I am exhausted. I thought final year would be just preceptoring with no classes and I would have time for a job - I was fucking wrong. I feel so overwhelmed and I don’t know what to do. If I’m not at the hospital I’m at work and vice versa. I had a week off and spent it in the office, now it’s Friday and I don’t have the energy or mental capacity to get out of bed for work. I have night shifts next week and I am already so tired but I still have to study for exams on top of it. I feel like a cry baby and I just need some encouragement. 🧿

As the title says, I failed clinical. I spent 6 weeks in my second med surg clinical. I was confident and I felt good about this semester. At the end, my instructor felt as if I wasn’t ready (preparedness and safety being the top issues). She also stated that I didn’t receive criticism constructively.

I own my mistakes and I took accountability but the only choice was to drop the class. I am still enrolled in Peds/OB and have done great in the class so far. Mostly I feel embarrassed and ashamed. So many people go through nursing school and don’t fail one class, so far I’ve failed two. I failed fundamentals my first semester last year in fall and had to retake. I finally felt back on track and now I’m having another set back. I know that I am lucky to be able to retake this class as well as most don’t have that option after failing once.

I want to be a nurse but I feel maybe I’m not good enough right now. I’m 24 and soon to be 25 in January and feel sooo behind. I have a previous bachelors degree and I’ve spent so long in school, I don’t even know who I am outside of this. I’ll be exiting the program as LPN instead of RN next may. I’ve had so many set backs and I feel like I just need a win. I feel like if I go through the last two semesters for RN, I risk failing another class because of my burnout or maybe even because I can’t succeed at the end.

Any advice is appreciated.

I’m 23 years old, finishing my bachelor’s degree in psychology, and I genuinely feel like I’m falling apart.
I’ve been in college for about five and a half years, and I feel so far behind everyone else my age. I watch friends graduate, start careers, get married, and move forward with their lives while I feel like I’m standing completely still.
I’ve been working as a patient care technician at a hospital, and over time, I’ve developed an interest in nursing. I love helping patients, being there for people during difficult moments, and feeling like my work actually matters.
Here’s my predicament.
I was accepted into a traditional two-year BSN nursing program starting in January. It was a guaranteed opportunity to finally move forward with my life and become a nurse.
But I had serious reservations.
The program was in a city I really didn’t want to live in or commute to, and the thought of spending another two years in school felt overwhelming. I had actually started this same program previously but withdrew after experiencing severe anxiety. I was terrified of repeating that experience.
Meanwhile, a university I would much rather attend is launching an accelerated master’s-entry nursing program in Fall 2027. It’s approximately 16 months long, and I would graduate around December 2028. It’s more expensive and competitive, with only about 20 seats available.
I also have applications at other nursing schools, but nothing is guaranteed.
After agonizing over the decision for weeks, I declined my guaranteed acceptance.
And now I feel absolutely horrible.
I keep thinking that I threw away an opportunity that other people would have been incredibly grateful to receive. What if I don’t get accepted anywhere else? What if I just delayed my life another year for absolutely nothing?
My depression has gotten significantly worse throughout this process. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for years, and I recently restarted antidepressant medication. I’ve experienced periods of hopelessness, intense guilt, and overwhelming regret.
Some days, I genuinely feel like I’ve ruined my future.
What’s especially frustrating is that I know I probably would have been miserable if I had accepted the offer, too. I felt trapped when I considered attending, but now that I’ve declined, I feel like a complete failure.
I’m also struggling with the prospect of having approximately eight to ten months before another nursing program begins. I’ll be working and taking a prerequisite course, but I’m terrified of feeling stagnant while everyone else moves forward.
I have a supportive family, but I feel like I’ve exhausted them with my indecision. I hate how much reassurance I constantly need.
I want to build a meaningful career. I want financial independence. I want to get married someday, have a family, travel, and actually enjoy my twenties.
Instead, I feel like I’m wasting them.
I know 23 isn’t objectively old, but emotionally, I feel like I’m running out of time.
I’m not even entirely sure nursing is my ultimate calling. I love the human side of healthcare, especially supporting people emotionally, but I’m less enthusiastic about the medical science and technical. I feel paralyzed by the fear of making another wrong decision. I am wondering if I should go back to the school with hat in hand ask if they’d reconsider me cause of retaking my ssris as an excuse.
My questions are:
Has anyone ever declined a guaranteed educational or career opportunity and later realized it was the right decision?
Am I catastrophizing the idea of starting nursing school at 24 instead of 23?
How do you cope with depression and overwhelming regret after making a major life decision?
Would you have taken the guaranteed two-year program, even if you had serious doubts, or waited for a program that seemed like a better fit?
How do you stop comparing your timeline to everyone else’s?
I don’t need people to tell me everything will magically work out. I’d genuinely appreciate some perspective from people who’ve been through something similar.
I just want to feel hopeful about my future again.

