First Quarter of Nursing - Helpful tips/advice?

[Jojii]

Hey! My name is Joy (everyone calls me jojii), I'm 19 and I'm going into first quarter of the Nursing program at Everett CC. I did well in my prereqs (3.8), though I'll admit I am a bit unorganized and lazy. I know there are some experienced nursing students and nurses out there, so if anyone would be so kind as to share some of their experiences or advice about starting Nursing school, I'm all ears.

The biggest reason for my asking is from analyzing my own habits and seeing some real issues. I'm alot younger than many of the students in my class and I feel like I've not really learned what it means to be a good student. I understand everyone studies differently and retains information in different amounts, but hearing advice from people who have experienced nursing first hand, what they did to prepare, and even what mistakes they made, would help me personally a great deal. I apologize if my question is too open-ended or ambiguous, but I that is about as accurate as how I feel about beginning nursing school....

Cheers and happy holidays - jojii

[Servingshots]

I was in your shoes in August and was a bit anxious and overwhelmed as to not knowing what to expect so I turned to allnurses and did some searches and found a great deal of info that helped me "prepare." Some advice I can give you is do your readings BEFORE class so you know what the professors are talking about and have your questions ready. Also study for your exams consistantly througout the week, dont wait till the last minuate. I would brush up on your a&p maybe even purchase a med-surg or good patho book and go through it a bit. You know your testing style and it may or may not work through nursing school, mine changed towards the end of the semester. Like I said there are tons of posts asking for advice and they truely are helpful...PM me if you have any other questions. Hope that helps and good luck!! :-)

[2ndyearstudent, CNA]

I did well in my prereqs (3.8), though I'll admit I am a bit unorganized and lazy.

I get the feeling you have been unorganized and lazy because you could get away with it.

Well, now you can't. You will either learn that the easy way (now) or the hard way (later).

Either way, you will probably do just fine, but the road will be much, much more painful if you choose the hard way.

[Kaybee24]

Study more than you think you need to and resist the urge to put things off. Being organized helps a lot. I'm a hardcore former procrastinator and fortunately got over it before I entered nursing school. I just remember the preparation I do before hand greatly reduces my anxiety and only increases my chances of success. People who are lazy in nursing school are the ones who are the most stressed or get surprised on test day. I wouldn't advise it. It's better to do the work up front and get the grades rather than work up hill the rest of the semester trying to bring your grade up. Nursing school is a challenge but you got in! Now you gotta work to stay there, good luck!

[Jojii]

Thanks for the replies and advice. I will definitely prepare before hand, which is something I haven't always done, but in the sciences it was the only way I made A's.

To 2ndyear, I would have to agree with you. I have been able to get away with being disorganized and a moderate procrastinator. I really wish that my instructors would have given me Cs to maybe shock me out of that, but here I am.

I suppose the answer I am seeking is really just a combination of willpower discipline, support, and maybe a nice thick 2x4...

haha

[kk83]

I just finished my first semester - along with taking A&P and all I can say is no matter how lazy or burnt out you may feel *read* your chapters beforehand! I am taking my own advice next semester. I pulled a high B this semester in both nursing and A&P, but I know I could have done better. I stopped doing a lot of the reading entirely until right before the exam because I was drowning in papers, projects and just an anatomy nightmare -- but it made things a lot more stressful in the end.

Take care of yourself too! Take your vitamins, eat well, exercise and get your rest. That's important for life in general -- but I didn't do any of these things and it definitely got to me by the end.

[gaspasser2b]

I will be graduating nursing school next semester. I have been able to pull A's & A-'s each semester of nursing. My best advice besides organizing the material is reading & then organizing the material...lol. Nursing itself is not hard concepts, like for instance A&P. What makes nursing difficult is the amount of material you're expected to retain in a short period of time. Also, getting adjusted the test taking. Rather than memorize and spit material back out, you must retain it, understand it, & apply it to answer the questions on tests correctly. Read, read, read. Then what I do is make myself study guides on each chapter. I base my study guides around the nursing process. Basically whatever the topic is, I will write out nursing interventions & teaching points. This is especially helpful when the test asks questions about priority nursing interventions, important teaching points, contraindications, etc...Once you get through your first semester, you will have a much better handle on how things work and what works best for you. Good luck! PS...allnurses has been a great resource as well! Coming on & reading posts has prepared me beyond what my school is teaching!