Ask a Nurse: What Are the Hardest Classes You’ll Take in Nursing School?

You may have taken an anatomy and physiology class in high school, but nursing professors expect students to learn about human anatomy on an advanced level. The curriculum covers topics like the skeletal, muscular, neurological, and cardiovascular systems, among other anatomical systems of the human body.

This course very often comes with a lab component. Students use the scientific method to carry out lab work, which might involve observing tissues with a microscope or dissecting an animal.

Organic chemistry covers the natural processes that occur in carbon-carrying compounds. Students may learn about the effects of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and drugs on the human body. Like anatomy and physiology, organic chemistry usually requires a lab component.

In this course, students learn how different anatomical systems work and how diseases or injuries affect these systems.

"In practice, this directly relates not only to a patient's medical condition, but also the medications your patient needs and how different illnesses will affect their overall health in relation to their comorbidities," says Alaina Ross, an RN and expert contributor to Test Prep Insight.

Pharmacology, or the study of medication, can seem scary because of the sheer scope of the course. "It becomes one of the hardest classes for nursing students due to the depth and amount of knowledge needed," says Megan Lynch, instructor at Pima Community College.

Students need to know the trade and generic names of medications, along with their classifications, reasons for use, and common side effects. "Pharmacology goes beyond simply memorizing drug names, and forces learners to think critically about the drug and how it works within the patient," Lynch explains.

This course covers common disorders or other health problems in adults. Learners must already hold a foundational understanding of certain anatomical concepts, as the curriculum builds upon these studies.

"This course is considered difficult because it is the first course where students must combine what they have learned in chunks in previous courses and put it all together as they apply it to a disease process," says Nicole Beaver, instructor at Hunt School of Nursing at Gardner-Webb University.

This course "involves taking a deep look at interdisciplinary healthcare research to establish a position on best-practice standards," explains Laura Fero, Dean of Nursing at St. Catherine University.

"The nursing profession is based on science and new evidence is continuously being published," Fero says. "This class offers the student the ability to analyze this to determine how best to treat patients."

The course usually involves a substantive amount of reading, and students need to write both scientifically and concisely on assignments. Because of these requirements, some learners find this course exceptionally demanding.