Nursing Student Story Insights

BrainTrack's Nursing Schools Scholarships have received many inspiring "student stories" that offered revealing insights in response to the essay questions on the application. While winners are chosen based on the creativity, focus, accuracy, practical value and overall thoughtfulness of their stories, our staff concluded that there were many helpful suggestions and thoughtful perspectives contained within the received essays that would be valuable for all prospective and current nursing students. The following is a snapshot of the responses we have received to the questions posed.

What Students Wish They Had Known | Helpful Hints | Program Likes/Dislikes |
How Students Chose Nursing

What do you wish you had known about selecting and entering your nursing school that would be helpful to others going into nursing?

Almost every nursing student expressed surprise at how demanding their nursing program was, and how rewarding relationships with fellow students turned out to be. Respondents willingly offered many helpful suggestions for prospective nursing students, including:

• Get to know local nurses - When deciding whether to go into nursing, creating relationships with working LPNs, RNs, or Nurse Practitioners in the local community can lend valuable insight.

  Talk with nurses in different roles at local doctors' offices, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Ask them what to expect, what they enjoy most or find most difficult about their job, and what opportunities are out there. Be sure to explore different specialties.

• Evaluate programs carefully - Compare different programs including school's reputation among employers, NCLEX pass rate, prerequisites, scholarship opportunities offered by the school, and availability of simulation labs. (Simulation labs should have life-like "patient" mannequins with measurable vital signs and other symptoms.)

  Ask current students about student-teacher rapport and ratios, quality of facilities, and overall satisfaction with the program. Meeting with a student advisor prior to attending can be very helpful, providing an academic plan that lays out all required classes and a timeline, balances homework load, and pairs complementary classes.

  Consider how much emphasis the program puts on science and technology, compared to patient care / psychology or nursing education.

  Accelerated nursing programs may offer a more affordable alternative to traditional programs for those who already have a bachelor's degree in another field. Traditional two-year programs allow more time for club and organizational involvement, as well as for fitting in an externship or work program.

• Work for acceptance - When trying to get into a nursing program, keep in mind that they are looking for balanced students. Extracurricular activities, leadership positions, and volunteering are great ways to boost an application, but schools want unique students that bring diversity and distinctive experiences to their program, so essays should reveal personality and be honest.

  Volunteering, job shadowing and GPA are important, but don't burn out. College admissions committees want to see that students are well-rounded, and can handle what they're getting into.

• Anticipate hidden costs - Although schools are usually up front about tuition and fees, check with the nursing program about other costs like clinical fees, academic materials, and equipment such as uniforms, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, etc.

• Be thorough when seeking funds and planning budgets - Although schools may offer their scholarship information online, talking in person with a helpful financial aid officer can sometimes be more productive.

  Planning on income from a job during school is not recommended, since the demands of a nursing program are great. It is better to save for school-related expenses prior to beginning a program.

• Develop time management skills in advance - Learning how to manage time and priorities just becomes another prerequisite that adds to course load if it has to be done during school, so developing these and other organizational skills in high school or working before school will be invaluable.

  Using lists and calendars to track assignments, and breaking down big tasks into smaller steps, will help keep things simple when things get stressful.

  Be sure to schedule at least a half hour for a personally rewarding activity every day.

• Learn study skills early on - Consider taking study skills courses prior to beginning a nursing program. Learn how to write concisely, precisely, thoroughly and accurately. Develop skills for prioritizing assigned reading, skimming with good comprehension, and "focus reading" (paying attention to specific information that is likely to be included on a test).

• Build the foundation faster - It can take a long time to complete all the prerequisite courses before the core nursing courses of a program can be started. Being well-prepared for placement tests can allow students to "test out" of some of these prerequisites, such as composition and math.

  For students who plan to go to nursing school at some point, taking prerequisites that would apply to any degree as evening classes or part time while working can help cut the list down.

  Take as many science courses as possible in high school, or take science prerequisites as close to starting the program as possible. Keep in mind that GPA is really important, and keep it as high as it can be, especially in nursing prerequisites.

• Study pharmaceuticals - Because nurses are the last line of defense against errors in applying medication and possible adverse reactions, they must be as knowledgeable as possible about pharmacokinetics and dynamics, common doses, contraindications of different drugs, and the importance of thorough patient assessments.

  The magnitude and complexity of pharmaceutical knowledge can be overwhelming; so putting extra effort into early chemistry courses, becoming acquainted with common drug names and their more common uses, and purchasing and studying a current drug book are recommended steps that can be taken before even entering nursing school.

• Emphasis on science and technology -

What have you enjoyed most and least during your nursing degree program so far?

A majority of the students expressed how much they enjoy the learning process, the subject matter of their studies, and their academic successes. More specifically:

• Learning how the human body works and fails to work, and treatments that can provide healing, was described as empowering and meaningful time spent.

• Hands-on learning in clinical settings was described the most rewarding mode of learning. As one nursing student wrote, ""To be able to provide relief to a patient in pain or distress, with something as simple as a cool washcloth or kind touch, is next to bliss."

• The support of faculty members, senior students and fellow classmates was cited as having a key role in academic their achievement.

• Students in nursing education described how they found great inspiration for research article topics.

Most essayists described the most difficult aspects of their nursing programs as the "information overload", demands on time and the resulting sacrifices that must be made, and inadequacies found within specific programs. In particular:

• Pressure to learn fast, retain volumes of information, and to be able to apply it caused many students to make sacrifices in other areas of their life in order to meet the demand. "Crazy schedules" to balance assignments and clinical hours were also cited.

• In a few cases, students were concerned that they were not receiving enough clinical hours, especially earlier in their program. Spending time in non-nursing courses in order to meet the requirements for a bachelor's degree rather than gaining practical experience proved frustrating for some students.

• Some students participating in online programs were concerned that they were not getting the benefit of mentorship from faculty members, and camaraderie from fellow students that they would if they were on campus.

• Limited job listings available through their program, overwhelming choices in specific career paths with little guidance on how to narrow down interests, and few networking opportunities were all sources of concern for students seeking more resources for career planning.

What led you to choose nursing as a career path?

Some essayists said they knew they wanted to be nurses from early in life, frequently because they had family members or acquaintances that were nurses, witnessed the care of nurses for loved ones, or because they were themselves recipients of an influential nurse's care.

Others chose nursing because they wanted to do something meaningful, whether it was providing care to the elderly, bringing proper health care to poverty-stricken areas, or educating patients and communities about wellness. As one nursing student wrote, "I simply had to be where I could touch people and remind them of their dignity and how precious they are as human beings, no matter how ill, how abused, how old or disabled."

Additional reasons nursing students chose their profession included:

• Wanting to be a part of a profession that offers incredible variety and opportunity for advancement, is gaining momentum, and has the greatest mobility in terms of lateral and upward movement compared to other roles in health care.

• A desire to serve other human beings through nursing them to health, not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually.

• A fascination with science and nursing as an art.

• Discovering a gift for nursing through personal experience.

• Passion about health care reform and related politics.

• Choosing a role in health care that allowed them to have the most communication, interaction, opportunities to prevent harm, and chances to provide encouragement with patients.

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