r/NursingStudents

Someone please deinfluence me from going to nursing school! 😭 I want to go so bad but everyone who works as a nurse that i talk too tells me it’s a bad idea and that I shouldn’t become a nurse.

I am between these two. Honestly, I think OT is a better fit job duty wise and low stress but the cost of these programs vs the salary is ridiculous... i cant afford it. I am almost 29, still paying off undergrad debt. I know COTA is an option but in my area there are pretty much no jobs and they only make 50,000. I cant survive on that.

I don't think i would hate being a nurse but the stress and high patient volume is what worries me.. and math.. but im sure i could practice that. I think being an outpatient nurse or a lower patient ratio specialty would be a better fit for me.. hospice, L&D, mother baby, endocrine outpatient.

Any advice from anyone in these careers? Especially regarding nursing stress and getting a lower stress nursing job.

I’m seriously considering going back to school, but I’m worried that I’m not smart enough.

I dropped out of high school during my sophomore year because of family issues. I ended up getting my GED a couple years ago, and now I’m 26 with a 10 month old and currently a SAHM.

One of my biggest regrets has always been not building a career for myself. It was something I always wanted, and I still think about it often.

I’d basically be starting from scratch, and I feel discouraged because I keep thinking it might be too hard or that I’m not capable enough. I guess I’m wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and has been able to accomplish it.

so basically what the title says, I start first year nursing this fall and everyone i’ve talked to says classes like anatomy and physiology for example is a lot of reading and memorizing and it just makes sense to kinda get a head start on the reading but I can’t really find an outline or any notes on some of these classes. Any help would be appreciated.

and tips on how to good in nursing would be great :)

EDIT: I did take a gap year after high school so trust I’ve definitely gotten LOTS of rest from school, i’m lowkey just anxious and don’t wanna be behind yk?

Hey all…
I just took my first med surge exam, and only got a 79 on it.. I’m so disappointed in myself. I realized where I went wrong. But I was looking over so much. It’s hard for me to pick out what’s important. It just really sucks and hurts my heart sometimes. I want all the knowledge but it’s so much information in a short amount of time. I technically passed it, but I don’t want to be teetering on the edge the whole time. I just need a hug.

Hi, so I’m currently finishing up my prerequisites at Foothill and De Anza and getting ready to apply for transfer to SJSU for nursing. I know that to attend the nursing program in Fall 2027, I would need to apply to SJSU itself in Fall 2026 and to NursingCAS around Jan-Feb.

So, now here’s my dilemma. I have a 4.0 GPA which would likely be maintain, I don’t see any foreseeable significant changes to it. I haven’t taken my TEAS yet and I unfortunately haven’t been able to get any volunteering experience, licensure or certification (ex. CNA or EMT), basically extracurricular stuff that could boost my application. I had a lot of family issues going on, but I know schools don’t care about that so really it’s still my fault regardless I know. But I only have roughly around 6 months to get those in if I do want to. I’ve heard that SJSU Nursing mostly looks at TEAS and GPA, but I don’t know if other stuff can help boost your application tremendously or not. My main question is should I just use my time to study and focus on getting a high TEAS score and not do anything extracurricular or should I at least try to maybe split my time and do something while studying for my TEAS?

Now my follow-up question is if doing something extracurricular would help, are there any recommendations on what I should do? I try looking into CNA program and I was going to apply to EVC, but I wasn’t aware applications already opened in April (I know that was bad planning on my part), so now if I do apply I’ll probably be waitlist very far down the line. And I also look into volunteering opportunities like at hospitals (Kaiser and SCVMC), but they require references. I haven’t been employed nor do I have any professors who knows me well enough to write one so that’s iffy too. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Reddit, I’m Sarah Greene, an OHSU School of Nursing student at the Ashland campus. I’m here to chat about undergrad nursing degrees and programs at OHSU live on Friday, May 29 at 1:00PM PDT.

