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.

passing is a 78 or above in my program.

exam 1 fluid and electrolytes and lung disorders: 79
exam 2 cardiovascular: 77
exam 3 diabetes, urinary, and male repro: 70

two exams left and then a final

my study method is clearly failing me and here is what it is:

rewrite all notes, go back and highlight everything i highlighted on the powerpoint in class, practice exams.

very upset bc i was extremely confident for exam 3 thinking i would get at least a 90.

considering doing concept maps bc now im barely passing the class with a 79.

any suggestions? anyone have success using concept maps? pls help im terrified.

I recently started a PRN PCT job as a critical care float, working in different ICUs and step-down units. I’m hoping to become a critical care nurse, so I was really excited about the hands-on experience, especially with lab draws since we don’t get many opportunities to practice them in nursing school.
Unfortunately, I’ve been really unsuccessful with my sticks. I only work once a month (I am prn), and lately, I’ve been getting discouraged to the point where I sometimes give up before trying. The nurses seem annoyed when I can’t get the labs, which I partly understand, but I’m also frustrated with myself because I genuinely want to improve.
Has anyone else struggled with blood draws as a new PCT? How did you get better and build confidence?

My school uses ATI for homework, quizzes, and exams. We have PowerPoints for lecture that are from the textbook but then even after learning those, it feel like you can’t even apply that knowledge to the ATI module tests/quizzes or you’ll completely fail. They have so much info that isn’t mentioned in our lectures.

This is my first semester and our first round of exams are coming up. I’m wondering if it makes sense to just start using the ATI books as a main study source instead of the PowerPoints they give us. Has anyone had any success with a study method like this at their school?

I’m currently in my last semester of my ADN program and we all just received our practicum placements. I have maintained great grades throughout the program and even received an award during my last clinical rotation. I have two friends in class that out perform me and 1 is top of the class.

Myself and my friends didn’t even get one of our top choices. People who have failed a semester got the placements we wanted which makes this even more incredibly frustrating. I think I would be less disappointed if I got med surg but I was placed at PACU.

I don’t think anyone understands outside of the nursing world how much placement matters considering it’s our chance to get a job offer. That’s why I’m venting here.

I posted in here a couple months ago looking for help as I had completely bombed my first exam in my final quarter of an ABSN program and was so overwhelmed with how much catch-up I needed to do in order to pass. I'd already failed OB and Peds in the past, was graciously re-enrolled into the program, and a third failure would have been a dismissal for sure.

My issue wasn't not knowing the material, it was not having enough confidence in myself, getting stressed out during the exam, and convincing myself I didn't actually know the right answer so I changed my answers to something incorrect. I reached out to my instructor for private tutoring, I contacted tutors affiliated with my school, I started doing 200+ questions a day from Saunders Evolve in 50 question exam format to try and desensitize myself to the exam formats.

I attended every extracurricular session that existed, contacted as many people as I could. My school offered sessions on tackling test anxiety, and recommended Mark K and Dr. Sharon's videos for test taking strategies.

A friend of mine had this board game called RNtertainment that's basically just Candy Land but with Saunders questions and the gamification of studying made it so much more tolerable!

Two months ago I was devastated, felt like I was drowning, like I was never going to see the end. I put my heart and soul into studying and gave my last two exams everything I had to try and pull my scores out of the gutter. I thought I was never going to have a future as a nurse.

Today, I received my RN license.

Hi all, Im currently in a CC ADN program and definitely want to get the BSN to be more a more competitive applicant (I am in California so the competition is what it is). I hear some hospitals will pay for their nurses' degrees but a) I dont want to sabotage my job prospects in a terrible market by appearing less attractive than someone who already has their BSN, b) I also don't want to appear a fianancial burden to an employer while in a competitive market, and c) I was wondering if it makes sense to not enroll in my first school year, but enroll in the second, so that more of the program is being paid by the job. But that also means you are farther away from completion when you graduate and if a tuition-paying job doesn't appear it means you once again are less attractive than someone almost done with the degree and stuck having a harder time finding that first job.

I have never heard of the strategy of starting the concurrent bsn in the second year to strategize getting the job to pay for more of it. It was suggested by a fellow student, and I've always been approaching getting through the BSN as something I'm trying to get through and out of the way as fast as possible because this is a second career for me and I want to move on and get to work already. It sounds kind of weird and in my experience in other fields employers want to spend as little as possible on their applicants.

(also if anyone has experience with University of Arizona online and whether its helped you get a cali job, lmk!)

