difficult with an ADN, and I’m unsure how much having an ADN could limit my options in other states.

I’ve just been feeling discouraged because it feels like my plans keep getting pushed further and further back. I know getting my ADN is still a huge achievement, and I’ll be just as much of an RN as someone with a BSN. I’m not trying to diminish that at all. I think I’m just worried that taking this route will delay the other things I’ve been looking forward to, especially moving out of Florida and finally experiencing independence. I’ve dreamed about having that freedom for so long, and I’m scared I’ll have to keep putting it off.

For anyone who graduated with an ADN, were you able to relocate to another state immediately after passing the NCLEX? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Hi!, I have finished my first year of nursing. I love studying I really do but I had a situation at the end of my year that kind of made me go ''oh.... Should I not be here?" To keep it short my ALN kind of let it slip that she thinks that I am stupid '' we pick a student who we think will do something stupid and it was you .. and you did".

It has been a couple of weeks now since the incident.. It has really hurt my self confidence. It is making me question if I should just stop now. I loved the care I got to do for the residents and the connection I got to have with them. I am an okay student grade wise B+ Average though I will admit I got some A's where I didn't expect to! B).

But honestly.. Without classes and school I don't think I know what I would do next, I should probably contact a career advisor + counselling rather than asking reddit haha.

I just need people to be honest with me

I’m in my first semester of nursing school right now. I originally chose this program when I was in high school and applying to college because I wanted to be someone that a patient would be able to rely on, to work hands on, to be able to help with mental health along with physical health, to be able to educate and mentor, and to be an advocate for the patient. However, last year in high school I did an internship in the emergency room. My duties were basically that of a patient care tech. While I was there, I began to think that nursing wouldn’t be for me. I am terribly squeamish when it comes to bodily fluids such as feces, urine, and vomit. Anytime I encountered anything like this or a sickness I would panic and barely be able to function without constant stress. I got burnt out just during my 3 months there, and I realized that the 12 hour shifts 3 days a week would not line up with what I want for my future. I also realized that I really like the diagnostic part of things, as when I listened to a PA or doctor talking to a patient about their symptoms, asking questions and trying to figure stuff out, I could see myself in that role. I am someone that finds high satisfaction in puzzle sort of deals, taking pieces from all over and trying to make a picture of it.

I think I know from that experience that I do not want to work in the hospital. Especially as a nurse. I’m about to switch my nursing degree to a biology degree because of this as my registration is this Friday in the morning, and because I started feeling that PA or becoming a high school educator would be a better suit for me. But I genuinely have no clue and I’m terrified of making the wrong decision. On the one hand I want to get out of nursing if I know I wouldn’t like it, but I’m also thinking maybe there’s something else in nursing that I’m missing that could make it so I do really like it, such as outpatient other than the ER. Im also scared of getting a degree like a biology degree that doesn’t really lead to a job like nursing does. I don’t want to leave and then realize I never should’ve left and then spend thousands of dollars on getting back to nursing. I just want a job where I can form a deep, long lasting relationship with people, be able to help and mentor them, be able to help them directly, and have good pay and flexibility. But I don’t know about the environment of nursing with bodily fluids, the hospital shifts, and the high burnout.

I’m (20F) on my fourth term of my LPN program, my goal was to bridge to RN, but I’m starting to feel like I don’t like nursing. I graduate soon, did you guys all go through a similar phase, I was so excited to start but now I’m not sure I’m feeling it anymore. I’ve got empathy but it’s so much patient interaction it’s kind of exhausting. Is this just a phase, will I get used to it?

1st semester nursing student here. This might sound silly but I shake like crazy when someone is watching me do something. Is this a normal part of nursing school? If so, when did it get better for you? I know my hand cannot be shaking when I’m inserting sensitive items (IV, Catheter) I’m so worried I won’t be able to control it.

I had a check off where I had to draw a 5 units of insulin while the CI watched and my hand was shaking so much I could barely draw up the medication. So embarrassing.

