Graduating Nurses..Looking back.....

[crazensweet]

What do you know now that you wished you knew when you started Nursing school? Why I ask? At the end of each semester I reflect on my mistakes for things I wished I had done.

For example in my Psych class I ended the semester with a B. I was just 2 points from an A.

If a there is an option taking "practice exam" which would equate to extra credit points even though doing all 10 would have given me just 5 points.....Do it ..... you never know.

Note to myself: NEVER PASS ON EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT:nono:

[crazensweet]

okay ... no one replied to this thread so I 'm responding to myself so that I dont have to look at the 0 replies column.... thanks

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

Well I am not a graduating nurse but I like to reflect at the end of each semester upon what I have learned and what mistakes I made. I have found the following things to be true....

1. Nursing school is like going to school and having a job at the same time. It requires you to attend class and spend large amounts of time outside of class studying and completing assignments. Nursing is unlike many other majors, I have been in History and English classes where I can write well enough to earn a decent grade even if I don't know much about the topic but in Nursing there isn't anyway to BS an assignment because it could cost someones life if your not careful.

2. If getting good grades requires a lot of study time, and time is money (as they say) then good grades can get you more money. I've found that getting good grades gives you more opportunities for scholarships and grants. In the past year having a high GPA has literally saved me over $1500 in tuition because of grants. Sure, sometimes I had to forgo going out and having fun to study for an exam the next day but the money that I saved is worth it to me.

3. Learn from the mistakes of those who have come before you. I know that there have been countless numbers of nursing students before me and there will be many more after me. Those who have come before me have been there and done that and will often pass on their wisdom by recommendations and warnings, and sometimes they will be wrong but more often then not they are right so I know now that I need to learn from the mistakes of those who have come before me and pass on what I know to those who come after me.

I'm sure that there are more lessons but those are the big lessons for right now.

!Chris

[crazensweet]

Interesting Chris...thank you for that....I should have entitled the thread "reflections at the end of semester" or something like that.

[RhodyGirl, RN]

I would just like to add that nursing school is not just about cramming all the info into your head for an exam then dumping it. We really have to learn this stuff! I always regret skimping over certain things during the course of a semester because information DOES come back to haunt me in other courses!!!!!!