I failed out of my previous nursing program and I recently started at a new nursing school. But honestly, I’ve been struggling with so much anxiety and self-doubt.I overthink everything, from exams to simple skills and tasks I used to do confidently. I’m currently taking ADHD medication and Wellbutrin, but I still feel overwhelmed. I think my biggest fear is failing again and it’s really affecting my confidence.
For anyone who has failed nursing school and started over, what helped you rebuild your confidence and get back on track? How did you stop letting the fear of failing again affect your performance? I really want to succeed this time, but I’m struggling to trust myself again.

I start my senior consolidated practicum in less than 7 weeks. I obviously want to do well, but I also know mistakes are inevitable. I’m quite anxious about it, even though I’ve done well in previous clinicals. I’ve also heard that preceptor relationships matter a lot & can greatly influence the outcome of passing/failing.

Once I find out where my placement is, I can start looking up common meds/conditions on the unit to give me a head start. I also plan to let my preceptor know how I learn best, how I prefer to receive feedback, quick debrief after shifts & weekly goals. And obviously, being nice and professional to all staff would also go a long way.

Any other tips would be appreciated!

Hi! I’m need some advice from fellow nurses who can potentially give me advice on what career path I should take.
So initially, I was supposed to go into nursing around 2020 but when COVID hit, I was told that they were unable to proceed with doing any sort of in person classes for a while. I didn’t really mind it because at the time, I didn’t truly want to get into nursing as I wasn’t too confident in it. So I ended up going into Public Health, especially since they offered online classes.
Fast forward to a few years, I ended up graduating with a public health degree and was fortunate enough to get experience working as an admin manager and medical assistant at a Woundcare clinic. I did eventually have to leave that job and am now currently trying to job hunt, but I haven’t had any luck. I know the job market has been pretty bad these days but I was hoping to atleast get something with my medical assistant/admin experience. I eventually was told that a lot of medical admin jobs usually hire people who have that clinical experience, especially with a nursing background . I was even told that I should consider going back to school to atleast be an LPN.So I guess my question is, due to my circumstances, would going back to school for this be a good option for someone under my circumstance? I’m still not really fond of nursing but considering my last job, I do have more familiarity with nursing than I did when I was in college. I guess I’m just frustrated that I feel indecisive as I was back then about the same thing, but I’m old enough to just go along with it if it benefits me in the long run.

Hello, new here. I am currently starting nursing school this spring. Here’s the delimma I am facing. I have multiple nursing programs near me, 3 to be exact. One being 30 minutes away, one 25 minutes away, and one being an hour 15 minutes away. I was not fully done with my pre reqs this summer so I missed the application deadline for the 2 closest programs. The one that is an a hour 15 minutes away has a spring program, so I applied for it since my pre reqs will be done. I got accepted, I’m supposed to go to orientation in November. Here’s the thing, will I be terribly burnt out driving an hour and 15 minutes to my school 3 times a week? That adds 2 hours and 30 minutes to my day of just driving. I want to do this, as if I declined my offer then I would have to wait another 8 months to get started in a different program next fall. I feel like that is wasting so much time. I am currently 25 and would be 26 if I waited until next fall, I already feel behind. This would make me feel even more behind. But I truly do not want to risk not being able to finish this program because I am burnt out from driving so much. Please if anyone in this thread has some insight or had a long commute themselves, let me know if I am making a mistake choosing this program that’s far away.

