Need some help to survive here!

susanmary · Oct 24, 2002

You need to make yourself a priority -- you are definitely not sleeping enough. Why are you going to bed at 4:30 a.m.? If you are working, is it possible you can take vacation time, leave of absence, etc. Once you get enough sleep, you should be able to reprioritize your studies/schedule. See your advisor or counselor at school to help you work up a realistic study schedule. Remember, quality not quantity with your notes. If you feel it is helpful, use a study group. But you really need to take some time also for yourself. Eliminate the extras -- don't worry if your house is not immaculate, or if your cookies are home-made this year. DO make certain to fit in some special time with your husband and child as a family AND for you and your hubby as a couple. BALANCE. You can do it.

rdhdnrs · Oct 24, 2002

Try to keep your eyes on your goal....when you get out and start working you'll feel like you're on vacation by comparison!!! Good luck!!!

renerian, BSN, RN · Oct 24, 2002

Wow you need some time for you!!! Something needs to give......you need sleep........You have to make you a priority! You are so close don't neglect yourself. I remember what it is like to go without sleep, I have lots of kids and worked days and went to night school. Was horrible. I hated school as it was a killer. CAn you take half a day just to do nothing or do whatever you want. I don't want you to crash when your so close...

renerian

WV Hillbilly RN · Oct 24, 2002

Thanks guys for all the help....... sounds like I just need to chill out a little, and keep my priorities straight. I think my husband is wanting me to go out to dinner this weekend, and instead of telling him that I can't........ I'm going to go...... who knows, maybe we will find a nice hotel to stay in over the weekend.... It sounds good, but I hope I can stick to it. We need that time for us, thank you all for helping me to see that. ! ! !

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Oct 24, 2002

Take the whole weekend off and away from home and enjoy yourself-get some sleep!

Schedule your sleep and exercise and fsmily time, and make them just as important as study time. You want your health and family to still be there when you are finished this program. Make your goal a B, not an A, I am sure you will still get a job in this shortage, and no one asks you your grades after that first interview. Literally 6m from the end of your program they will not matter! So don't kill yourself over school, you will learn twice as much in your first year of practice.

micro, RN · Oct 24, 2002

You need sleep. Read the definition of physical and mental fatigue. This is not healthy.

You are right, you have gone too far to quit.........so change something quick, so you are not forced to quit.

You have came this far. You will make it. Repeat it after me.

Relax, quit burning the midnight oil........or at least stop at midnight. So what if you get a b on a test, instead of an A.......

you have the knowledge, it truly doesn't matter in the "real world" what grades you got in school.............

talk to an instructor that you have grown to trust and tell them/ask them for hints on how to destress....you are not the first student that they have seen totally fatigued.........

balance

fatigue

burned out, stressed, 'dead'

my heart to you and all the nursing students out there,

hang in, it is worth it,

but it is in the balance, what to give up and what to keep

micro xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Babe · Nov 10, 2002

You have gotten some great advise here! My instructor told me about what you've read here, no time for yourself and no sleep sets you up for failing. It has been proven that to much time at the study table is as bad as no time so give yourself those badly needed breaks, get sleep to keep yourself sharp, your mind and body needs rest. You know that, maybe like myself you only need to hear it from others. Been there done that and waited to late to see the light, cost me dearly as I failed out my second semester and have had to sit out a year now . Take those study breaks about every hour or so, play with your child, talk to your husband, sit in a yoga position for 15 -20 mins. just do it !! Have a time to stop studying and make yourself stick to it so your get the rest your boby needs. Belive me when I go back in Jan. I'll take all the advise given here!!! Good luck to you ! Hope you and hubby had great time, you and I are lucky to have ones that put up with our craziness! :rolleyes:

Qwiigley, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, CRNA · Nov 10, 2002

I'm in CRNA school, you think you aren't getting sleep now....! But this year has taught me one very imporatnt thing that I couldn't possible have learned as an undergrad. It seems so simple, but it is true. I don't have to have an A. I don't have to have all of the right answers. Its ok to get a B.

Believe it or not, it took me all of this time to get it. 2 yrs of pre-requecs, 4 yrs of BSN, 5 years in a PICU and finally in graduate school... I have learned the following:

1. I study when I get home from school until dinner time. Stop.

2. i go to bed at 9:30. No other options. Sleep will help me critically think on all of the minor things I didn't memorize the night b4.

3. I get up at 5 am, go to school and study at my desk or in the cafe until class starts. Sometimes that is at 7 sometimes at 9.

4. Study time is priority. No interruptions. But when I'm done, I'm done and I don't look bck.

I find that the study time is more productive and I get sleep. Dinner is simple, but it is face to face with my husband.

Good luck, you can do this. You are smart enough, you have the desire.

Furball · Nov 10, 2002

When I was on the homestretch of nursing school I was very burnt out. I broke down and took out a student loan so I could pay my bills without working. Whew! What a relief THAT was. Without having to go to work I could concentrate on school, get the good grades, spend time with my family and not be so damn grouchy! It was great!

TMS2121 · May 26, 2003

If you are finding yourself unable to study at home b/c of noise and distractions, find a quiet place in the school library and make it your point to study there for a specific amount of hours both between and after classes. When you come home, have a good meal w/ your husband and kid(s). I know how you feel and have felt it towards the ending of this past semester. We've all felt it; everyone in my class, but you must take care of yourself and get rest. It is not easy. I always make sure I am in bed by at least 1 AM; sometimes earlier if I had a really tiring day friom clinical and all. I'm going into my senior year of nursing school and know the feeling towards the ending of the semester. Stick to your goals, your almost there. GOOD LUCK!!