Last semester and losing my drive

The new old guy · Mar 9, 2018

You can do it!!! I graduated the RN ADN in December and passed the NCLEX first time with 75 questions. I started the program at the ripe old age of 57. I am now 61. Every time I felt like I was going to fail, I would take a deep breath, or try..lol.. to relax and study again. In the test I would really stress out. I would always overthink the questions and be the last one to finish. When I stopped that and went with my first response things changed!! Here is one thing that helped. I failed my first test in the second semester. The instructor told me on the next exam to take a piece of paper, cover the answers and then answer it in my head. Then move the paper down, and when I saw my answer click it and do not change it. I thought what to I have to lose? So the next exam I did just that, and guess what, I was the only one in all the classes to score a perfect 100% on the exam! I then started to do it on all the exams the remainder of the nursing program. I would usually score in the high 80's to high 90's and actually ended up being one of the 21 students to end up out of 140 to graduate with honors. I also used this method on the NCLEX. Hope this helps.. YOU'VE GOT THIS!!!

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Mar 9, 2018

My cohort had a Facebook group for our class. During finals week of our last semester I posted a picture of someone crawling over the finish line at a marathon. I asked "Does anyone else feel this way?". The entire class felt that way.

Just push through it and look towards the finish line.

jess.mont, ADN, RN · Mar 9, 2018

You are SO close! You inspire those of us just starting out. Stop in and talk with your advisor and let her know you're struggling a bit. Just talking it over with someone may help.

AnnieNP, MSN, NP · Mar 9, 2018

Take a deep breath and give yourself a huge pat on the back. Be sure to give yourself frequent breaks when studying, get up / stretch / walk around for a few minutes. You can do this.

Chronicallychanging · Mar 9, 2018

I was thinking about doing that earlier (seeing my adviser ), I probably will since this was the second time the topic popped up today!

Chronicallychanging · Mar 9, 2018

Thank you for this tip ! I will try this with the practice questions at home, would be leary on doing this for my next exam which is Monday! Yikes!

stevosmusic · Mar 9, 2018

Im in the same boat, last semester, and so ready to be done!! don't give up we're almost there!!

thoughtful21, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2018

Hi! I'm in my last semester of BSN classes - SO close to graduating - and I'm losing my drive too. I feel so burned out. It's so hard to keep studying. There's so much pressure. I've done well so far, but now I'm having trouble concentrating, and I'm anxious and tired. I don't want to take the finals, but I do want them to be over!

For me personally, I'm trying to take a step back and take breaks when I need them (even though I feel like I don't have time.) I did talk with my advisor, and she was helpful, but only to a certain extent. She can't do the studying and take the test for me LoL!

Someone recommended the Pomodoro technique...maybe I should give it a try.

Chronicallychanging · Mar 15, 2018

I can't imagine how I would feel if I was at the end of a 4 year gig! Everyone is saying that I need to further my education and get the BSN, right now definitely not thinking about it. I haven't heard of the Pomodoro technique but I'm fixing to GOOGLE it! I just finished another exam and passed with a decent score. Thoughtful21 we are definitely too far into this to give up now. I put a countdown app on my phone and look at it every day! Its encouraging!