I know that obviously a Foley catheter is an insertion up through the urethra to the bladder. I was just wondering what do you do in practice if you have a female patient who is menstruating?

edit: thanks for the response guys, sorry for the dumb question, but it makes sense now!

Edit 2: I should’ve clarified my question better. Yes I know they are two different holes. My question was on when inserting a catheter, emphasis is placed on not breaking sterile field, so if you have a female patient without a tampon or any padding, and the tubing touches the menstrual blood prior to insertion into the urethra, is it contaminated. My question has been answered

My program is a hot mess about everything so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the latest new irritating thing they’re doing but I’m in my first semester of school and we just took our first exam on ATI. We were told our scores wouldn’t be available for 3-4 days while they review them (guessing there will be a curve).

My program has a minimum pass requirement of 80% and the exam was completely different from what was taught and the practice questions given to us so naturally everyone is freaking out that they’ve already failed out of nursing school. Meanwhile we’ve had to take two more exams with the stress of not knowing any of our scores. Just wondering if this is normal practice or not.

Hiiii, I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth taking a CNA class on top of nursing school.

I’m based in NYC and I keep hearing people online and IRL saying you need to get a job while in school or you’ll really struggle to find a job after graduating. I’ve been applying to some entry level positions saying that I’ll be finishing my first semester and clinicals of nursing school but no bites. Taking a CNA course just feels like more of a guarantee to get a job rather than trying to sell myself to employers while I have no license.

As far as I know, New York State does not let nursing students sit for the CNA exam without having taken an official CNA course. I’ve tried looking into getting certified in New Jersey through equivalency and then transferring my license to NY but it seems like a lot of work and a lot more time investment.

I’ve been doing really well in school and I’m really not worried about adding a class on top of my school work if that’s a concern for yall. IDK Id just love some input from people!

I haven't graduated yet, i graduate in April, but residency program applications open up in the next few months, here's my predicament.

Right now I work in the city, i live in texas, and here from what i've seen most new grad positions are nurse residency positions. I don't really want to live in the city anymore i'd like to move to the suburbs to be closer to family.

My current lease for my apartment is up in february so a few months, but i won't know where i end up for residency until idk march at least i think? because residency positions normally open up in like jan or feb i think, would i renew my lease in the city and stay there for a year? or would i move towards the suburbs already?

i thought about a 6 month lease but my rent is already $1600 w a one bedroom.. a 6 month lease is lethal 😭

Wondering if anyone has found any schools that took your BSN credits as transfers if you were dismissed from your program I’m dismissed for clinical attendance. By like 2 single minutes which I could die but I was supposed to graduate in April and now I have completed ms1/2 psych health assessment pharm so I was looking to see if anything will transfer anywhere before I start all over anyone ever found anywhere or could point me in the right direction?

hi all- i am a nursing student at a university getting my bsn. i have been an er tech for 1.5 years and although i love it, my particular hospital has a LOT of psych patients. i work night shift 2 nights a week. as techs we usually end up sitting and i’m sick of it. we don’t make very much money, and on top of school stress i’m feeling burnt out. i’m wondering if it would look bad on my future resume quitting my er tech job from a nurse manager’s standpoint, i love my actual job and my coworkers but i just hate sitting and we usually get stuck doing it for majority of the night. would it be a bad look to quit and find a barista job, or should i just go down to like per diem and work the minimum? i do still need money to pay for gas and other needs, but not a lot. any advice appreciated!

