5 Common Misconceptions Held by Nursing Student Hopefuls (and the Reality)

These days, it seems as though everyone wants to get into the medical field. I've hypothesized that it's more about a stable job environment than the desire to help others, but I have done no real research on the matter. Everything you read below is based solely on my observations and real-life encounters.

5. "I've never had to study before, so I won't have to study in nursing school."

 Whoa, Nelly! I'm definitely not knocking any other courses out there, but many courses taken before nursing school are considered 'core' courses. These courses are meant to provide you with a base of knowledge that you will build on in nursing school. Many times, these courses involve a lot of memorization and a moderate amount of application. Nursing school involves a lot of memorization and a lot of application. If you read 200 pages and think you're only going to have to memorize everything, I hate to break it to you (honestly), but you're wrong. Much of what nursing is depends on how well you can prioritize, manage time, delegate, and critically think. For example, not only must you know what you can and cannot delegate, you also have to know to whom you can delegate specific tasks, what information the person you are delegating to must know, and what outcomes you want. You have to pull information from many different sources and put them all together to come up with solutions. Studying and test-taking skills are a huge asset in nursing school.

4. "Everything I need to know, I have already learned from [insert TV medical show or movie here]."

I don't hear these exact words come out of student mouths, but I do often hear, "Well, I saw this on [insert medical show here] and this is what they did." That is wonderful that you can recall specific episodes and details, but you must remember that television shows and movies are not real life. They are made for entertainment purposes only. For every real life situation depicted in a show or movie, there are 5 more situations that are very unrealistic.


3. "I don't need to know this. The doctor will tell me everything I need to do."

I can definitely relate to this one. I had this same misconception when I began nursing school. (Boy, was I wrong!!!) Some of you are shaking your head, thinking, "How could anyone ever think that?" while the rest of you are thinking, "Yeah! I don't need to know this!! The doctor tells nurses what to do!" Things couldn't be as far from the truth as this.

Yes, physicians and advanced practice nurses do give orders for nurses to follow. However, there are so many facets to nursing that are not outlined by the physician's orders that a nurse without critical thinking skills will not be able to keep his or her head above water. Nurses are the eyes, ears, and hands of the nursing profession. In hospitals, nurses provide patient care 24/7. When a problem arises, it is up to the nurse to assess the situation, figure out what is going on, implement certain nursing interventions, or actions, reassess the situation, call the physician when needed, and even provide suggestions on what should or could be done to solve the problem. There are also many times the nurse doesn't even call the doc. The nurse intervenes and gets things done so that the patient recovers faster. Go nurses!

2. "I work in a [hospital, clinical, nursing home, outpatient center, etc.] as a [CNA, scrub tech, secretary, housekeeper, etc.] so I already know most of this stuff."

I hear this one a lot, especially from new students. Don't get me wrong. The things you learned (and are still learning) from your workplace can be invaluable. But please don't underestimate what nursing is. Nursing involves so much more than people often think, some of which I've already covered in previous paragraphs. In order to learn something from nursing school, you have to open yourself up to learning. 

1. "I need to perfect my nursing skills while in school."

You are probably thinking, "Well, YEAH!" The reality is that this isn't 100% true. Nursing school provides you with a foundation of knowledge. You then build upon that knowledge with your experience. It is next to impossible to become an expert at all the skills you will need while in nursing school. However, you do learn the correct procedure in school, so that you can perfect it once you do it a million times at work. So, take a deep breath and relax. Get the basics down, and you'll get better with time and practice. I promise.