Advise on nursing school

TLizS · Mar 14, 2015

My biggest advice.....take all of the nursing school "horror stories" and "it will be the hardest thing you ever do" and "you will have no life" comments with a grain of salt.....

I let all of those things completely freak me out after I was accepted....and it has definitely NOT been the hardest thing I have ever done (I'm not saying it's easy by any means....but very do able) I still have a life and spend time with my family.....It has been NOTHING like I was expecting

NEXT.....don't get overwhelmed with the reading....find your method....and don't expect to be able to read every bit of every chapter.....I tend to skim the chapters before lecture.....then go back after lecture and read more in depth on the things that were emphasized in lecture....then when we get a study guide for an exam I go back and read on anything I need more clarification/information on....There is NO WAY I could read every section of every book we have on any given topic (we have 9 text books that we bounce between for most of our classes)

THIRD.....don't be afraid/embarrassed to ask questions.....we're in school to learn and no one expects us to have all the answers.....even if you feel like your question is a "stupid question" ask it anyway.....someone else is probably thinking the same thing

and my final thing....Don't let skills check offs freak you out....FOR ME....skills check offs are SO much harder than performing the same skill in the clinical setting....just KNOWING that someone is examining what you are doing LOOKING for you to screw up....stresses me out....like full on anxiety over it...can't breath.....BP through the roof....can't think straight....but I've managed to pressure through it.....If I can find a way to get that under control I will be so much better

I am just first semester so take what I say as you will.....but I think the biggest thing is be organized....get a planner and write EVERYTHING down.....take good notes.....and RELAX....don't go in with preconceived notions of how hard/terrible/scary it's going to be.....I love every minute of it....even when I am stressed out....and I'm glad I didn't let other people's horror stories ruin it for me

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Mar 15, 2015

Well, I'm final semester, and though I didn't let horror stories scare me, I can tell you that they have absolute merit. The only relatively easy semester was 2. One is a culture shock so it's hard for that reason, 2 seemed easy breezy by comparison to one, and 3 and 4 have been like riding that bike that's on fire and everything is on fire and you're in hell. Six weeks and six days to go to graduation. :sleep:

EquinoxSolstice92 · Mar 15, 2015

Nursing school is gonna be tough because you're gonna have to deal with three things: strict teachers, mean classmates, and patients.

While I was in nursing school, my teacher (who was also the owner of the school) is strict and he likes to tease every one of his students. My clinical teacher was a lot worse. She's mean to all of us.

Memorize medical terms and abbreviations because you're gonna be using them from now on. Learning medical terms and abbreviations is like learning another language. Make sure you know all of the prefixes and suffixes.

Study the material beforehand, so once you get to class, you'll have an idea on what the teacher's talking about.

Your experience and my experience are gonna be a little different so take this with a grain of salt. Good luck with your journey. Remember, this is only the beginning of an adventure. Once you graduate, do not assume that it's over. This is only just the beginning. There's a whole lot you have to go through. After graduation, you have to take NCLEX and pass it in order to be a nurse.

AspiringNurseMW · Mar 15, 2015

I too just got accepted and start in the fall, I keep eye out for free courses online that might relate. For example I'm starting one tomorrow that is called Understanding Vital Signs

Bbett, MSN, NP · Mar 15, 2015

I think the above advice rings true. Do NOT take the horror stories seriously. If you were able to complete the prerequisites and score well on your entrance exam, then you are no doubt smart enough to pass the program. good luck and congrats!

Sizzline · Mar 15, 2015

I'm in my first semester of nursing classes right now. It is, without a doubt, very hard, but it is manageable. It's not as scary as it was made out to be, at least for me. Get organized now. I have a planner that I wrote every single assignment in, in erasable pen (Frixion brand). That was good, because due dates have been getting switched around all the time. I also have a 2-month dry-erase calendar on the wall in the kitchen, that I write in all of my "big" assignments: tests, quizzes, skill check-offs, oral presentations. I figure out how much reading I have to do each week, and block it off by 6 days. So if I have 120 pages to read, I read 20 pages per day, and leave myself one night free. I define any highlighted terms that I did not already know, and write them down, and keep them with the lecture notes for that week. I have a small study group that gets together before tests, and we each own a different NCLEX guide, so we have a lot of questions to pull from. Doing tons of NCLEX questions in the applicable subjects before tests has really helped me. Hope that helps!