I was in my last term of nursing school , failed my first exam so I needed to work really hard for the next two .I did. The growth in score is incredible but ultimately I failed critical care by 4 points. I got dismissed and had to drop it classes. I was 9 credits away from graduation :(
anyways I don’t know what life foward rightnow looks like. 128 credits ! Potentially down the drain

Has anyone gonna back and and transferred to school that took your credits and got your BSN within a year ?
I just need some realistic information and motivation that all I did for 10 years wasn’t for nothing

Applied for a nursing program at my local technical college. I’m 39 with a 12 year old. I plan to go full time and want to hear if it’s worth my time and effort. Really nervous but hopeful I’m doing the right thing for my future.

I genuinely need advice from other nursing students or nurses because I’m at my breaking point with nursing school. I KNOW the material, I understand it in clinical, and I do well when practicing, but when it comes to exams, I struggle so badly. I constantly narrow questions down to two answers, second-guess myself, and end up choosing the wrong one.
I’ve tried different study methods, practice questions, and even recently got approved for ADA accommodations. I literally drove an hour away today just to earn extra credit because I’m trying everything I can to pass.
It’s so discouraging knowing the information but not being able to reflect that on exams. I’m starting to question whether nursing school is even for me. Has anyone else struggled with test-taking specifically? What actually helped you improve your exam scores? I genuinely need advice because I don’t want to give up, but I’m exhausted. 💔

I’m in med surg 1 currently in my ADN program I’m passing everything else except med surg I just feel so discouraged my professor already told me to drop out and they denied my memory aid for my IEP my Clincal instructors tell me how exceptional I am and rely that to my professors but I feel like they don’t see it. And I know failing a class isn’t the end of the world but I’m trying so hard any extra credit I’m their I drove an hour today from my house to get 3 points for my test + extra credit homework I need a 76.5 to pass which rounds up to a 77 right now I have a 68 and we have a lot of tests still left I feel like I can do it I just feel so desperate and defeated 😞 and others are failing the class as well not just me but others are passing so I know I’m not the only one who feels the same, I don’t work like that, I don’t have any kids or dogs like other people in my program I’m the youngest being 19 I feel overwhelmed and I know this is my passion but I feel burnt before even starting.

If anyone has any advice or just some encouraging words that would be nice, thank you for listening to my message.

To keep things short I am currently in school for pre-radiology and am having some thoughts of changing majors to nursing. Specifically LPN then LPN to RN. Realistically, what makes a good nurse and is my goal even worth it? I specifically want to do Hospice since I feel like a hospital or er would burn me out fast. I do not have anybody really to talk about besides for at work and I’ve been told a number of things.

I 40m, decided to go back to be a nurse in my 30s. I felt like nursing was a good fit for my personality. I like helping people. I already have my bachelor's degree but I just couldn't find my way up any corporate bullcrap ladder so I went back to school to be a nurse because I had already worked in behavioral health for 10+ years. At any rate, I spent 4 years doing prerequisites for an ADN nursing program. I spent another 2 on a waitlist. I got in and failed my first block. I spent a year doing an added prerequisite and getting back in. I am in my last semester on my second try and I am about to fail out. At my school it's 2 failures then out. I am so sad.

I am going to be able to be an LPN since I was able to take a step out course but it feels insulting given the time and energy I put in to this. I can't help but feel that the past year and a half were wasted. If we are lucky, we get 80 trips or so around the sun. 80 summers, 80 winters, 80 springs and 80 falls. I feel like I wasted 4-5 of them. I'm also sad that this is not turning out like it was supposed to. I feel ashamed like I let my family down since they were along for the journey, like I am being slapped across the face with a horses*** consolation prize with the LPN certificate, like I wasted time I feel like I don't have even though I'm only 40, and just all around sad.

I feel like an ADN was going to give independence, open a lot of doors for any kind of specialty and now that is going to close. Please don't get this twisted. I respect the absolute crap out of LPNs and just as much out of CNAs/UAPs (as I was one for a good amount of time), but LPNs don't have the same amount of wiggle room for specialty. I feel like I was robbed of going out and learning by doing rather than being in classes and tortured by the overhanging thought of failure and tests and practicums and clinicals. I missed my nieces birthdays and didn't take vacations and blew money on a year and a half of school that didn't even pan out. Now I can't go back because I feel like it is unconscionable to ask my family to continue on because I would have to start back at block 3 and also I do not have the money to continue on as this was all the savings I had set aside for school. My family has been supportive but they are wearing. I would like to continue in the future but that is not possible for 10 years (ballpark). I feel like this dream is dead and I'm grieving and all the tears I want to cry are just not coming out.