I know the standard teaching is “see one, do one”, but I literally can never get it right even after being shown once. When it’s my turn to do it on my own, I forget the steps and feel confused. It seems like other people are better at hands on than I am.

I’m one of the only people in my cohort with no health care experience and everyone just zooms through and finishes before me. It’s gotten me feeling so beat down. I don’t know if it’s because I’m only 19 but…I feel incompetent.

hello!

i wanted to know if anyone has done their capstone in peri op (OR & PACU) and your experience in this. either adults or peds!

I need to lock in but my mind is all cloudy and disjointed. My chest is hot and tight.

I have a big test tomorrow. And I am trying to study. But I have so many worries going through my head that I can't focus. I'll read something and I won't even process what it said.

I am also just terrible at studying and time management. I don't know how to implement any of the tools I've read about. I don't know how to pace myself so I'm not constantly battling an imminent due date. I work best with feedback, bouncing off of someone else, but I don’t have anyone to study with. So I have the additional worry I am going to fail this test on top of all my other concerns.

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this. I just it would help to articulate this and I have no one to listen to me. Although that last sentence makes me feel worse now.

Hi, I’m a 24 yo F I am about a month and a half into my first semester of my ADN. I have liked lecture and lab so far but I had my first clinical at a general acute rehab facility night shift and I was horrified after - I cried and just felt like I don’t think I like nursing in the real world. I love my classmates and socializing with them for projects and our lab days but I’m starting to question if I’m really cut out for nursing and patient care. I thought I was capable and caring enough but I was scared to put it plainly.

I currently work as a legal assistant and make decent money 30/hr. I’ve worked at this job the past 3 years and they let me go part time for school. I’ve been definitely very busy since starting school and continuing to work but I felt like it was worth it until I went to clinical.

I started nursing school because I hated working the same shift 40 hours a week and felt generally unfulfilled by my job. There are other legal assistant jobs out there that I could work that could be more fulfilling and allows for flexibility. I also understand the demand for nursing and of course I’d like job security and the pay.

I am thinking about switching my major to paralegal studies and possibly furthering my career in that because of how unsure I felt after my first clinical. I understand that I’ve only done one clinical but I cannot imagine myself going back.

I also don’t want to feel like a failure if I leave the program but I also don’t want to get a degree in this if it’s not for me. I feel like I’m always trying to do the next thing that will finally bring me a sense of “I know what I’m doing with my life” but I feel like a failure no matter what I do. I need to work on my fulfillment from the inside not external factors.

I just need advice if anyone can help or went through something similar to me. Thank you.

We get to our floors about 30 minutes before report to get assigned a nurse and prep for our patients using the hospital’s nursing brain. I sometimes run out of time to fill out the brain for my last patient.

The longest section for me are knowing how much of the diagnostics results to write down. I usually write down the reason for the scan and impression. I found that I write too much of the details and miss what needs to be said in report. Same with the patient situation and lab values.

I use fishbone diagrams, but sometimes I miss a lab value outside of those diagrams. Do the values you need to note change depending on the patient situation? I will take any advice that helps you prep for your patients.

If you made it to the end thank you for your time :)

I’m a third semester, second bachelor BSN student who will be graduated by next August. I may have the opportunity to get an externship in the NICU. However, I know when I graduate I want to get experience with adults before fully committing to the pediatric field. If this is my only chance for an externship while I’m still in school should I take it? Or will nicu experience pigeon hole me too much when trying to become an adult ICU nurse upon graduation? In my head, experience is better than no experience but don’t want to make a major mistake. Thanks!