Ask me anything!

https://preview.redd.it/d7u8lkfutb2h1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=e4acd6dd85586f38d2b3a55d5163ec2231222cc2

Been a nurse for almost six years now and I feel stuck. I know there are a ton of nursing career paths beyond bedside but I don't know how to figure out which one is right for me. NP, CNS, educator, leadership, informatics, telehealth, the list goes on and every time I look into one I find ten more I didn't know existed. How do you even narrow this down when you don't have a clear picture of where you want to be in five years? I just know I can't keep doing floor nursing forever and I need to start moving toward something. Anyone else been in this spot and figured it out?

Hi everyone,
I really need some advice because I’m feeling lost and discouraged. I was in the nursing program at William Carey University, and I was dismissed after failing two different classes. The hardest part is that this happened only two months before I was supposed to graduate, so it feels like everything fell apart right at the end.

I’m trying to figure out what to do next, but it’s been confusing. Hardly anyone I know is taking transfer credits, so I don’t have many examples of people who’ve been through this or transferred successfully.

I still want to be a nurse, but right now I’m embarrassed, overwhelmed, and unsure if I even have a path forward. Any advice, experiences, or steps you’d recommend would really mean a lot. Thank you.

As an RN with almost 20 years of experience, I must say that it disgusts me that we continue to treat new nurses entering the workforce horribly, almost sadistically. First, we make it almost impossible for them to get a new RN residency job except for home health and at SNFs. Hiring managers at the Level I hospitals and the AI bots they create constantly reject their applications for not having the best qualifications, when in reality it's because they don't have the "right" nursing school pedigree, the "right" clinical placement, or they don't already work there, or they are not well-connected there, etc......Well, not all nurses want to begin their careers in home health or a SNF and many of them were already working in those settings for years and years as CNAs and LVNs. Then, when they do actually get a new RN job, except in maybe 5 states, we pay them terribly, as low as $28 an hour. Finally, when these new nurses step on the floor, we treat them like crap in every way possible. I don't need to go into any detail on this. So, I ask you...How can we reduce this sadistic and snobbish and elitist quality to new nursing jobs and replace it with something more supportive? I am looking at you hiring managers.........especially the sadistic ones.

Hey guys, I guess I'm just looking for some advice or maybe just a reality check from people who’ve been through something similar.

I recently turned 21 and just finished my second year of community college doing prerequisites for the ADN program. My original plan was to start this coming fall, but I failed the HESI, so now I have to retake it and hopefully start in the spring instead.

Honestly, this delay is hitting me harder than I expected. I already spent two years on prerequisites, and the ADN itself is another two years. So instead of having my BSN in four years total, I’ll have my ADN in about four years, and then by the time I bridge to my BSN, I’ll be 24 or 25.

The only reason I’m taking this route is because it’s the most financially smart option for me right now. But mentally, it’s hard seeing people my age already in BSN programs or graduating sooner. I feel like I’m falling behind.

Not only that, my GPA is a 2.7 right now, which makes me feel even worse lol. I’m retaking classes and trying to improve, but I’m getting frustrated with myself because I feel like no matter how hard I study, I never get the grade I want the first time. I always have to do it a second time to understand or get a good grade. Also, I've never been academically smart like my peers growing up. I've always struggled a lot, and I'm just mad at myself.

I know nursing isn’t supposed to be a race, but lately it’s hard not to feel like I've messed up my future or that I'm falling behind. Has anyone else felt this way? especially if school never came naturally to you. How did you stop being so angry at yourself and stop comparing?

Thanks for reading. I could really use some honesty and encouragement right now.

I received my senior preceptorship placement today and I was placed on a med surg unit. I had selected ED and ICU as my preferences because my dream job is to work in the ED. I was planning on getting my foot in the door for employment through my senior preceptorship placement in an ED, but now I'm not so sure what to do.

I've had a couple job interviews for ED and ICU roles but no offers yet. Ill be graduating in less than 90 days (accelerated BSN). Do I just start putting in regular online applications to ED roles?? Or should I just pursue employment on the med surg floor where I will do my preceptorship and try to get an ED position after I have a year of nursing experience in med surg? I'm not particularly interested in med surg nursing but having a job by the time I graduate is my top priority.

