Nursing student survival tips

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    by Joe V
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tacorn1

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I am so proud of you for completing and rewardeing yourself with a nice paycheck, BTW!

I ate Subway just about everyday. Then I switched to the off brand Mac & Cheese. Everyone at school either brought a sandwich or bought one of those 5 min microwave dinners.

Coffee – yes, it will definitely become your best friend

Take vitamins – because chances are, you’re on the “eat anything that comes in a package” diet.

Buy disposables – now I really hate myself for this, because I would normally try to be more friendly to the environment, but disposable plates, bowls, cups, utensils ( you name it) will save you a crapload of time. As busy as you’ll be – especially if you don’t own a dishwasher – dishes will either pile up or cut into your study time.

Two words: DRY SHAMPOO – I’m not talking for clinic here, but when it comes down to doing homework all night or studying up until the very last minute, dry shampoo can work wonders if you want to save time and not show up looking like you just walked in from the homeless shelter down the street.

Keep an extra set of scrubs in the car – I guarantee (especially with all that coffee) that the one day you don’t have an extra, something will happen to your uniform… either you’ll spill coffee down the front of yourself, sit on something weird, or one of those ball-point pens will decide to leak a puddle into your pocket.

Set multiple alarms – yes, with that lack of sleep, it is really easy to shut it off in your sleep or just snooze right through.

Do not sell back your books. Ever. – Every book I’ve owned (from my prereq’s down to my nursing classes) has come back out of the closet to save my life at some point or another. Keep your resources.

I’ve got a whole bunch more, but I’ve got to start getting ready for class…

Which leads me to another tip… Plan out a schedule. Know when you have time for yourself and when you don’t. Know when you have to start getting ready, when you have to leave, and plan in extra time for unseen issues. If you’re on time you’re late and if you’re early you’re on time; be super early for everything.

SeattleJess

843 Posts

Specializes in None yet..
As a senior BSN student, I can say that DO your reading and assignments on time. We have 7-8 chapters (some times even 13) for each test. If you procrastinate, it will be very frustrating. For me and my classmates, there is no social life at all. I don't want to sound negative, but that's the reality. However, it is definitely worth it after all. Once you start your clinicals and see the smile on your patient's face just because of your caring approach to them, you'll know it's worth it. Nursing is not just about hanging IV's or doing assessments. The therapeutic communication you will establish with your patients will also affect your social life. You'll become a better listener and much more patient than you were before.

My surviving skill is recording the lectures and listening to them over and over again while my book and power points are in front of me. My school is using ATI. Reading from ATI is also very helpful. About the caffeine: Most of my friends are having palpitations at the age of 21! I try my best to avoid caffeine. Good luck everyone!!!!

How are you able to record your lectures? I wish I could do this so I could listen to them during my long commute five days a week. My school forbids recording and expulsion is the potential penalty. An instructor said this was because of "confidentiality concerns."

My state does have a law that makes recording someone without his/her consent a civil and criminal offense so maybe it's because of the difficulties of getting permission from all the students. Although this was never an issue in any of my prereq courses. Everyone knew some students were recording.

I'm not sure I'd even listen if I recorded. I think it would be more of a security blanket that would let me put down my pen and listen better.

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