First week of Nursing School

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This is Day 3 of Nursing school. Now, I am not going to lie. My stomach has been in knots all week and I feel as though my head was just spinning the first two days. I can say I have had my fair share of excitement, fear, and just about every other emotion you can think of. I absolutely adore my cohort. We had an idea about the work load, but I have to say it is pretty extensive. My advice to first year students is get a good academic planner and use some kind of color coding to keep track of classes. Next, get a great book light because you will be READING, READING, and then doing more READING! Time management is going to be a must for me, with two children and a husband. I have to say the Skills Lab is so exciting, I know we are going to learn so much this semester!!! I will keep you posted on what to expect!

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Specializes in None yet..

Please, please, please keep us posted! I'm going to be about three weeks behind you. Really curious as to what your clinicals will be like and how much outside time is required.

How wonderful that you adore your cohort. Right now, AllNurses is my cohort and I must say, I adore them. (It?)

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I just finished day 3 as well and the first skills lab day for the semester. Our classes run Mon & Tues and then Lab is Wed-Fri. We do 6 weeks of lab before we are turned loose at clinicals. The book work and our online requirements are definitely stressing people out, but most of us seem to be pretty calm in lab. Our cohort is also wonderful and we self picked clinical groups and mine is just about perfect. I know this is going to be the toughest 2 years of my life but I am loving it so far.

SeattleJess, I hope your year kicks off just as well as ours has. Hit those books as soon as you get your syllabi that's going to help a lot.

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Specializes in ICU.

I spent 14 hours in lecture the past 2 days and have 8 hours of lab tomorrow!! It is a lot of info to take in. Our fundamentals class only lasts 4 weeks. Then we get into med/surg I and will have clinicals starting at the end of October. Our first major exam is next Tuesday. Right now I am taking a break from watching videos to get ready for lab tomorrow. It's been good though because I like the pace of it. Definitely not boring. The prereqs I had been taking the past year were getting old, fast with me and I finally feel like I am on my way now that I am in the program. Good Luck!!!

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

I'm on my second week of a BSN program, and I have to say, the first week was definitely the hardest. About 3 days into it, I was so overwhelmed and stressed out. Just keep taking deep breaths, and know that it gets better!

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I agree. I've almost completed my second week of an ADN program. The first week I had several mini meltdowns, questioning myself but each day gets a bit better as u get accustomed to the change. Also, thorough planning and being organized takes much of the stress away...

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We've got this guys! I finished my first four day week this morning. We have lecture Mondays, Nutrition and Lab Tuesdays and Clinicals Wednesday and Thursday. It's overwhelming but SO exciting too!!

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My first week finished today, although it is just orientation still. My head is already spinning! Hoping to be all organized and up to speed on everything before my first actual class on Tue. We do lecture on Tue, Skills on Wed and clinical is every other Thurs. So excited to be doing this but hoping to keep up! Good luck to you all too!

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On my 2nd week of ADN program. The reading can be overwhelming. Have any of you guys figured a study technique that has worked for them?

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

I don't do all of the reading - it's just an insurmountable task for me. I only use the book to clarify information I am unclear on, to look over tables/diagrams, and to answer the chapter questions for test prep. If there is a chapter or topic I am having trouble with, I will go and read that chapter, or the part of it that I am having issues with. This affords me a lot of time to utilize other study methods that are more effective for me than reading the text is. I just had my first Fundamentals/Health Assessment exam, and scored a high A. I believe the biggest contributor to this as far as my study methods go, was that I did a lot of practice NCLEX style questions over the topics that would be on the exam. I highly recommend doing this, especially to anyone who finds NCLEX style questions tricky, or has test anxiety. My first Patho/Pharm exam is on Monday, and youtube and pinterest have been great aids for anything I have had trouble with.

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I just finished my 4th week/1st semester (ADN). I love it but It is soooooooooo hard. I have to be extremely organized. And reading? It's impossible. I record the lectures and re-listen to them while I take notes on my power point and then I study the power point and notes. I only goto the book for clarification/understanding. Got a 95 on my first dosage test (can only get one wrong. 2wrong is considered failing the test) and received an 88 on my 1st fundamentals exam. While I was happy with the 88, I was kinda hoping for higher since I studied ad nauseum. I love school.but Money is definitely tight. My boyfriend works full time, I work part time and we are still struggling. I currently work Thursday and Friday but soon clinicals will start and guess what days they will be on?you guessed it. Thursday and Friday. Not sure what I will do then. I'm pretty much willing to let my life fall apart (within reason) while I'm in school. I know people work full time while going to school but I'm not that disciplined. The schedule is very erratic at school. Our classes are obviously the same every week but between supplemental instruction classes, exam prep, open lab, travel time, etc..... My schedule is all over the place. I feel like I'm settling into my "groove". I enjoyed pre reqs, but NOW I'm officially feeling like a real nursing student.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgial, Cardiac, Pediatrics.

I'll be honest, I did MAYBE 40% of the assigned reading. Maybe.. Could have been less than that. I simply didn't have time to do all the reading, attend clinicals and lectures, AND sleep. I got to the second year before I realized that sleep helped me do better than attempting to read while my head bobbed from exhaustion.

I also got REALLY good at skimming and getting the main points instead of spending inordinate amounts of time with my books. Mainly I spent a lot of time doing focused practice questions instead of just cramming information, because those helped me review, and then I'd use the book to clarify or hit on weak points I identified in the practice tests.

I still love all my highlighters, though. I use all kinds of different colors on my notes on the floor now, and it's helped me organize myself more quickly with priority information and focuses. That was one helpful thing from nursing school. Maybe the only one, haha.

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