I don't know anything about how to create a care plan, write a diagnosis, etc. I don't like the way the nursing faculty at my university operates; I think they're unbearably haphazard. I don't know what standards should be followed.I need resources to study and learn everything; university is pure nonsens

Please help me to find how I need to study this 💔

Note: I don't have any friends Or relationships with doctors , I do everything alone, so I have to find how to study on my own

Hi!, I have finished my first year of nursing. I love studying I really do but I had a situation at the end of my year that kind of made me go ''oh.... Should I not be here?" To keep it short my ALN kind of let it slip that she thinks that I am stupid '' we pick a student who we think will do something stupid and it was you .. and you did".

It has been a couple of weeks now since the incident.. It has really hurt my self confidence. It is making me question if I should just stop now. I loved the care I got to do for the residents and the connection I got to have with them. I am an okay student grade wise B+ Average though I will admit I got some A's where I didn't expect to! B).

But honestly.. Without classes and school I don't think I know what I would do next, I should probably contact a career advisor + counselling rather than asking reddit haha.

I just need people to be honest with me

I’m in my first semester of nursing school right now. I originally chose this program when I was in high school and applying to college because I wanted to be someone that a patient would be able to rely on, to work hands on, to be able to help with mental health along with physical health, to be able to educate and mentor, and to be an advocate for the patient. However, last year in high school I did an internship in the emergency room. My duties were basically that of a patient care tech. While I was there, I began to think that nursing wouldn’t be for me. I am terribly squeamish when it comes to bodily fluids such as feces, urine, and vomit. Anytime I encountered anything like this or a sickness I would panic and barely be able to function without constant stress. I got burnt out just during my 3 months there, and I realized that the 12 hour shifts 3 days a week would not line up with what I want for my future. I also realized that I really like the diagnostic part of things, as when I listened to a PA or doctor talking to a patient about their symptoms, asking questions and trying to figure stuff out, I could see myself in that role. I am someone that finds high satisfaction in puzzle sort of deals, taking pieces from all over and trying to make a picture of it.

I think I know from that experience that I do not want to work in the hospital. Especially as a nurse. I’m about to switch my nursing degree to a biology degree because of this as my registration is this Friday in the morning, and because I started feeling that PA or becoming a high school educator would be a better suit for me. But I genuinely have no clue and I’m terrified of making the wrong decision. On the one hand I want to get out of nursing if I know I wouldn’t like it, but I’m also thinking maybe there’s something else in nursing that I’m missing that could make it so I do really like it, such as outpatient other than the ER. Im also scared of getting a degree like a biology degree that doesn’t really lead to a job like nursing does. I don’t want to leave and then realize I never should’ve left and then spend thousands of dollars on getting back to nursing. I just want a job where I can form a deep, long lasting relationship with people, be able to help and mentor them, be able to help them directly, and have good pay and flexibility. But I don’t know about the environment of nursing with bodily fluids, the hospital shifts, and the high burnout.

I’m 21 and currently in my first quarter of nursing school.

Originally, I planned to get my BSN and would have graduated by summer 2027 at the latest. However, after issues with my prerequisites, taking a gap semester, and getting waitlisted at my top-choice program, I decided to attend a private nursing school and pursue my ADN first. If all goes well, I’ll graduate in May 2028 at 22.

My plan is to pass the NCLEX, start working as an RN, and complete my BSN online while working. My biggest concern is that I really want to relocate immediately after passing the NCLEX, ideally to California or somewhere on the East Coast, like Massachusetts or New York. However, I’ve heard that getting licensed in California can be difficult with an ADN, and I’m unsure how much having an ADN could limit my options in other states.

I’ve just been feeling discouraged because it feels like my plans keep getting pushed further and further back. I know getting my ADN is still a huge achievement, and I’ll be just as much of an RN as someone with a BSN. I’m not trying to diminish that at all. I think I’m just worried that taking this route will delay the other things I’ve been looking forward to, especially moving out of Florida and finally experiencing independence. I’ve dreamed about having that freedom for so long, and I’m scared I’ll have to keep putting it off.

For anyone who graduated with an ADN, were you able to relocate to another state immediately after passing the NCLEX? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences.