

Ask any child of a nurse and they’ll tell you that their parent rarely panicked over a bloody injury or a particularly gross illness. All these things can contribute to cynicism over time.Īnother phenomenon among nursing students and professionals is the experience of becoming desensitized to people’s trauma and suffering. When you’re doing your internship or certification hours, you’ll be faced with a wide range of scenarios that feel utterly impossible: a patient with an illness that has no clear treatment track, the notoriously difficult bureaucracy of hospital administration, the inequalities of health care. Here’s the thing: nursing and nursing school are stressful, and part of that feels out of your control. Make sure that you invest in high-quality medical uniforms and durable shoes (we recommend Dansko) so that your wardrobe will stay with you until you’ve graduated and passed your licensure exam. And when you look the part, you’re more likely to succeed. Think of your scrubs, stethoscopes, and everyday equipment as an investment in your future. When you prepare for your clinicals, internship, or lab courses, you may also be required to invest in nursing scrubs or uniforms. In addition to the cost of tuition and housing, nursing students incur additional costs associated with licensure exams, text books, and medical supplies. With the average cost of a bachelor of nursing science (BSN) degree quickly creeping up well into six figures (the average cost of a BSN is somewhere between $40,000 and $200,000), it’s important to remember that nursing students also have to spend more out of pocket than many other students seeking a bachelor’s degree.

Nurses enjoy myriad benefits compared with other career paths, including greater job stability, stronger personal satisfaction, the ability for career mobility, and the potential for higher salaries.ģ. With the risk of burnout and fatigue higher for nurses, how do they stay positive? It all comes down to focusing on the end goal. Researchers are working to develop new programs that deter fatigue and burnout. But don’t let the prospect of burnout deter you from pursuing a nursing degree. The same study found that as nursing programs got harder, students experienced physiological morbidity, meaning they developed health issues as a result of their stress. felt increasing levels of stress and used negative coping methods as their programs progressed. One study found that nursing students in the U.K. There have been numerous studies indicating that nurses-in-training feel burnout at a higher level than students seeking other career paths. Try to alternate those tough classes so you don’t have competing exams. Make sure that when you go into nursing school, you don’t bite off more than you can chew. Getting a good night’s sleep before a big exam will help you retain memory and stay focused.

But nursing students know better than everyone else that staying up all night to cram isn’t good for your health. If you’re in nursing school, that means several of the most stressful mid-terms and finals at the same time.īecause of these factors, all-nighters are inevitable. Because nursing programs tend to be more demanding in terms of credits, many students are forced to fast-track their degrees by taking multiple hard classes at once. Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) candidates at Johns Hopkins must complete nearly 50 credits and 500 clinical hours to finish their master’s program.īachelor’s candidates take longer to graduate than ever before, with most nurses spending more than four years earning their undergraduate degree. Just take a look at the curriculum for the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing-a school that, by the way, is consistently ranked in the top three nursing schools in America. In fact, it can be extremely challenging. Nursing school isn’t for the faint of heart.
