Anybody NOT feel like it's taking over?

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I'm not there yet but I would like to be as prepared as I can, and make it go as smooth as it can for myself and my family. I'm wondering for those who are in a program and feel like it is going smoothly (as smooth as it could be anyway) and it's not completely taking over your life, what are your secrets? What are the specifics of your program and how do you keep it all organized and still feel like you still have time for your family? I'm trying to do what I can by getting all of my classes done before hand and my school does some of the classes that would normally be in the program for some schools as pre-reqs, so hope that will help Thanks in advance!

(I hope this doesn't upset anyone. I know lot of people say how hard and overwhelming it is and how you have no time. I just figure maybe someone has some tips on how to minimize the overwhelming feeling a lot seem to have. I know it will be tough but I don't want it to take over my family.)

I have had a Kaplan NCLEX book for about 4 months and I have been very happy with it. So far I'm about 50/50 which I guess seems pretty good to me, considering some of the questions, there is just no way I would know because they are asking very specific nursing questions, about meds. etc. I have gotten the dosage calcs right, the psych questions, and comfort care, family issues, etc. So I'm thinking my critical thinking is pretty good, I just need to get into the program to get the meat. I have been surprised about some that I did know just from taking anatomy.

Thank you for all the great replies. I appreciate everyone's suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

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PS....my husband finds going through the NCLEX questions with me quit fun and he isn't in that medical field, so that has been great.

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7) Do ALL OF THE READING. I don't understand when people say they don't crack open a book. There's no way to pass the tests without cracking open a book, at least in my program.

Doing all the reading will take over your life lol. I hardly cracked a book either. My teachers had great powerpoints and the syllabus was good too. Not to mention if you take good notes or understand by listening, you're good...that and my teachers had podcasts of all their lectures. If there was something in the powerpoint that I needed to look up, then I glanced through the book for it. My advice, do NOT do all the reading.

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Doing all the reading will take over your life lol. I hardly cracked a book either. My teachers had great powerpoints and the syllabus was good too. Not to mention if you take good notes or understand by listening, you're good...that and my teachers had podcasts of all their lectures. If there was something in the powerpoint that I needed to look up, then I glanced through the book for it. My advice, do NOT do all the reading.

And, for the second time, it depends on the program you are in because there was no way you could do this in my program.

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And, for the second time, it depends on the program you are in because there was no way you could do this in my program.

I know, that's why I mentioned how my teachers made their podcasts and stuff...I should add for the OP, see how your teachers are first. I'm in grad school now and yeah we gotta read for this one class because it's nothing but discussions(no tests or anything), but check your teachers.

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I know, that's why I mentioned how my teachers made their podcasts and stuff...I should add for the OP, see how your teachers are first. I'm in grad school now and yeah we gotta read for this one class because it's nothing but discussions(no tests or anything), but check your teachers.

Sorry, I'm just grouchy tonight. It's time to log off and go to bed! :lol2:

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Get rid of as much junk as you can- go through all the kids clothes, toys, your make up, everything! The less stuff you have, the less you have to clean up! =)

Also do as many NCLEX questions as you can. Saunders book is great, and also the nclex quiz app for .99 is great. Its ok if you dont know the material, just read the rationale so you can start to grasp how to move your brain around these questions.

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As for reading, It depends on each individual teacher. Ive had some that test out of the book, but most dont. You will learn how your teacher is from her lecture. Straight up ask her how often they quiz from the book, some of them are pretty forthcoming!

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Specializes in Cardiac.

It is literally impossible to pass an exam in my program without reading the book.

Our tests are standardized and 100% of the content comes directly from the book. I have no idea how you could possibly learn everything from lectures unless you're there all of the time. We only have lecture for 8 hours a week and an exam every 2 weeks. Our first test was over 20 chapters and it is physically impossible to cover that much information in that amount of lecture alone.

60% of our class got below a 60% on the first exam. All of my friends scored As or very close to, but we study at least 6 hours every day outside of class.

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Specializes in LDRP.
It is literally impossible to pass an exam in my program without reading the book.

Our tests are standardized and 100% of the content comes directly from the book. I have no idea how you could possibly learn everything from lectures unless you're there all of the time. We only have lecture for 8 hours a week and an exam every 2 weeks. Our first test was over 20 chapters and it is physically impossible to cover that much information in that amount of lecture alone.

60% of our class got below a 60% on the first exam. All of my friends scored As or very close to, but we study at least 6 hours every day outside of class.

i guess it just really depends on how your school sets things up.. i did attempt reading for the first test, and realized they test on what they teach in lecture, so i saved myself some time and just took my notes. we do have 12 hours of lecture a week, but we have a test at least every 2 weeks, usually once a week. you just have to do what works for you, some people do need to read over it to have it explained to them in a different way than it was explained in lecture, but i am a very aural learner, and usually can memorize/understand anything that is said out loud to me, and i cant pay attention while reading from a boring nursing text book to save my life.

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For those who don't feel like it is over whelming, how much time are spending in class/clinical a week and how much time are you spending doing homework/studying?

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For those who don't feel like it is over whelming, how much time are spending in class/clinical a week and how much time are you spending doing homework/studying?

I currently have clinicals 16 hours/week plus a three hour round trip per day so: 22 hours total

I am in class: 9 hours per week and study with clinical paperwork a total of about 16 hours per week.

This is my lightest semester yet!

Last semester I was in clinicals for a total of 36 hours per week (that's a full time job) and I was in class for another 20 hours per week. This did not include the time needed to study! And I still managed to take a weekend day off each week to spend with my family!

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