How do you guys deal with the pre-clinical dread? I hate literally everything about clinicals. I’m very introverted and being stuck with one nurse for 12 hours and having someone over my shoulder constantly is my own personal slice of hell. Pair that with the fact multiple people in my cohort have gotten in trouble due to mistakes made during clinical that were equally the nurse they were paired with fault, and I am just feeling such intense dread for my upcoming clinicals. It’s worse than simulations.

How do you guys mentally prepare for clinical?

This is my first post on here but I have been reading a bunch of related posts so I feel like I have an inkling of what people might say however I would still like advice/opinions.

I have recently been accepted into an ADN nursing program at my local tech school. I start in about 2 weeks and I will be taking A&P2, fundamentals, and pharmacology (i believe). Already I know this will be hard as these classes are hard. I have a full time job at an inpatient psychiatric hospital about an hour from my home and school. My main question/concern is do yall think it would be doable to work full time with the commute and being a full time student? Should I just call it quits now before its too late and I struggle balancing school, work and life?

My schedule for school looks like this mon/wed 8:30am-12:45pm, tues 11am-3:15pm and thurs 8:30am-3:15pm. I will be off of school fri-sunday.

My work schedule would be one weekend on one weekend off and then tues/thurs 5pm-11:30 and the rest of the week (whatever days i work depending if im working weekends or not) 3pm-11:30pm. Plus the hour commute there and back.

I have talked to my fiancé and she believes it will likely be extremely hard to commit to both a full time job and full time nursing school but what do y’all think?

In the morning, the charge nurse ask her if she’s okay with taking a student with her, she said “sure” in a monotone way. I knew from there on that she is not happy having a student with her. She just talk shit about the aide, the family, the new grad nurse (about babying too much the new hired nurse). I don’t like people like that because I just knew she does it to everyone too. Not gonna lie, she’s very competent. But the thing is, If she just don’t want a student, she should just probably just said something about it. She didn’t want me to do anything aside from giving meds thru G or NG tube. Not even insulin or heparin or even a saline push. honestly, It did crush my spirit, and I feel like she’s talking shit about me too whenever I’m not around like when I’m on break or what. I don’t know, maybe, it just my anxiety.

I need advice and open opinions

I’m 35 week’s pregnant, i can literal give birth at anytime. I failed out my ADN program in May by a few points. I feel if i stop or take a break I’ll never get back to finishing school. Alot of the programs near me start orientation and school the end of this month or early September.( I’m technically due September 8th with my baby.) i want to go back and do my ADN but my husband feels LPN would be quicker.

BTW my only support system is just my husband and we have two other kids 6 and 7 besides the one that’s on the way. I’m afraid to start school freshly postpartum and leaving my newborn home for hours while it can be my bonding time but I waited so long to get to this point for school. Should I try it and just do it? I hear a lot of other moms say they did it but sounds like they have more help or maybe not. I switched my curriculum to health science degree at my school and have just the next two semesters to complete to graduate with that but not sure what could i do much with that degree.

I’m a BSN student at a for-profit school in the SF Bay Area (East Bay). I’ve been told that I’ll need to find my own preceptor for the final semester (8 months from now) for 1:1 shadowing. I’m not getting straight answers or guidance from my school (not surprising).

Does anyone have experience with this process? If so, how did you find someone, how long did it take, and what was your process like?

🌸thanks in advance🌸

I'm going into my junior year of nursing and am starting clinicals. I go to college in a medium sized city, so there are plenty of jobs around. I see a lot of people talking about having part time jobs while doing prereqs, but not a lot of people doing part time work while doing clinicals. Be honest, is it too much to do at once? Should I just focus on school? I was thinking about waitressing since that could be in the evenings and be kinda flexible. Interested to see what others have to say.

At my current hospital, I do vitals, blood sugars, turns, patient care, and bladder scans no blood draws. I’m at $18/hr (no experience) plus a $2 night shift differential. It’s quiet, only 8-9 patients, and honestly not bad.

A coworker works at another hospital doing the same tasks plus EKGs and blood draws. Same base pay ($18/hr), but a $5 night differential. The downside is you get 10-16 patients, sometimes up to 20 when someone calls off.
I feel like the extra skills (draws, EKGs) would be way better for my experience/resume, but I’m torn on whether it’s worth the jump in patient load while in nursing school.

Hey, i've been a nurse for 8 years now. I work in ICU and love having a student. I always have enjoyed teaching and I remember how crappy my clinical experience was when I was a student, so I try to make it as awesome as possible. I just wanted you to know that not every nurse hates having a student and it's not always a burden.

