Nursing: 7 Things You Need to Know (for students)

For many, the interest in becoming a nurse is born out of the desire to be in a profession where they can help people.

As a nurse, you will be a job that has a positive impact on people’s lives.

Being in the nursing profession no one day is the same.

Nursing offers a variety, interesting, and challenging roles. helping patients’ everyday lives.

And even saving patient lives.

With many people wanting to join the nursing profession, many common questions are being asked.

So, in this article, I will try and answer the most common questions that people have.

So do you need to be smart to be a Nurse?

Yes, you do need to be smart enough to be a Nurse with the ability to learn subjects such as Anatomy, Physiology, Biology, Math, and English.

This can be gruelling for some, whilst others will find it fairly easy.

Once registered as a Nurse will require a level of intelligence to make clinical decisions involving the consideration of the evidence, taking into account both clinical expertise and the wishes of individual patients.

Whilst it is evident that you do need to be intelligent to be a nurse, we’ll explore common concerns people have around joining the nursing profession

How hard is it to get into Nursing School?

Getting into Nursing School is difficult, with good high school grades required, entrance exams, and limited spots making it competitive.

To become a nurse the obvious step is to learn how to become a nurse.

Hence, to become a nurse you will need to join a nursing school.

So once you complete high school and the next step is to qualify for Nursing school.

Some Nursing schools require candidates to sit entrance exams, whilst others do not.

Part of the reason for having an entrance demand is to prove you have the aptitude to be a nurse.

The second reason is the increase in demand for spots, schools need a way to allocate the spots.

With an increase in demand for spots, so has the increase in the cut-off point for entry.

If there is a higher cut-off point you will need to reach a higher score than your competition to obtain a spot.

For some students, this won’t be such an issue. But for some who are less scholastic, then more study effort is required to prepare for the nursing school entrance exam.

The commonly used term is NET (Nursing Entrance Test), an exam that covers basic high school level knowledge in the topics of English and Maths.

The NET is also used to assess candidates’ decision-making, skills, learning style, and how candidates would handle stressful situations.

How Hard is Nursing School?

So you have worked hard to get your high school certificate, passed the entrance exam to get into nursing school and now you’re wondering how hard is nursing school.

So how hard is Nursing School? Nursing school is hard and challenging. Most students find clinical trials being the most difficult. The reason is the pressure of making a mistake.

Most students find the workload of studying huge, sacrificing their social life and time normally spent with family.

Attending nursing school requires the commitment and ability to learn subjects such as Anatomy, Physiology, Biology, Maths, and English.

Whilst some students will find it easy, others will find studying some of these hard.

Do you have to be good at maths to be a nurse?

Yes, you do need to be good at maths to be a Nurse. Nursing entrance exams include basic Maths and once you become a nurse will be required to use basic arithmetic and algebra daily.

Once you have gained entry into Nursing school there will be some involvement in maths. Then once you are a fully-fledged registered nurse you will be using maths skills daily.

If you are not so great at maths this should not prevent you from becoming a nurse.

You can overcome this hurdle by practising formulas and concepts until you have a firm understanding. The good news there is plenty of free content online.

For example, on Udemy you can find ~1859 courses relating to mathematics. The courses include topics such as

Looking at Coursera offers mathematics courses. Some of the available courses are beginner, intermediate level mathematics.

Can I be a Nurse if I am not good at Science?

So you are not strong at science subjects?

Is that because you didn’t like them or you’re just not good at them, or a combination?

Anyway, can you be a nurse if you are not good at science?

Yes, you can still become a nurse if you are not good at science. Most nursing school entrance exams do not include science questions.

However, nursing school subjects involve science subjects such as biology, biochemistry, and chemistry.

So the better you are at learning the science subjects, the greater your chance of passing nursing school and becoming a registered nurse.

Not being strong in science should not prevent you from becoming a nurse.

The good news is there is plenty of free online courses

Can you become a Nurse if my high school grades were bad?

Yes, you can become a Nurse so long as you received your high school certificate or diploma, you will be allowed to take the NET (Nursing Entrance Test) to get into nursing school and become a Register Nurse.

If your grades at high school were bad, you will need to adjust your approach to studying if you want to become a nurse.

There are studies and exams required to become a registered nurse (RN).

The good news for those who don’t like textbooks is nursing is more about clinical skills than workbooks.

Are Doctors smarter than Nurses?

Many people assume that doctors are smarter than nurses, and nurses could not perform duties as a doctor as they are not smart enough.

So are doctors smarter than nurses? Nurses are just as intelligent and competent as doctors.

Because medical school provides a deeper level of learning than nursing school, doctors will have more depth of medicine than nurses.

This however does not make doctors any smarter than nurses.

Final thoughts

Choosing nursing offers a varied, interesting challenging profession that saves people’s lives.

If you have a passion to help people enjoy variety, and like working with people nursing could be for you.

If you are concerned that you don’t have the intelligence to become a nurse, there are things you can do to improve your chances of getting into nursing school and passing to become a registered nurse.

Hope you enjoyed this article, for more about Nursing see a link to the post below

Is Nursing School Harder than Medical School? – WorkVeteran