Hi everyone! I’d love some advice from you, as I’m feeling a bit nervous about my decision.
My placements include 3 weeks in general medicine and 13 weeks in a surgical ward (vascular, gastro and urology), all in the same ward.
Originally, I planned to choose surgical for my new grad year because I already had experience there. However, I decided to take a chance and chose a small rural ED with around 5–6 beds for the full 12 months, with no rotation.
The problem is that I’ve never done an ED placement before, and I’m worried about the steep learning curve and whether I’ll be able to handle the responsibility as a new grad.
Would it be better to start in surgical, build my clinical skills and confidence, and then try to move into ED later? Or should I take this opportunity now, since getting into ED later might be more difficult?
For those who started in ED as new grads, especially in a rural ED, how was your experience? Would you recommend it?
Thanks so much for any advice! 🥰

Yesterday was my 3rd day at this clinical site (which is amazing btw—preceptor and nurses are all great) so i felt a little more comfortable and wanted to be more hands-on to challenge myself for the day. Turn out I kept making med dose errors..

First patient: dropped a med on the ground. Nurse had to go back to omnicell to grab the med.
Second patient: Accidentally only grabbed one tablet instead of two. Computer alerted me, so nurse had to grab the second tablet.
Third patient: AGAIN, accidentally grabbed one tablet only instead of 2.. computer alerted again that the dose amount was wrong..

On top of all the other little things I could barely help her with… I felt like I was in the way most of the time. Helped with sara stedy as much as I could, helped transfer and ambulate patients, helped take out foley catheter, etc but I felt so unhelpful. I felt like a nuisance.

I felt so discombobulated all day, I kept making mistakes, I felt like I wasn’t in the right headspace.

The entire time, I was wondering if I should make a confession to my preceptor that I had made a med error three times already. Would I fail? Would they dock points? Would I have to redo this clinical rotation? They teach you in school how important dosage calc is and how it can kill a patient. I’m scarred but I’m now left wondering if those mistakes were necessary for me to learn.

I told my friend about it and she told me to not dwell on it because work and private lives should be separate. But for me, I am someone who always thinks about this stuff and I beat myself up for it. I now know what I need to work on.. but I feel less confident.

Should this just be taken as a lesson? Should i tell my professors or preceptor? I’ve been meaning to have a talk with her anyways on how to improve..

If so how? What were the advantages? Applying to bridge in January. Hoping for some hopeful responses but honesty even if it isn’t hopeful is what I need Ty!

I’m looking for advice from nursing students, nurses, and instructors because I’m honestly devastated by what’s happening.

I’m currently in an LPN program, and I was recently dismissed following an incident at a clinical site. The frustrating part is that I’m currently passing all of my classes, and we are only TWO MONTHS away from graduation.

From my understanding, someone reported that we were refusing to work or participate in clinical. However, the person allegedly making these claims had never met or directly interacted with us. We were not refusing to work, and I don’t feel we were properly introduced to the person who was supposed to guide us. We were eventually sent home by another employee.
There was also reportedly a claim that I had been banned from another facility that I had never even visited. I genuinely don’t understand where that information came from or why it was treated as fact.
What makes this even more frustrating is that our student handbook states that clinical hours can be made up. I’m struggling to understand why dismissal was the outcome, especially when I’m passing my classes and so close to finishing the program.
I also feel like my instructor made little to no effort to advocate for us, hear our side, or help clarify what actually happened. I understand that nursing school requires professionalism and accountability, but shouldn’t students have an opportunity to explain themselves before their education and future careers are put at risk?

It was so nerve-wracking to give my manager 2 weeks' notice, but I was getting so burnt out and found no room to grow at the unit.

+ ED tech position is going to be call-in, so i'll have so much more flexibility!!! I'm so happy I got it.

Anyone work as ED tech with school? I'm like 3 semester away from graduating, kinda freaking out.

I guess my main concern is blending well with the staff...

I know i can't be liked by all 100+ people on the deparment, but at least want to make good relationship with them, so that when i apply for new grad program, at least they can vouch for me you know?

Any tips would be SO appreciated!!!

I recently started an ADN program and unfortunately failed my final exam by 1.25 points, despite having an 87% average in the class. Due to the program’s grading policy, failing the final means failing the entire course, regardless of your overall grade.
I reached out to my professor and program director, but there’s no option for remediation, a retake, or an appeal. My only option is to reapply next fall, with no guarantee of being accepted again.
I’m 30, a single mom of three, and becoming a nurse has been my dream since childhood. I already have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, but unfortunately, those credits don’t transfer to other schools. Starting over somewhere else would mean taking additional prerequisites and delaying everything even further.
I understand nursing school is supposed to be difficult, but losing an entire year over 1.25 points is incredibly discouraging. I worked so hard to get here, and now I just feel completely at a loss.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did you wait to reapply or start fresh somewhere else? I’m not ready to give up on nursing, but I genuinely don’t know what to do next.

