Nurses are known the world over as lifelong learners. We consider ourselves students for life. Starting from our prerequisite subjects like Anatomy and Physiology, we already know that we will continue to be learning as we progress in practice. Having said that, I honestly believe that these academic struggles are more pronounced as undergrad nursing students. How so? Read on…

Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude

1. Coping with schoolwork whether in person or online.

Nursing school is no joke. An aspiring nurse has to learn basic sciences, minor subjects such as social sciences, some math, and major subjects (e.g. Pathophysiology). This is in addition to multiple nursing subjects that are divided throughout the terms.

Depending on where you obtain your undergraduate degree, entering the nursing program may already be a challenge in itself. One must present good high school grades to qualify. Some schools or universities may conduct entrance examinations to further filter their applicants. An interview may be a part of the application process, and to some, that poses another source of anxiety.

Some people think that online classes are easier to deal with. That may be true to some extent. However, in places wherein internet access is unstable (e.g. in rural areas or in developing countries), this may adversely affect the students’ compliance with school work.

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2. Lack of Clinical Experience

The pandemic wreaked havoc not only on practicing healthcare professionals but also on nursing students. I remembered talking with one who was graduating in a couple of weeks. He informed me that his exposure to the special care nursery was his first-ever clinical experience. I asked him how they were able to develop their skills (e.g. inserting intravenous [IV] access). His answer caught me by surprise: YouTube!

I made him repeat it, thinking that I misheard him. Thankfully, it was not my ears playing tricks on me. Nevertheless, I informed him that watching a YouTube video a million times is not the same as placing that line successfully even just once.

Technology offers these students opportunities to hone their skills via simulation labs. If an organization is as high-tech as my workplace simutaltions. provide an almost comparable alternative to the real thing. I learn so much from it, especially during our Code Blue simulations, that I am sure the nursing students do as well.

 

3. Time Management

Complying with academic requirements alone poses a continuous challenge in a students’ life. The fact that nursing students still have to carve time out for clinicals, simulations, project completion, etc. makes it even more complicated. It goes without saying therefore, that nursing students really need to know how to set priorities and be strict about time management.

Prior to landing their first jobs, they are already practicing the science and art of triaging one responsibility’s weight compared with the others’. Does my paper need to be submitted tomorrow? Or should I use this time to watch YouTube videos because I have a practical test on bedmaking the next day?

4. Lack of Life-School Balance

Closely related to being able to manage time efficiently is the nursing students’ ability to maintain life-school balance. They are not only nursing students 24/7. They are also children, siblings, colleagues, or even parents to their own children. Some may even have side hustles to help the family make both ends meet.

For the sake of their mental health, however, it is imperative that they have a productive life outside of their school milieu. Taking a breather from time to time is necessary to maintain sanity. That opportunity to rest and relax allows students to refocus and be more determined once they get back to their schoolwork.

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Financial Concerns

5. Nursing is an Expensive Course.

One nursing student stated this succinctly to me:

Nursing is the only course that requires four uniforms (in the Philippines, specifically): school uniform, Community Health Nursing (CHN) uniform, duty uniform, and scrubs for the operating room!

Aside from tuition and other school fees, nursing students also have to buy their own stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, and other requirements for CHN visits, etc. When I was looking for a stethoscope during my freshman year, my mother warned me that we cannot afford the Littmann brand. I had to settle with the generic, no-name one instead.

Books are expensive. Traveling to and from clinicals or even school costs money. Internet access and devices needed to access online materials entail a considerable amount as well. If you prefer staying closer to school and or the hospital where we do your clinicals, lodging and food should also be considered.

6. Needing to Pass Several Exams (School and Licensure) to Practice

Aside from the anxiety induced by the prospects of taking and passing these examinations, it cannot be denied that each test costs money. I think this is more so pronounced for foreign-educated student nurses.

I remembered asking my parents to pay my school dues on time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to take my exams. The same can be said about my Commission on Graduate of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) and National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exams. Processing papers after the exams was and is still a separate expense.

Lucky me, as a typical Filipino college student, my parents paid for my school expenses. I didn’t need to work or take student loan to be able to afford my degree. I missed that freedom to just be a student when I pursued my graduate studies.

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7. Postgraduate Training and Opportunities

Particularly talking about the Philippines, it is a known fact that there is an influx of nursing graduates year after year. Since there are not enough opportunities for everyone to land a job, obtaining postgraduate experience is even harder than getting into a nursing school. Some institutions, aware of this predicament, even takes advantage by charging nurses for gaining hands-on experiences.

Aside from the fact that nursing graduates render services for free, they are even exploited because they have to pay for what may be considered “extended clinicals.” What is even worse is the fact that those “volunteer” hours don’t even get credited as a clinical experience once these nursing graduates finally find jobs.

Learning about First World Technology

8. Zoom, YouTube, and the imagination of using the Electronic Health Record (EHR) in Practice

Nursing students of recent years have been very adept at using technology for learning, and that is very commendable. They have perfected the utilization of social media in conducting group study sessions, for example. They are very good at extracting the information they need through search engines.

Sadly though, what video platforms such as YouTube offer cannot come at par with what is required of a future professional who will deal with life and death situations. Watching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) a thousand times, for example, will not make a future nurse master that skill if and when needed.

More so, the prospect of using the EHR in practice in a developing country sounds like a Sci-Fi movie. It is hard to wrap one’s head around how a CP monitor interoperates with the EHR, for example. More so, if bar code scanning technology and other conveniences are mentioned.

Expectations and Support Go Hand in Hand

9. Lack of Support

Support does not only mean financial support. This also means the help that is being extended to the nursing student in the family. Does he or she have the time to complete his or her assignments? Is he or she free to concentrate on his or her studies without being burdened with additional responsibilities in the family?

Support ranges from simple acts like offering the nursing student food when it’s time to eat to offering assistance with finding appropriate resources for a research study. Understanding the predicament of the student nurse means a lot. Emotional and spiritual support count as well.

10. Managing Expectations

It is common knowledge that nurses eventually make good money. If they have the determination to reach their goals, it is very likely that they will be able to. With that being said, expectations should be realistic.

Before one is able to afford a BMW X5, for example, numerous sacrifices are needed. Sometimes, people only see the superficial, but not necessarily the challenges that were overcome before the goal was achieved.

Not only the family and friends of the nursing students need to manage their expectations. More importantly, the person himself or herself should also have realistic expectations.

If the goal is to earn a lot of money, he or she should be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepared to go through the demands of the profession. Pressure will be all over the place and one should be ready and able to face them head-on.

The Cost of Success

Needless to say, nursing is a vocation that calls for sacrifice. Before one becomes successful in the field, it does take a village to help the struggling nursing student survive the rigorous demands of the undergrad degree.

If I know then what I know now, I would strongly advocate finding a mentor who is genuinely invested in a nursing student’s success. That mentor, having been in the field for some time, will be able to provide significant inputs. That feedback will prepare a starting nurse to steer towards the correct course as he or she moves through different aspects of nursing practice.

Nevertheless, it is never too late to find a mentor. This is accomplished through networking. This basically means that early on, the nursing student has to ask relevant practice questions, identify resources, and keep an open mind.

More importantly, as a nurse, one has to have the heart for it. Money is not enough of a motivation to sustain a nurse if the heart is not in it. In a nutshell:

Nursing is a lucrative profession if you pour out your heart and soul in it!

The question is: are you ready to give your 110% in reaching that goal?