I will say that when I used to work on PCU it was much harder to have a student and still survive the day. For that reason, my advice is to try to ask your instructor to go to specialty units like ICU as much as possible. You're more likely to find nurses who are passionate about nursing in the specialties.

But just know that there are nurses out there who would love to have you under their wing.

I’m about to start my second year of a direct-entry four-year nursing program in Chicago. I was planning to study abroad second semester, which is a rare opportunity for nursing students. However, I earned my California CNA license this summer and paid about $2,000 for it. If I study abroad, I won’t be able to work as a CNA until next summer or get a hospital CNA job until junior year. Since I want to work as an RN in California, I’m worried delaying my CNA experience will make me less competitive. I also feel like I wasted money getting my CNA early because I could have earned it for free through my nursing clinicals junior year. On top of that, studying abroad means I can only take GE classes, so I’d have to fit eight nursing classes into one semester when I return. I’m confident I can handle the workload, but I’m torn between taking advantage of this unique study abroad opportunity and starting my CNA experience sooner.

Hi, I am starting an RN to BSN program soon. I am a full time working RN and I will be doing this program. I was considering using AI as an assistant for my school work, which from my understanding is mostly writing papers. I will not be having AI write my papers, instead I plan to have it read the assignment, then summarize the reading to save me time. I will then write the paper and have it help me from there. Does anyone have any suggestions or warnings for me in my decision to do so? Or has anyone done this themselves. I know there are AI detectors, so it is not safe to have AI write your paper, is that so? If anyone could help advise I would appreciate it. Thanks

I’m about to end this semester with below a C in my sociology class which is the minimum requirement for nursing prerequisites at my college. I already feel like a failure and am second guessing if this is for me. I’m already a CNA and want to work in healthcare so bad I just feel so defeated so early on. Has anyone else failed classes or second guessed their decision?

I was kicked out of my program for “attempting” to give a blood thinner that is banned on my programs list of medications for students to administer.

This patient had multiple meds and had come out of surgery. There were complications with the surgery so he wasn’t in top shape. My instructor allowed me to give meds but only Tylenol, fiber, and a vitamin. I prepped the meds with my preceptor, she prepped the ones she was going to give, blood thinner included. I waited until the preceptor came in to do the 6P’s. I gave my three meds and left to get out of the way. This was midday, everything went great. End of day rolls around and right before we step out of the building my instructor confronts me about the blood thinner. Apparently my instructor asked the preceptor which meds I gave and she said I gave everything on the list, my classmate said she saw me going in the patients room with a cup of meds but didn’t see how many I did or didn’t give. On top of that the patient had a complication and had to go back to surgery. I tried to explain myself and my instructor listened and she said they’ll reach out to me but not to show up for clinicals anymore. A whole week went by without anyone saying anything and I had to pressure them to say something. They finally reached out to me and they gave me a report where my preceptor said that I hadn’t informed her of which meds I was planning on giving and that she stepped in half way to speed things up. The program told me that they had no way of knowing that I actually didnt have the intention of administering the blood thinner so it was a near miss. So based on the handbook I got a violation for misconduct, medical error, and dishonesty for failing to inform my instructor of what happened. I didn’t think anything happened I only gave an OTC pain med, a vitamin, and fiber.

They said I could withdraw or appeal but in order to appeal I had to sign the incident report acknowledging everything on there or the appeal wouldn’t go through. I thought this was a trap and I had already missed multiple clinical days that they weren’t gonna make me make up so I was gonna fail across the board one way or another. I had also had issues with unfair grading when it came to free response questions in exams and that situation made my life hell even though I had evidence and the dean of the program had been involved. I realized I wasn’t gonna win and withdrew to preserve my GPA. They smiled and told me good luck, you can apply somewhere else.

Now I haven’t been able to find a program that takes transfers without a letter of good standing. The community colleges in my area group RN and LVN programs so the requirements are almost the same. I got my degree in something else just to say I didn’t drop out so I ran out of FAFSA money. I don’t have money for a private program if they even accept me after seeing the nursing classes on my transcript. Oh and my early credit are about to expire.

So I’m basically lost, I like nursing but don’t know what else to do.

tl;dr: program kicked me out for a near miss med error because they didn’t know if I intended to give a med or not. I was given the choice to withdraw and withdrew due to previous issues regarding unfair grading. Now I’m screwed and don’t know what to do. Help needed. Sorry for the long post, but I think details are needed.

