Why nursing school is a lot like hazing

Yes, I've been thinking about the halycion days of nursing school for me and only one word fits: hazing.

Here's the top 10 reasons why nursing school is a lot of hazing.

10. Everyone gets herded into a big room and then you have to stand in line and get your mug shot taken. This is so all the humiliators, I mean, instructors, know you and you can't hide behind anonymity. Everyone is anxious--what is a care plan, what is a clinical, where do I get comfortable white shoes, anyone got cheap books?

9. You have to learn to wash your hands...again. (Yes, this was one of the first "labs" I participated in during nursing school...no joke!)

8. You have to wear a uniform that rarely looks good on anyone, with or without accessories.

7. You have to sit in large lecture halls for weeks on end with people who are sick and too worried about flunking to stay home. This means any and all germs circulate around the HVAC system, so eventually, everyone gets sick.

6. Instructors wear you down at every turn. You are very, very tired. They make you read hundreds of pages a night for one exam a week. They want you to answer questions in class so they can make you look stupid, even if you have the right answer.

5. Care plans. Enough said. Thank goodness some places have easy to use automated ones!

4. APA paper format. I came from a business background and have long used MLA and Chicago style. APA still sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.

3. You don't get the true stats on how many nurses survive one year out post school until you're in your last semester. That was when they sprung it on my class in nursing management. (If they told you that in advance, you wouldn't give them the money for nursing school, now would you?)

2. You develop bowel and bladder problems from your clinicals. "This is just like floor nursing," your assigned nurse says. "No one goes to the bathroom on our shift."

and finally...you realize nursing school is like hazing because....

1. You survived nursing school with just a few scars (or sprained ankles, like me, because you tripped in the hall or on the steps) only to get to be the newbie again when you orient to your new job...and surprise! The hazing starts all over again.