When you make out your nursing school course schedule for the semester, it’s important to have a mixture of “hard” and “easy” classes. By diversifying your schedule, you’ll prevent burnout and increase your odds of scoring high grades. But this raises an interesting question: Which classes are “hard,” and which classes are “easy” in nursing school?
That’s a tough question to answer. Sometimes the difficulty of a class is determined by the professor (some are hard, whereas others are easy). In addition, we all have different talents and skills. For one individual, math courses may be tough, whereas other individuals may thrive in those courses. So, it all depends, really.
However, there are some courses in which the majority of students struggle (or excel). Which courses are those? Let’s find out.
The Hardest Classes in Nursing School
First, let’s talk about those prerequisite courses. Here are the prerequisite courses in which students tend to struggle:
- Anatomy and Physiology (1 & 2)
- Probability and Statistics
- Organic (or regular) Chemistry
Once you pass those prerequisites and enter nursing school, these classes tend to be hardest:
- Pathophysiology
- Pharmacology (1 and 2)
In addition, you’ll be required to take many different classes covering some of the popular nursing specialties. While not all of these classes are hard, you may struggle in the specialty courses in which you have little interest. For example, my wife struggled a bit in a class about psych nursing. Why? She simply didn’t feel called to this area, and she had little interest in it.
All of the courses above tend to be difficult because they require extensive memorization of terms, as well as a high level of critical thinking skills.
The Easiest Classes in Nursing School
There are several prerequisite courses that will be dog-easy for the majority of students. What are they? Here’s a list of courses in which students tend to excel:
- Social Sciences (Intro Psychology, Sociology, etc.)
- Humanities
- Intro to Speech (or Communication)
- English Composition
- History
- Using Information Technology
I often struggled in history courses because I’m not a date memorizer, but they’re usually not too difficult. What about the easy classes in nursing school? Here are some of the easier ones:
- Community Nursing
- Multi-cultural Nursing
- Clinicals (and/or Practicum)
You’ll also find that you’ll tend to do well in those nursing specialty courses in which you interested in learning (or entering).
Why do the courses listed above tend to be easier? Generally speaking, they usually involve simple memorization of key terms, and simple papers or projects.
Conclusion: The Hardest and Easiest Classes in Nursing School
There are many other courses you’ll take in nursing school, and they are usually “moderate” in terms of difficulty. In other words, they’re neither hard nor easy. Nevertheless, it all boils down to what material you’re interested in learning, what your natural talents are, and the difficulty level of the professor teaching the course.