How much do you REALLY study

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Specializes in ER.

I have been in nursing school for just over a month now (yes i know i'm new to this). But i'm sure just like the rest of you I've read and been told over and over again how you need to read and study so much, people saying things like 4-6 hours a day and more every day. With that being said I've been studying significantly less than 4-6 hours a day. and a lot less than what some of my classmates tell me there doing, but i'm scoring well on all my tests. so what i'm asking is are you all REALLY studying that long or is it just the same study technique being passed down by word of mouth, but not really practiced? like I said I rarely study for more than 2 hours a day, sometimes even less than that. But i do feel i use my time wisely, always making sure i complete all readings and i do a couple hundred practice questions every week for every class. so does this sound all wrong? does anyone feel the same way i do? looking forward to any advice that can be given!

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

It depends on how you define studying. If you're including all the time spent reading required assignments, completing homework, and writing papers, I can see how 4-6 hours some days might be accurate. Personally, I don't consider required assignments to be "studying". To me, studying is taking extra time above and beyond required work to learn and retain information. I never studied 4-6 hours per day on a regular basis. Maybe one or two days leading up to exams, but most days I was doing my required school work with 0-2 hours of extra studying. How much time I spent on homework varied depending on the day and the assignments.

This question (just like "Is nursing school really difficult?") will vary based on the individual. Some learn more quickly than others. Some learn simply by reading or listening. Others need to take the more time consuming route of taking notes or making flash cards in order to remember information. Some have more effective study habits and can get more done in less time. Others don't study as efficiently and might spend more time studying overall while retaining less information. It's all relative. If you're doing well and your study habits are working for you, that's what matters. Whether or not your spending "enough" time studying depends on your grades, and not what other people are doing.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I probably spent about 6 hours a week, on studying and other homework in fundamentals. I received an A-. I'm only a few weeks into med surg but I'm probably spending closer to 10 hours now.

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.

Between everything (class, reading, reviewing, quizlets, homework, projects, pre-clinical, clinical paperwork, and clinical days), I easily spent 40-60 hours per week. Usually closer to 60. I am a type-A personality though, and feel a deep need to do my best at all times, so I know that I did more than most of my cohort, they probably were closer to 40 hours/wk most of the time.

That said, I do believe my school has more clinical hours than the majority on here. There were semesters where we did 24 hours of clinical per week, along with paperwork to go along with that. In our final semester, we also had a large paper that took up a lot of time. Mine was 37 pages and I easily spent at least 60+ hours on it. And I was given 2 weeks to do it. This was in addition to all my other work that had to be completed during that time. Needless to say, I didn't perform well on the exam I had during that time frame.

Depending on your program, and your ease of learning, YMMV. Expect it to at least be a full time job.

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I attended a nursing info session that our college puts on before every class is picked. She said we would be studying 1-2 hours per course hour, so 16-24 hours, over what we have done in class or clinical in a given week. That would put it 2-4 hours of studying a day. Seems like a lot. I'm not in a program yet FYI.

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Between everything (class, reading, reviewing, quizlets, homework, projects, pre-clinical, clinical paperwork, and clinical days), I easily spent 40-60 hours per week. Usually closer to 60. I am a type-A personality though, and feel a deep need to do my best at all times, so I know that I did more than most of my cohort, they probably were closer to 40 hours/wk most of the time.

That said, I do believe my school has more clinical hours than the majority on here. There were semesters where we did 24 hours of clinical per week, along with paperwork to go along with that. In our final semester, we also had a large paper that took up a lot of time. Mine was 37 pages and I easily spent at least 60+ hours on it. And I was given 2 weeks to do it. This was in addition to all my other work that had to be completed during that time. Needless to say, I didn't perform well on the exam I had during that time frame.

Depending on your program, and your ease of learning, YMMV. Expect it to at least be a full time job.

Off topic, I know - but how many clinical hours did you complete at the end of school? I'm curious how my potential school compares. TIA :)

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.
Off topic, I know - but how many clinical hours did you complete at the end of school? I'm curious how my potential school compares. TIA :)

It was just under 1000.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

I think 1-2 hours per day during the week and about 6 hours total on the weekends was what I did the first quarter of nursing school. (This includes readings, assignments, and study time). Currently I do more than that, but this particular term is known for the high workload, and my clinical instructor expects us to do a lot of independent reading up on medications and conditions even if it isn't officially required.

I don't think one should worry about how many hours they spend studying so much as how much knowledge they are retaining. If you are doing well in your classes, and feel comfortable with your knowledge level, then you probably don't need to do more. If you aren't doing well you may need to do more, or you may need to really evaluate how you are studying and if those methods are actually effective for you.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

I think the number of hours you study depends upon the type of learner you are. Some people have a knack for absorbing material & synthesizing it quickly. They require less hours pouring over books & notes studying. Others need the repetitiveness of seeing the material 3 or 4 times to let it sink in. There's no right or wrong number of study time hours. Are you passing the exams? Do you feel you have a good grasp on the material? If so, you're studying adequately. If you're barely scraping by, then obviously you need to improve your study habits.

So, it all boils down to what works best for you.

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Specializes in ER.

Thanks guys, this is the info I was looking for. Basically I was just feeling kind of nervous because this is my first semester actually in the nursing program but I feel like im not studying any more than I did in my pre reqs and gen ed classes, but im doing just as good if not better on all my tests. maybe since im generally enjoying the nursing classes more than most pre req classes so its easier to retain the info? but nonetheless its comforting to see that some of you had the same amount of study hours as me and were extremely successful! Thanks everyone!

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