10 Things Nurses Wish They Had Known Before Starting Nursing School

This article was republished with permission from SCRUBS Magazine.

If you could turn back the clock and meet your previous self just before you started nursing school, what’s the one piece of advice you’d give? We asked the great nurses on our Facebook page and got some fantastic answers. Here are 10 that stood out!

10 things nurses wish they had known before starting nursing school

1. “I thought nursing school would be a breeze for me since I already had a bachelor’s degree prior to nursing school, and was used to challenging classes. Bahahaha. I thought wrong! There is no comparison between non-nursing majors and nursing majors.”
—Lacey Kidd

2. “You’ll become quite accustomed to crying. You’ll cry when you’re happy, stressed, sad, excited and for no reason at all. And that’s okay, because everyone else is also crying.”
—Kalie Miller

3. “Stockpile wine and coffee.”
—Amanda Stinnett

4. “That there is the NCLEX world of nursing and the real world of nursing!!!”
—Audra Mancuso

5. “To work as a CNA before and during nursing school… Because NOTHING can teach better than hands-on experience!!”
—Shelly Rowe

6. “How to study for 50-question tests when given 600 PowerPoint slides of info plus book readings.”
—Jacob Shelton

7. “The stress will be so overwhelming at times, and even if you pass a class, you may still want to quit! PLUS, even after wanting to quit, you stick with it and find it to be all so very worth it!”
—Andrea Hommel

8. “Your classmates will be your new family. You will laugh together, cry together and hold each other up because no one else will understand. A lot can happen in two years!”
—Jeanette Negron

9. “What the actual MOST correct answer really is, lol.”
—Babbette Becka Harbison

10. “That my loans would be greater than my salary! Lol. Why is nursing school so expensive?!?”
—Roschelle Reneé Boyd

What do you think? Share your thoughts on what you wish you had known before starting nursing school in the comments section below.


This article was republished with permission from SCRUBS Magazine.

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