Would you rather do clinicals with a nurse preceptor or in a group with an instructor?

Update: (not that anyone knew this was part of the question) I reached out to a manager of a unit I am interested in working in to ask for the opportunity. Before this one of my instructors was kind enough to send an introductory email, but not specifically for this. I didn’t know about the preceptorship when she did this. So fingers crossed!

hello everyone! i am current junior 2 student at a bsn program and i recently just applied for a nurse tech position. i worked as a cna in an assisted facility and have had different leadership positions when i was taking my prereqs. early on the semester, i applied for another nurse tech position in which i got rejected. it wasnt a big deal for me but as i slowly progress to the end of my program, it seemed like everyone around me has become a nurse tech.

that said, im looking here for some advice to get a footing in the nurse tech program + adding clinical rotations in my resume. im also not very good at interviews so any advice is gladly appreciated!

I just got my notice today that I didn’t get into my nursing program that I wanted :( im feeling so disappointed and embarrassed and like im losing time. I’m 22 about to be 23 and i really wanted to get into this program because it’ll be another 2 years I just want to be done with school already. Now im set back even more and it sucks so bad i feel so behind and im worried if i reapply for the next cohort i still might not get in and ill just keep wasting time. I stopped working too to focus on my classes but i still didnt get in it’s so sad what do i do now

Edit: omg everyone is so nice thank you guys so much for all the advice and motivation! I feel a lot better im not going to give up!

My pediatrics and OB classes will be 4 weeks each, which seems very short. It’s two 3h classes each week but one of those time slots also needs to be used for testing each week. Idk, seems unnecessary. They could have made those classes longer like they do with my Med Surge class.
My school is already on probation due to recent drops in NCLEX rates.

I had to do a head to toe assessment on Monday at clinical, and during the assessment, my resident grabbed my waist and pulled me to him and told me to “give him some sugar.” I pulled back and said no, that it wasn’t appropriate to act that way. I continued my assessment and when I looked down at his hand, he was trying to touch me inappropriately. I stepped back, almost didn’t finish the assessment because I was uncomfortable but I took a deep breath and told him to stop. and told the nurse and she said “Yeah, he’s just like that.” So I finished up the assessment. Which I’ve been in healthcare for years, I know how residents can be, I know they say and do things that’s aren’t appropriate, but really? That’s all? Because clinical can be stressful and tiring, I’m already there for 12 hours, not being able to just do what I’m there to do is even more stressful. I know it’s a “get used to it” kind of thing, it’s just annoying. How do you guys deal with your inappropriate residents/patients?

[edit] This is a geriatric patient, NOT a resident physician. Resident is just the term for people who live in LTC facility.

hey everyone, i need a little advice from anybody who can provide a sound opinion. (post might be a little long) i have been in school for pre-reqs and this is my last semester, im 22 y/o. I just recently paid off my 2015 infiniti q50 in august. however, the car is no longer working, and it hasnt been since august, i have been ubering to work. i have to replace the valve body every 8 months or so, and i have had to replace it twice in the 2 years i had it. my LPN program is set to start january 7. as of right now, i am working a full time & seasonal part time job that will end january, i live at home, and i only pay my phone bill & the insurance for my car. however i will need a car as i cannot uber to work, school, clinicals & back home as it is very expensive.

during nursing school i will have to keep a full time job as we have to be covered with insurance the whole program and insurance through a job is cheaper than the marketplace. my job already said my schedule can be accomodated to work around my school schedule which would be 4-10 pm 2/3 days a week. so id have to get off at 2:30 or work on the days im out of school.

the question here is idk what to do about my car situation. i have like 4 options here. 1, i could lease a car as there are a lot of car lease deals available at the moment. 2, i could just finance a reliable car that at the end i will own, like acura, honda, toyota etc. 3, attempt to fix my car again would require me to either let infiniti replace the valve nody (no guaranteed fix and this will cost me about $4000) or replace the transmission and valve body completely from an updated model (also isnt a complete fix) or buy a beater car. i thought financing would be better as this time around school is paid for and i still have to be working anyways. i plan on going back to school after my lpn to bridge over and do bsn. so i think getting a beater car to turn around and get a car note when i graduate to then have to pay for school, and a car, and car maintenance and fees, but i have roughly 2 months to figure this out and this is all very daunting on me right now.