Nervous Starting Nursing School

[guest723]

Hi guys!

I will be starting BSN-RN school in the fall. I am actually nervous (which is normal). I have questions like: will I be able to do this? etc. Everyone tells me how hard it is, so I really HOPE I can do this!

A little bit about me:

- I am an A student. With this said, getting straight A's stressed me out to the max. I'm learning to wind down. I'm a perfectionist. I will do my best as I can, but I never took any breaks. I always studied. As horrible as it sounds, I was content with taking little-to-no breaks, but I learned how counterproductive and unhealthy that was. With this said, my question is: how do you manage stress? Do you got to the gym daily? How often do you study? Is it 3-4 hours/daily?

- I LOVE medicine. I read medicine articles daily, and try to be best I can. I may seem a little paranoid, although I like studying people tell me how difficult the Nursing exams are. I'm afraid I will be one of those students who did very well in their pre-reqs and only struggle with barely passing in the Nursing classes, and be stuck with the "C's get degrees" mantra.

- I do not work, and I do not plan to work while enrolled in Nursing school.

- I hear Nursing professors assign a lot of reading, most of which can't be done in the timeframe between the day it was assigned and the day of the test. With this said, how do you find out which is the most important material to review? How do you manage? Do you read every page or do you skim it, but study in-depth the textbook material that was focused in class?

Thank you guys! I felt nervous about this today. I am just really unsure what to expect.

Take care!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

It is hard to answer your questions because there is no one clear path to excelling in nursing school. Know that beyond human anatomy and pharmacology you will not be studying medicine. Medicine is different than nursing and you will learn what that means when you get into school.

However you cope with stress now, you will continue to use to cope with stress during nursing school. I would not make huge changes in coping styles after school starts. If you don't exercise now, don't expect to smoothly pick it up then. If you stress eat now, you are going to do so then. Use this time before school starts to get some good habits ingrained.

Grades are what they are. Most of the people who make it into nursing school are excellent students and you may find there is a spirit of friendly and not so friendly competition among your classmates. You won't suddenly resolve your Type A tendencies in nursing school toward your grades. Just do your best to balance them and keep in mind you are learning a lot of very in-depth, difficult material and the need for which is going to be stressed to you based on caring for human beings. It is stressful. I have not known many people who are A students who suddenly become okay with not being an A student in nursing school. However, many DO become B and C students due to the material, the volume, the intensity and the fatigue. It bothers them. If it happens to you, it will probably bother you too. Just keep doing what you do. Put your best into it. That is all you can do.

You will learn to skim for information you need from your reading using class lectures, online searches and what the text book and your instructors emphasize. You will want to pay close attention to diagrams and break-out boxes of information as well as bolded info. There is definitely more reading than humanly possible assigned.

Best of luck in school. I am sure you will do great and you will come out of it changed, with a real, solid internalization of having done something very hard and made it through.

[Serhilda, ADN, RN]

1. Many of my classmates go to the gym a few times per week, especially as a group. They socialize and workout at the same time so perhaps try finding a gym buddy, it seems to help them. I personally study anywhere from 1-8 hours per day. Usually 2 hours on weekdays (4 if I'm very distracted/on social media accounts at the same time) then more on weekends before a test. I'm a slow reader yet I've managed to read ALL of the assigned reading and I'm a second year nursing student now. I rarely take notes or review them or listen to recorded lectures. Personally, I just read and I've managed to maintain a 3.9 GPA.

2. I'm similar in my enthusiasm for the latest research in medicine and my passion for studying. That being said, nursing school tests are unpredictable and unfortunately, don't always represent your knowledge on that topic. Occasionally, professors will lecture predominantly on one disease then test on another. Their test questions will sometimes contradict the assigned reading and they will not give points back. Many factors contribute to a nursing school test stumping even the brightest students so some of it is out of your control. And unlike in pre-reqs, you can't pick the best professors for that particular subject based on reviews. What you're dealt is what you're getting.

3. As I said earlier, I read every single thing unless it's in our Fundamentals or Clinical Skills textbook which wasn't very helpful. But again, that's all I do is read then review what I've highlighted before a test. I aced HESI so retention absolutely isn't a problem. Some people learn through powerpoints and pictures, others through listening to recorded lectures and study groups. It just depends on how you learn best.

Best of luck!