I just started LPN School today, I'm just sick to my stomach..

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

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Scared to death, the whole 9. It took me nearly 4 hours just to organize and make at least a little sense of the syllabi, assignments, due dates, readings, etc on just TWO of my courses for this quarter. I still have 3 others to do the same too. I"ve been a full time pre nursing student for two years and I've never had this much on my plate at the beginning of a quarter.

I'm scared, someone tell me this is normal.

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Definitely normal. Honestly, in class we didn't even go over the entire syllabi because it was so long and had the outcomes for the entire semster. At the end of semester it listed everything we should know. We were all scared out of our wits. We started orientation on a Tuesday and classes that Friday. The next week we had a girl cry three times and everyone kept saying how scared they were....we still are!! So this is week four (but only third week of actual classes because of orientation taking a whole week pretty much) and we have had 7 tests and we have three more this week. One today, one tomorrow, and one Thursday. Don't worry, what you are going through is being experienced by most of us!

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Perfectly normal! After orientation, I thought I was signing my life away. Once you get into the swing of things and find a balance, it'll get better. It is a ton of work and I've had many sleepless nights and tearful moments, but you will be fine!

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Yes. Ive done the same thing. It's overwhelming at first but it will get better. Currently in my last semester. Hang in there...

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Yes, this is definitely normal! If you weren't a least a little scared, I'd be worried! I just graduated with my LPN, and it was a rough year! Especially, that first day when I thought this is too much! It got better, but you have to stay on top of it! Never leave things till the last minute! If you don't already have a thick skin, then you need to develop it! I often had to keep reminding myself why I was doing this, because there are days where it seems easier to quit than to keep going! We called that, "D Day!" I had few of those days, as did most of my classmates! You'll be fine, just take it one day at a time! Good Luck!!!!

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Yep, lol...totally normal! It's a crapton to digest!

Valuable tips that serve me WELL: I assume you are using some type of planner. Don't even bother with one smaller than the size of a standard spiral notebook- they have lots of writing space for each day. Take your planner and write out all your coming assignments due, then work from there and divide the reading/research time into chunks over the days prior to your due dates. You may think you can get the whole chapter read in a textbook the night before a lecture, but that chapter might be 40, 50, or even 60 pages long. Look at every chapter, count how many pages it is, and decide how many pages you can get through in one night without your eyes glazing over, and schedule your reading. You might need 2 or eben 3 nights to get through a chapter. SOme might tel you you don't always need to pre-read before a lecture, but I have an instructor who pulls tongue depressors with our names on them out of a jar to call on us to answer questions. And she's mean, so I make SURE I'm prepared!

Also, each night, look at your list of things to accomplish, and before you start, prioritize the list. If med-surg is your first class tomorrow morning, do the reading or assignment for med surg FIRST, and so on.

Hope that hepled a bit. You really do have to be ultra organized and manage your time. I spend no less than 8 hours a day on the weekends studying but still manage to work in a little relaxation. Some people in my class go out on the weekends or don't pre-read before lectures. They're struggling to keep from flunking out after just one month.

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