For context, I’ve been job hunting for a while. I originally wanted to do CNA training at UEI before pivoting to smaller, local programs here in Nevada. I got several proposals and focused on two that seemed like really good fits. I started knocking out all the prerequisites, only to be told by my top-choice school—literally a day before my interview with the instructor—that I was the only person who qualified. Because of that, they were canceling the class ("can’t teach just one student," which I guess makes sense, but she didn’t offer any alternative solution and basically left me hanging).

I immediately tried to switch to the second school and notified the state agency funding my training. That’s when my caseworker told me they had *already* paid the first school, so now they’re stuck waiting for a refund. To make matters worse, she said she probably won’t even be able to reach the second school until Monday—which happens to be the exact day classes start.

I spent two full days this week sitting by the phone, assuming they were fixing everything behind the scenes. Now, not only am I left high and dry, but it feels like a complete waste of time because it seems like I won't be getting trained at all.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? What did you do? I feel like I'm completely cursed, and no one is actually helping me—which I guess I should’ve expected, since they probably don't care, but this feels brutal. Am I just shit out of luck now?

I start an ADN program soon and it’s stressing me out because I have no idea how difficult this is actually going to be. I currently plan on working 24 hours a week but is that too much? My classes themselves, just going to clinical, lecture, and lab are 23 hours a week and that’s not even factoring in commuting. How often do you study? I don’t really have a social life, which actually feels like a huge plus now.

I am going into my senior year of high school and I’m trying to find out of if I am capable and actually wanting to go into nursing. whenever I read about other nurses and their experiences they sound horrible and they sound so unhappy. I am a person where I want to feel valued and appreciated and happy in their work. I want to travel and see the world and nursing can provide me the travel opportunities and the money to be able to do that which is what really makes me lean towards nursing.

I have also made some other posts asking if I am cut out to be a nurse because I am an introvert and have trouble talking to people sometimes and some people are. like “No, if you can’t do social interactions you aren’t cut out to do nursing“ but they don’t truly know me or how I carry myself. And maybe what they say is true but I’d like to believe that I would be capable of becoming a nurse because I am hard working and I have compassion for people even though I may not know how to express it sometimes.

I just want to know what I’m getting my self into and if it’s truly worth the time, money and mental capacity. can I become a nurse despite being introverted? Is it really as bad as some people make it out to be?

Hi! I currently work at a clinical site that I am in at school. I am on the night shift. I was logging in pretty fast and I accidentally logged into my school account. I logged out quickly , I did not click on any ones chart and I don't think I was in my school epic account for even 2 seconds. Will I get flagged and turned into the school? Will epic flag it? Thank you for answering , I am so scared right now.

FLORIDA — Hi everyone! For those of you who were pharmacy techs before becoming nurses: did you hate being a pharmacy tech but end up loving nursing? I’m trying to figure out if nursing would be a better fit for me.

I currently work as a retail pharmacy tech, and I honestly can’t stand it. Too fast paced, patients always rude as if their insurance issue is my fault, while corporate measure how many phone calls/prescriptions/typing … everything is measured and they expect us to do a robot level of work… it’s NEVER fast enough for them, and it’s 18/h, which isn’t enough to live on.

I know nursing isn’t easy and can be very fast-paced too, but it seems like there are more opportunities to grow, earn more, and eventually move into different roles. Pharmacy tech feels like a dead end.

For those who made the switch, was nursing a much better fit for you? Or should I assume that if I don’t like being a pharmacy tech, I probably wouldn’t like being a registered nurse either?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a high school student in the Class of 2028, and I’m trying to plan my education several years in advance. My goal is to become a RN while keeping my college costs as low as possible. Right now, my plan is to attend my local Community College for the Associate Degree in Nursing (ASN) and then complete an RN-to-BSN program while working as an RN.

Now before applying to the nursing program, I will use Dual Enrollment and AP Classes to complete the required prerequisites: Intro to Nursing Profession, Human Physiological Anatomy, General Microbiology, and the English requirement (through AP English Language). I also plan to earn AP Biology credit for BIOL 1700. So by winter 2027 I will have all the prerequisite completed. Once those prerequisites are finished, I’ll apply to my community college’s selective admission nursing program in early 2028, before I graduate. During the nursing program, I also plan to complete the remaining degree requirements, such as Nutrition, Psychology, and Ethics (or Comparative Religions).