Sorry if this is TLDR. I don't know what I expect with this. Partially weepi... I mean venting, partially asking if anyone else has been an LPN not by choice. If so, did you go back to nursing school and finish? Did you enjoy being an LPN? Should I just get over it?

Long story short, career changing. Have a BSCS. Finishing nursing pre-reqs and applying to ADN programs. Goal was ultimately CRNA, however realizing MD/DO is feasible but would need ~80 credits of A's to fix my GPA. Thinking of taking Physics I/II, OChem I/II, BioChem during Nursing school. All nursing pre-reqs have been A's. Just curious if anyone else has taken additional courses on top of the ones scheduled for their cohort? Thanks!

I got into a LVN -RN program after being an LVN for a year and a half. I found out that orientation for the program is the week I'm scheduled to be out of the country on a trip with my kids. This trip has been planned for over a year, with thousands spent already (we have trip insurance). I'm now faced with the decision to cancel our trip for orientation, or reapply for the program/another program. I'm sure I'll get a bunch of comments about me being stupid to even question not attending school for a vacation, but this is something my kids and I have been looking forward to. I've already reached out to the school and been told it is mandatory with no work around.

It’s close to time for me to choose for my practice…. We get 2 specialties and have to pick one med surg unit and they’ll assign us to one of them.

I’m thinking of putting a surgical trauma ICU as one of my top picks but I’m just lost on where to go. We haven’t had our critical care rotations yet, and I work in a nursing home now as a LPN so I feel like no matter where I go I’ll be floundering.

Where did you go for practicum? Do you think it helped you with your career as a RN? I honestly don’t want to work at the hospital we’re doing practicum at, but it’s the more local option and therefore the only one my school does partnership with.

I’m 4 weeks into my program and I’m already seriously questioning whether this is worth it.

What’s wearing me down:

• I’m struggling to make friends
• I have a 1 hour commute that involves public transportation which I hate
• The wakeups are early and the policies are cruel. One missed lab and you fail the class.
• I’m sleep deprived most days and always stressed
• The constant lack of respect and prestige. The fact that you can FEEL people laughing at you silently as you perform degrading acts of service.

The part I can’t stop thinking about is the payoff. SWEs make double or triple what a nurse makes for a fraction of a fraction of the work and suffering. Don't believe me? Search up Levels.fyi (WARNING: DO NOT GO ON THIS SITE IF YOU ARE HAVING A BAD DAY IN NURSING SCHOOL).

Look guys, I’m not saying nursing isn’t "meaningful", but at 5am on very little sleep, the reward at the end looks pretty thin next to what’s available elsewhere.

Every morning when I am forced to wake up to attend another round of this shit, I feel intense waves of hatred, resentment, fury, rage, indignance and regret.

For anyone who has been in this spot: did you think about quitting? What did you decide, and do you regret it? Did the first few weeks turn out to be the worst of it?

hey guys I’m 21 (F) in my third out of fifth semester of nursing school and I have been looking for a PCT job all this year and have had no luck, I got two interviews one offer and it didn’t end up working out to do an extremely important appointment in my life during the same week. I am so frustrated and I really want a job to help get my foot in the door. Any tips? I’m in the Houston area

Hello, so I’m (27f) currently in nursing school and back in a big city. I frankly cannot wait to move back here again because I was in my hometown once again for two years and I was pretty bored and there was nothing to do but at least I got some experience in a clinic. The thing is, I’m just torn. A part of me wants to move out after I graduate to another big city to have a first start and to have a new scenery around me. However, my parents keep begging for me to stay here in this city because it’s closer to them and it’s cheaper than for example, Austin. I have good and bad memories in the big city where currently am and I’m not so sure if I wanna stay here. I do know people here but I have like two people I call best friends and the sad thing is that I never see them and they never initiate plans so I do feel lonely. And if I were to move out, I would also feel lonely because I wouldn’t know anyone in the new city so yeah I’m pretty sure about this. I have no idea what to do and need advice. What should I do? I have no kids nor partner by the way. I’m so jealous of people that live in big cities with their families.

