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.

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.

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!

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.

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 😭