Adjusting to CRNA school workload

[jmelinte]

I will have been out of school for 10 years by the time I start in January. I've never had to put in long hours studying before. I had some graduate level classes for which I studied with friends for several hours a week during my first degree, and I developed decent study skills then. I didn't find nursing school to be very demanding (academically or from a time management perspective). My CCRN studying consisted of an hr or two per day, 3-5 days a week for about a month, with about 1000 test questions per week during the last 2 weeks. That said, I know CRNA school is a totally different ball game from what I've experienced so far, and I expect a big adjustment period. If there's anything that gives me anxiety about school, it's being able to adjust to the amount of hours sitting in front of the books each day, and maintaining focus. I'm very results oriented, and once I find a study strategy that is yielding good results, I don't worry about being able to continue it. Finding it in the first place is what makes me the most nervous. I'm curious how long it took current students to adjust to this, especially if you were in a similar situation to mine. What strategies did you use to determine your best study routine? It seems like the pace of CRNA school doesn't exactly allow for much trial and error. Did your school provide any guidance through this process? I've heard that attempting to read all the assigned textbook material is generally not feasible unless you're a speed reader. Some students have talked about using the book to create an outline for taking notes during the lecture. I've also heard from SRNAs and med/dental students who record their lectures and listen to them over and over as their main study strategy. What do peoples study routines look like? I'm so excited to start, but the fear of failure is so real (especially since I'm selling my house and relocating my family across the country for school).