How many hours a day do you study??

[MarcyRN3385]

As a new nursing student I'm just curious. Yesterday I read for 3 hours straight...well...tried. I thought I could read every chapter word for word and be able to absorb everything. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. And in that 3 hours I didn't get a whole lot accomplished. Today I tried it again and read for a couple of hours...word for word...just not working...but thanks to some of you on here I realize now that reading everything word for word will only just drive me crazy and take every spare minute of my time so now I'm only going to read what's absolutely necessary and go over chapter objectives. Ahhhh....a big sigh of relief. I know I still have to study alot though. So how many hours a day do you study? And do you still have time to have a life too?

[Altra, BSN, RN]

A majority of days I probably do spend close to 3 hours doing something - reading, clinical paperwork, & even NCLEX review questions. But some days, there just isn't time, and I generally don't sweat it. You'll find what works best for you.

But having said that ... nursing school does become your life for a period of time. With ever-changing clinical schedules, care plans that take hours, etc. -- there just isn't much time or energy for much else. What has worked for me & my family has been to develop the sense that we're all in this together - my husband, my daughter & myself. It's like all 3 of us are in nursing school. :chuckle There's a payoff at the end for all of us. We also try block out a specific day every couple of weeks where I totally put school away for a while - no discussion of schedules, or where I'll work after graduation, no homework or reading, just family time. We might do something fun for the day, or we might just work together & clean up our disaster of a house , but we spend the time together.

Good luck to you! :)

[hippienurse]

After each theory class I make a study guide for that class. I skim the chapter, focusing on anything that didn't make sense, and I answer all the objectives the teacher had for the class in studyguide form. I do this everyday and each one takes me an hour or two to make. This helps me much more than staring at a textbook or three. Then when we are done with the sections for the upcoming tests I go back and put all the studyguides pertaining to that test together and I study that a 1/2 hour or so each night, and a little bit before the morning of the test

[TexasCCRN]

After each theory class I make a study guide for that class. I skim the chapter, focusing on anything that didn't make sense, and I answer all the objectives the teacher had for the class in studyguide form. I do this everyday and each one takes me an hour or two to make. This helps me much more than staring at a textbook or three. Then when we are done with the sections for the upcoming tests I go back and put all the studyguides pertaining to that test together and I study that a 1/2 hour or so each night, and a little bit before the morning of the test

Excellent post Hippie! Other students can learn from this advice.

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

For our classes, we have outlines. I study the outlines and read the "suggested" reading if it's listed under one of the points. I make sure I understand any of the concepts on the outlines and if I don't, I get out my text and look it up.

For each chapter I answer the NCLEX questions at the end of the chapter, I also do the workbook. I also like to check out the CD and the webpage for the text as well. I'm more of a hands on learner and I get more by doing interactive stuff than I do just reading the material.

[lil' girl, LPN]

Seems like ALL of them! :rotfl:

[AdobeRN]

I usually study about 1.5 hours per day. I get up at 5am, take shower etc and study from 530a-7. On clinical days if I already have been assigned a patient I get up at 415am, get ready and I usually have about 1 hour to "prepare" myself...go over meds, labs etc.

I usually cant study in the evening...too many distractions, and sometimes I am just too tired.

[Never_too_late]

On average, I probably study 3 hours a day. Some nights less because I am too tired, some weekends more because I can concentrate on my studies (no classes to go to). That study time is used to review class material (do I understand everything? if not, make note to ask someone), to research and write up papers, to prepare/review labs, to study for exams. During exam periods, I sometimes get a little crazy and do more. I like getting the grades (or is it an obsession or something? :) ). This has worked for me. As someone has said nursing school does become your life for a while anyway. Just don't forget to give yourself some sanity time.

N_T_L

[manna, BSN, RN]

I probably spend less than 1h/day during the week, but possibly more on the weekends.

We have 8h lecture/day, I spend 2h commuting, then I have housework and 2 little kids to tend to when I get home. If I spent much more time studying, I wouldn't get ANY sleep! :chuckle

What is the suggestion they're always saying? 1.5-2h for every 1h spent in class?