I need just a little encouragment...please...

moonischasingme1 · Sep 9, 2006

My name is Rachel, I'm 19 yrs. old and I'm in my 4th week of my first year of nursing school. I'm starting to beat my head off of a wall because there is just SOOOOOOO much information and I don't know how to retain it all...I study my butt off and I don't feel that I'm prepared for my test on thursday..yes..this thursday the 14th...It's on EVERYTHING but clinical and that's ALOT of stuff. I guess my one problem is I'm not used to self-teaching...which is what alot of my program is (CCAC South campus...Pennsylvania) and that's taking awhile for me to adjust to...also, alot of what we're learning now is boring to me, like the principles of nursing and the code of ethics and stuff...I want to actually learn how to do stuff..not the basics (which i know your gonna say you have to learn the basics to understand everything else). My family and my loving boyfriend are all supporting me and i have a wonderful group of friends which are current nursing students also (we've all been together from day one of school last fall semester) and we have a moto of "No Nursing Student left behind" (no one drops out and no one is failing out, we're all gonna help eachother through this) and even my boyfriend, who is mad because he dosn't see me alot, is yelling at me to study more and everything which shocks me because we've not been dating that long but he knows how bad i want this. I guess what I'm saying is, i have alot of stress right now with school and I need some tips from you guys as to how you studied and dealt with all the stress and trying to have at least a little bit of a life...I NEED YOUR ADVICE PLEASE!!!

Well, just be glad you have the support that you do---it's very important.

The first exam is always the hardest because you don't know how it will be, etc. I would recommend going through each chapter...split them up by days, and then answering the objectives that are usually in the front of the book. You probably don't have time to write them out, but you could always talk about them with your friends.

analee23 · Sep 9, 2006

rachel,

I know it seems really really stressful right now... but remember, this is just the first exam, after this exam you will have a much better idea of what the teacher is looking for on exams and what types of questions she likes to ask. So, if you don't do so hot on this exam, no big deal, you'll have plenty of other ways to boost your grade later on. (I, personally, botched most of my first exams just because I didn't know what to expect and still graduated with a 3.75 from nursing school.) So, study the best you can, know the key points of each chapter and review your notes and you should do just fine.

I promise, it does get better later in school when you get past the boring basics. I agree that it is awful, but it is an important stepping stone.

Best of luck, we're all rooting for you!

-Analee

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 9, 2006

Another suggestion I have (for your whole group of student friends, actually) is to make some friend with your school's upper-classmen. They can often provide you with some good practical tips for getting through the program.

Good luck,

llg