If you’re considering nursing school, you might be wondering what a typical day as a nursing student actually looks like. The answer? It depends on the day.

Between clinicals, labs and foundation courses, nursing students can have a different schedule almost every day of the week. For Isabella Toomey, a first quarter Practical Nursing student at Galen College of Nursing’s Louisville campus, her days are usually busy from the moment she wakes up.

“I’m a little bit of an early bird, so I wake up and do my typical little get-ready routine. I’m in the afternoon classes, so most of my classes will start around 12:30 or so. I like to get here around 10, eat some breakfast, study, and then I go through my classes,” said Toomey.

Her week includes clinicals on Mondays from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., labs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 4:20 p.m., and Practical Nursing Foundation courses on Wednesdays and Fridays. In those foundation courses, she’s learning about the history of nursing, the role nurses play and what it really means to become one.

But the learning doesn’t stop when class ends.

With such a busy class schedule, finding time to study quickly became one of Toomey’s highest priorities. 

“When we first got here, they said that we need to be studying at least 18 hours a week. And they absolutely were not lying,” she said. “I probably study about 4 hours a day. I like to come to campus early, so I get 2 hours then. And then, typically at nighttime, I’ll do about 2 hours or so.”

And studying isn’t the only thing competing for her time.

When Toomey isn’t in class or studying, she’s working at the local hospital. Finding a balance between school, studying, and work is a key part to nursing school — and hasn’t always come easy for her.

“It was a lot to find balance. Thankfully, I’m a PRN, or an as-needed nurse, so I get to schedule myself. The day after an exam, I’ll do a night shift. That way I can just take a break from studying,” said Toomey. “I don’t like to study a bunch on a week that I have an exam. I like to use that time to review. I’ll either work a very early shift or a very late shift. If I’m working a late shift, I’ll come in the morning to study. So, I’m leaving my bed at, like, 7 in the morning, and I’m not seeing it until, like, midnight or so.”

With a hectic schedule, it leaves Toomey with little room for downtime. And she has had to give up all her free time with friends and family. But in its place, she’s found something she didn’t expect: a new community of people who understand exactly what she’s going through.

“I’ve made so many friends here that I do a good bit of interaction with them, and study groups are great with them,” she said. “I’m just very busy. I think I’ve learned a lot about myself, because it’s about the only person I’m seeing right now.

Her new cohort has quickly become more than just people she sees in class. They’re people she can study with and receive support from.

And while the pressure of balancing school, work and life can be overwhelming, Toomey has found that the challenge has brought an unexpected feeling with it: excitement.

“I’m excited to come to class, I’m excited to study. I’ve never felt that way before. But I truly like the information that I’m learning, and I am having so much fun,” she said. “I didn’t expect that. It’s difficult, but I expected it to fatigue me a little. I don’t think so at all. I think it’s the opposite. I think I have really enjoyed getting to learn.”

That excitement has helped carry her through some of the moments when nursing school felt less certain.

When Toomey first started, she didn’t have any prior healthcare experience. Surrounded by students who had worked in healthcare before, it was easy for her to wonder if she was already behind.

“Starting out, I didn’t have any prior healthcare experience, and I would come in and everyone was able to relate to the content, but I didn’t have that, so it was very difficult for me,” said. “They have all this experience, so they’re going to do so good on their exams, and it’s not going to help me at all, which really wasn’t the case.”

But over time, Toomey began realizing that not having a healthcare background didn’t mean she couldn’t succeed. She just needed the opportunity to learn. And Galen gave her the supportive environment she needed to succeed.

“Our professors are honestly amazing, and they are able to describe the content in a way, that you’re able to understand it,” said Toomey. “They talk a lot about things in the future, and I think it definitely helps with setting you up to know it instead of saying you already need to understand to succeed.”

What started with uncertainty has slowly turned into confidence. Looking back, she knows exactly what she would tell the version of herself who walked through the doors on that first day.

“I think I would tell her it’s not as impossible as it seems, that I’m going to grow more than I ever have and feel way better about myself than I thought I would,” she said.

And for those who are still debating starting nursing school, or are too intimidated to take the next step, she wants you to know you are not alone in those feelings.

 “It’s not just them that feels nervous and intimidated, because truth is, we’re all starting out on the same foot, and it’s going to be normal to feel that way. That doesn’t make it any less possible or any more of a challenge than it would,” said Toomey.

“Intimidating? Yes. But doable? Also, yes.”