Warning this is a long post but I just wanted to share something I’ve been going through these last three weeks.

I’m only in week 8 of my first semester of an ADN program and it has definitely been a journey.

I started the program motivated and excited (with the goal of eventually working in L&D). But after struggling through a head to toe assessment because I was so nervous and kept forgetting steps, I fell into a rabbit hole of anxiety and self doubt that I’m only now starting to come out of.

I started questioning absolutely everything. Whether nursing was really for me, whether I had the compassion necessary to be a good nurse, and whether I even wanted to perform the roles of a nurse. I went from loving my prerequisites and being excited about nursing school to researching completely different majors and convincing myself I needed to leave.

The anxiety has been unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I’ve struggled with my appetite, sleep, and constant feelings of dread. I genuinely felt like I was losing myself over something I had worked so hard to achieve.

Yesterday I actually went into my student portal and selected to withdraw from all my classes. For whatever reason, the system wouldn’t process my request and told me I needed to contact the campus instead.

At first I was frustrated because I felt done and just wanted it to be over. But after thinking about it, I started wondering whether this was a sign to give myself another chance.

Today I had my third hospital clinical on a med-surg floor. I was absolutely dreading it this morning, but surprisingly it wasn’t a bad day. I found myself genuinely caring about the patients I encountered, and for the first time in weeks I felt a little bit of the compassion and motivation I thought I’d lost.

I’ve spent so much time focusing on everything that could go wrong and convincing myself that one bad assessment meant I wasn’t cut out for nursing. But I’m starting to realize that struggling with a skill doesn’t mean I’ll never become good at it.

I still have a lot of anxiety to work through, and I’m definitely scared of what the rest of this semester and the next three will bring. But today was the first day in weeks that I felt hopeful about my future again.

I’m not saying I’ve figured everything out, but I’m glad I didn’t make a permanent decision during what might have been one of the lowest points I’ve experienced in my life.

I’m not really sure what the point of this post is other than to get everything off my chest. Maybe someone else who’s struggling with the same feelings will read this and feel a little less alone.

I’m just taking it one day at a time. Hopefully in a year and a half when I graduate I’ll look back on this moment as part of the journey that made me a stronger nurse. 🫶🏻

Hi everyone,

I’m a mature student with a BA that only got me low-wage jobs with no real future. This year, after a lot of research, I started taking first-year engineering courses, and so far it’s been a huge challenge. I spend most of my time studying, and I’m completely burned out. I’ve also put every other part of my life on hold (no dating, no social life). I don’t think I’m smart enough for electrical engineering, so I’m considering civil instead.

I saw a recent post from someone thinking about switching into engineering, and a few female engineers commented that they’d gone the other way. So I’m curious: why did you switch from civil (or another engineering field) to nursing? Are you happier now?

I used to work with domestic violence survivors. I know I love helping people, and I can handle hearing difficult things, but I’m not sure I could handle seeing traumatic things. I had to take care of a sick parent when I was younger, which was very hard, and I saw firsthand how bad things are in hospitals. So I’m scared of switching to nursing.

Since I already have a BA, I could finish nursing in about 2–3 years, or a Bachelor of Social Work in about two. Either way, I’d plan to continue on to an NP program or an MSW. I don’t need to make a lot of money; I just don’t want to be underpaid or stuck with poor job stability and availability.

I’m in a pretty rough place mentally right now, and I’d really appreciate any advice. TIA!

Hey all,

I’m currently an LPN who is back in school to take my prerequisites for the bridge program.. I’m currently in A&P 1 with my psych class also starting this week. After this semester I’ll just have 4 classes left: A&P2, Chemistry, Microbiology, and Stats… I haven’t don’t too well on my first two A&P exams, but somehow am maintaining an 89%.

My problem is that I’m struggling with motivation and giving my all. I don’t feel as hungry as I did when I was getting my LPN. I feel like having 6 prerequisites to do all together feels like A LOT. Especially since people are saying “Just do one class at a time”.

I feel like the classes will be too tough to stack on top of one another - like 2 for spring and 2 for fall. But if I do one at a time, I won’t be able even apply for the bridge program until 2029 🙃🙃

Any advice ya’ll? Cause I’m STRUGGLING.