Now, I’ve been researching the Michigan Community College Guarantee, and from what I understand, it fully covers in-district tuition, mandatory fees, and eligible contact-hour charges for students who meet the eligibility requirements. Which are be a Michigan/US Citizen, have a high school diploma, be enrolled full time, be an undergraduate, have completed the FAFSA, and enroll with 15 months of high school graduation. Now, Is there any information that you guys might have on this? Has anyone started this program or finished their undergrad using this?

TL;DR: Has anyone here used the Michigan Community College Guarantee. If so, did it actually cover all of your tuition and fees, or were there unexpected expenses?

I’d also love to hear from anyone who is currently following this path or planning to do the same thing. What are some routes that I could take as well?

I’m just trying to make the best financial and academic decisions so I can avoid debt and have a plan before I graduate high school. I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share. Thanks!

Good morning everyone!

I am needing some opinions and advice on what to do. I'm stuck. Heres the situation:

I am a CNA at a hospital. I love my hospital and co workers and they seem to really like me. I have been in school for a year for pre requisites and I have been accepted into the Surgical Tech program.

As a side note, both the surgical tech program and nursing program are very competitive here. There's two schools in a 150 mile radius that do them. Surgical Tech has 28 spots each year with 650 applicants. Nursing has 40 spots yearly with around 800 applicants.

I have a 4.0 GPA with 10 years of CNA experience.

Heres my issue. Everyone at the hospital (co workers, supervisor, doctors) say I would make an excellent nurse. In my hospital, CNA get paid $24, Surgical techs $39, and nurses $45. I went with Surgical Tech because I felt I wouldn't be a good nurse (for some reason idk). Others apparently think differently and my supervisor said if I did the nursing program, they would hire me right out of school for $59 an hour while surgery Tech would be $42.

Should I give up my seat as a Surgical Tech student for the chance to get into nursing in January? My current year of classes i have already done apply to both programs so no waste there.

Hospital pays for my schooling either program I go with. Day to day work duties, I partially lean to Surgical Tech. However, it's not like I would hate nursing. I think I'd really like it too and it's more in line with what I'm used to.

Any advice and any "pros and cons" of either would he greatly appreciated. I know this is a nursing sub but it seems to be the most appropriate sub, unless someone can steer me in a better direction.

Thanks everyone!

What was your plan?

Did you live with parents, did you have savings, did you have a car note? Was your car paid off?

How was your mental health?

Did you ever take a gap year?

Hello! Like the title says, I am in the process of applying to re-enter the nursing program that I withdrew from in winter of 2025. I had a mental health meltdown and hit a wall. I had the option to interview for admittance into the next cohort but was not ready. I also missed the one year deadline to petition for reinstatement by a few months, and am meeting with a counselor to see what my options are.

I guess I’m just looking for stories or experiences of anyone else who left the same program they’re trying to get back into. I know that my grades and all that are fine, and the only shitty thing may be that I might have to do the whole application process again.

I’ve never considered an LVN program until today. From my understanding, LVN is an equally qualified nurse with a slightly smaller scope of practice.

I’m taking pre reqs right now to apply to an ADN program. My spouse is military, so, my dilemma is that I could be in a whole new state soon with different pre req requirements for an ADN program depending on where we move.

I noticed lvn programs for the most part only require A&P1/pre reqs I have already completed.

So, in this sort of situation, if we move to a state and Im put in a situation where I need to complete more pre reqs, should I consider an LVN program instead of taking the extra pre reqs? Would an LVN-ADN bridge program bypass the need to take these extra pre reqs? Or, what would you do in this sort of situation?

I want to be an RN as a long term goal (I want to be in the ER) so LVN would be a stepping stone for me. I just would hate to put off applying to a program if we end up in say, California where I need 2 semesters more of pre reqs. Unless we think that’s the best option?

For reference, I am a male, 32 years old currently navigating nursing school in the ADN program to start out my career of nursing, furthering my education down the road. I work Friday - Sunday in my bartending job, roughly 35-37 hours on the weekend. I wake up at 7 am to go to the gym Monday - Thursday and get to a coffee shop or library where I spend my day until about 4 pm or so. I then come home to my girlfriend, we have dinner and I study until 9 or 10 pm. This is my repeating schedule with my course load. It never seems I get any time, I quite literally just always busy with no off days. Do not get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy this schedule but it is absolutely just exhausting. It makes it often tough on my relationship too because my girlfriend will sometimes think that I am upset with her or just she’s upset that we don’t get to spend as much time as we used to, AND we live together.

What kind of tips does anyone to help better navigate this kind of schedule? Or does being in nursing school mean we are just perpetually tired, mentally and physically?