GN advice for SN

the first day of orientation they told us, they warned us we would no longer have a social life, for those of us with kids, we would need lots of support- tell our families now we need this help. the school was right. i worked no more than 15 hours per week, took out a personal loan and i have 4 kids. i never used my kids as excuse to fail or an excuse to not complete an assignment. my kids were and are my motivation!!!!!

#1 you have to sacrifice! you will succeed.

ok,

what you need to know:

1. buy one - only one really good nclex`review book

saunders, davis are great!!!!!

2. study your meds in classifications from day one

3. while in school do 25 questions per day on the topic you are studying or the topic in lecture.

4. sit in the front of the class

5. make a friend with someone who is focused,

6. use www.allnurses.com

7. know the nursing care that is involved

8. know your lab values

9. ask questions

10. review your notes everynight or rewrite them in question format

11. highlight

12. record the lecture and listen while driving home

13. get organized

14. eat well, pack some snacks- granola is a great snack

15. don't get caught up, if something is too hard and more like memorization it probably won't be on the test, but you need to know the basic of it. ask the instructor - especially with ekg - you should now common problems, normal things etc.

16. buy the hesi review book and cd!!!!!!!!!!

one more thing if you are tired - it is no point to studying- get your rest, get refreshed and then study.

if you are anxious- you can't think, so relax!

don't cram.

thanks for the tips! i have wanted this for so long and have worked for so many years to just get accepted. now that i am close to getting in and starting i am starting to panic, thinking .....can i do this???? i have 3 kids, i have a great husband and semi reliable in-laws willing to help, and my kids bless them have also been a huge support. i keep getting guilty feelings about them though, will i be able to help them do all the things i help them with now? oh the pressure. i am glad to hear from people who have kids and have done this work. i keep reading here to stay motivated and not let my soon to be overwhelming fear take hold.

catherine

The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is do your BEST.

I missed my daughters first day of Kindergarten :-( and alot of school programs etc. It is a extreme sacrifice. The look on my kids face when I graduated was priceless, they are so proud of me. The oldest student in my class was 50 years old, the average was 30.

Small goals and babysteps is how it all began with a big dose of motivation!!!! You can do this!

Thank you so much for the tips, I really needed this. I just found out today that I am on the wait list for the LVN Program at my Community College-I am so nervous but I am so very excited that I can finally call myself a pre-nursing student and hopefully a nursing student in Fall 2008!!! I have warned my husband about how hard it will be for me to go to nursing school but he said I should go for it and he will support me and that we would figure it out and make it work Any more tips you could offer for nursing school Inwould appreicate so much, thanks and good luck to you