Any tips for a new nursing student?

MaryFutureRN · Jul 22, 2015

Hi, going on my 3rd year BSN program now.

What I learned though in nursing school is not only working hard, but working smart.

The lecture classes are always bulky in material and always you will have a bulky amount of information to learn. But don't fret, because all you need to do is focus on what the lecturer discussed since they are the most important info you must learn. Quizzes and exams are tricky because they don't focus on rote memorization; you need a lot of common sense (sometimes we forget that we have this, don't we lol) and some analyzing to do.

Clinical instructors will be harsh to you, but not all of them. I've met wonderful clinical instructors who teach, correct, and act nice to you, and I've also met CI's who are well...you know what I mean. If you've received a criticism, it's inevitable not to take it personally, but move on and don't do the same mistake again.

Hydrate and eat before you go on clinicals. Doing your 6 or 8-hour duty/clinicals in the Delivery Room without food or drink is pure torment (that applies to all clinical setting)

What else? Hmm. Don't worry you'll still have your free time! It depends on how you manage your time. I have my free time still, and there are days that I don't, but you'll have at least a day or two in a week for a break :)

Nursing school is tough, but think of it it will only last for 2-4 years.

Have fun and I hope we all become nurses in the future.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 22, 2015

I just graduated from nursing school in May. Here's my 2 cents:

1. Buy a planner with monthly, weekly and daily entry pages. It will help you immensely to manage your time and not get frazzled. When you know exactly what you need to do each day, it makes getting through more do-able.

2. Schedule sanity breaks during the day and fun time each week. The worse thing you can do is burn yourself out. The first 6 weeks seem to be the hardest to juggle.

3. Let go of being a perfectionist. This was a tough one. I was always the 4.0 student before nursing school. While I still made it through summa cum laude, my GPA did go down to 3.86 by the time I graduated nursing school. You WILL have challenges, you WILL have to work hard. It is rare to make it all the way through with a 4.0. And that's....OK! Really, it is :)

4. Don't think you can argue about an answer on an exam with an instructor and have them change your grade. You won't win that debate.

5. Understand that nursing school is going to develop your critical thinking. You can no longer read & memorize data and regurgitate it in an exam. Now you have to synthesize and apply what you know. Many exams will have multiple choice and ALL the answers are correct. Which one is the most correct?

6. Nursing school is unlike anything you've ever experienced. There's really no exact way to prepare for it. It's something you have to experience first hand to understand.

7. You are going to learn an incredibly daunting amount of information in a relatively short time. You will live, I promise :)

8. If you aren't familiar with writing papers in APA format, get an APA manual. Seriously. They're sticklers for APA. No joke.

9. Did I mention APA? It will haunt your dreams :eek:

10. Find good study group friends who won't turn study time in to social hour. One of the best things our instructor did was make the class take a quiz on learning styles. Then she had us stand in groups of the same learning style. Then she had us divide up by how close we lived to each other. VoilÃ¡! Excellent study groups.

Best of luck to you as you begin your journey. In the mean time, relax and enjoy every minute of your time off until school begins.

P.S. If you struggled with Physiology, I would suggest brushing up on each system. Especially cardiovascular & respiratory. You'll come back to that again & again in med surg and other courses :up:

DBNickeson · Jul 22, 2015

I start my nursing adventure in September, Thanks to all of you for the great advice!!!