How often should I be studying?

Five days of class! Wowza!

It sounds like you're doing enough already, with a few hours after each class. You don't want to overload yourself. It's best to get small pieces of information in, take a break, then get more pieces of information in. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but what I will do is skim the material presented, then study each piece separately in more detail after I've skimmed. Sometimes you won't get to everything. That's why nursing school is so tough! =/

Well after class I come home and eat lunch and then study from about 11:30 till 1 or 2. and then I have to watch a show, take a nap, or something. and then about 3 or 4 I start to study again until dinner (about 6) and then do my last little bit of studying till 7:30 and by then I don't want to do anything. LOL!

I fall asleep by 9:30pm everynight, and have to be up at 6:30am everyday. I am very tired! We have things for lecture, lab and clinicals we have to do, plus NCLEX questions to turn in and do almost all our pharmacology online (by ourselves) and I don't even feel like i'm doing enough.. which sounds crazy!

Oh, and i'm also taking an online ethics class in addition to my nursing class. haha.

Since you have class/clinicals 5 days a week I would say that a few hours a day is enough and then just increase the hours when you're getting close to your test day. If you spend too much time studying after class you'll probably get super tired/stressed by the middle of the semester.

Also, IMO you don't need to be trying to memorize stuff everyday to consider it study time. It also helps to just type your notes, read chapters, practice NCLEX questions, review power points, etc.. without having the pressure that you have to memorize everything in the book.

Yeah, we were told not to memorize things. To try to understand them and apply them to situations. We have to do 10 NCLEX questions a week and turn in on thursdays.

Getting 9 hours of sleep every night, you probably should not be as tired as you are, especially with a nap on top of it. Are you honestly getting that much sleep? If so, it seems like there might be an underlying reason you are still exhausted. If so, this could also be why you feel like you are having trouble.

It sounds like you could stand to spend a little bit more time studying, but if you really aren't able to lose a bit of sleep and can't fit studying in anywhere else, you need to study differently. Studying effectively means different things to different people. There are plenty of threads on here about how to study, when to study, what to study, etc.

And to add something that is mentioned on almost all of those threads. Talk to your professors. They can help you come up with a plan to study, or at least give some guidance. Many schools have some form of academic counseling. Go to them for study tips, tips on improving reading speed and comprehension, etc. Don't forget that there are resources available to you to help make this just a tidbit easier.

Good luck, you can do this

You should study as much as you need to. I know that is not the answer you want, but every student is different and no set amount is right for everyone. I have some classmates that study every night, for 2-3 hours. I study maybe three nights a week for 2 or so hours, and then 6 or so hours the day before the exam. For me it works well, for others, studying everyday is a must.