I got in to Los Angeles pierce college and I have a good feeling I got into Glendale community college and I’m waiting on LAVC . Does anyone have any recommendations or reviews on any of this schools Im going for fall 2026 so I just wanna make sure I choose the right program !! Please share you’re thoughts and opinions

Hi guys! so today I received my fsuu result but unfortunately i didn't pass or meet the nursing required score. is there any possible way na ma enroll ghapon ko sa nursing? or mamawi nalang jud ko ani sa interview? haha

I was wondering if anyone had some free ressources to study for the nclex pn. And if you already took the test how useful was board vitals ati for you?

Anybody have any information regarding the LLN online test? The only information i’ve been provided was the content within it and the marks required (level 3-4).
I’ve reached out to the support email a couple of times now and all i was told was that i would receive information from the events page email. I finally received it the day before the actual test, but i still don’t feel like i understand what’s going on? it said a computer/laptop/tablet is required but i was wondering if anyone knows if pen and paper as well as calculators are permitted for the maths component? Thanks in advance! :)

Hey everyone — I work at a Canadian nursing prep platform and we built this for our students, but honestly it's useful regardless of which platform you use so sharing it here freely.

We structured it around the 8 official NCLEX client needs categories with question counts that mirror what actually shows up on the exam:

The 8 Client Needs and how heavy they are:

• Psychosocial Integrity — heaviest, do not underestimate this
• Reduction of Risk Potential — second most tested
• Management of Care — shows up constantly in NGN format
• Physiological Adaptation — body systems, expect clinical judgment cases
• Basic Care & Comfort — easier but lots of questions
• Health Promotion & Maintenance — lifecycle focused
• Pharmacological & Parenteral Therapies — calculations + psych meds are the tricky ones
• Safety & Infection Control — standard precautions, fall prevention, medication errors

Weekly structure: Weeks 1–6: One client need area per week, Mon–Fri practice questions, Saturday unscored practice exam Weeks 7–12: Mixed high-yield review Mon–Fri, Saturday full CAT-format timed exam (85–150 questions, 5 hours, real exam conditions)

What actually moves the needle: Don't practice questions randomly. Practice by client need area first, then mix. Your weak areas will show up clearly by week 4 and you'll have 8 weeks left to fix them.

Happy to answer questions in the comments. Good luck everyone — you've got this.

Hi everyone!
I’m starting nursing school this upcoming august and have a lot of questions. I really want to set myself up for success when I start but would love to hear what helped others. I see that many people use ipads, I did use this when taking my prerequisites but i felt like i never retained anything and once I did notebook I did so much better. I see a lot of people use Ipads and Is this more helpful in nursing school or were you still able to handwrite notes? Anything I should start review before school? I’ll take absolutely any advice at all! Thank you!!

I received a clinical failure for third semester due to illness. My school has a policy where you can only repeat once and I repeated second semester. I don’t want to repeat the entire program and I’m looking for a way to pivot. I am open to most medical careers, except respiratory therapy and I have a Bachelors in English. Any suggestions? I’ve taken a job as a PCA and after one year, I can get free tuition at the University of Louisville for any undergrad classes. Looking for advice. Just feeling lost. I spent so much time and effort on nursing school and it really hurts to have lost all that time and stressed myself to the maximum just to not get through it.

Has anyone rebuilt their path into nursing after a denied readmission appeal?

I had a really difficult semester involving caregiving responsibilities, overwhelm, untreated ADHD related struggles at the time, poor coping/communication, and I made mistakes during clinical that I fully take accountability for, including not completing a clinical assignment. I was withdrawn from the program and recently denied readmission.

I’m not blaming my school at all . I understand why nursing programs take these concerns seriously. I still genuinely love nursing and I’ve been putting stronger support systems in place moving forward. I also ended up hiring a freelance writer/editor to help me organize my appeal because there was honestly a lot to explain 😭

Any honest advice or experiences would really mean a lot.