It's just a step

If you’re in nursing school right now, I don’t have to tell you how stressful it feels. The constant studying, the skills check-offs, the clinicals that never seem to go perfectly — it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. I remember it. Honestly, I thought I’d never make it through.

Here’s what I didn’t realize at the time: most of the stress wasn’t from the work itself, but from the way I carried it. I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to never mess up. I wanted to already know everything. That pressure made every quiz, every clinical, every lab feel like life or death.

Looking back now, one thing I wish I had done differently was to make the lessons apply to the real world. In school, I focused so much on memorizing labs and passing tests. But once I started practicing, I realized how all those numbers and steps actually applied to patients in front of me. The lightbulb moments came later — and I wish I had looked for them sooner.

That’s why I can tell you this: nursing school is just a step. It’s a process, not a verdict. The goal isn’t to come out flawless — the goal is to come out ready to grow. Once you’re working, you realize that the learning never ends anyway.

So if you’re in the thick of it, give yourself some grace. Don’t make it harder than it already is. Learn, ask questions, make mistakes, and then keep moving forward. One day, you’ll look back and see that what felt impossible was actually shaping you into the kind of nurse you always hoped to be.

Take a breath. Keep going. You’re closer than you think.