Published Sep 14, 2010
haleyb0324
6 Posts
I'm about 3 weeks into my 4th and last semester of nursing school, and the motivation is draining fast! I find myself just wanting to fast forward 3 months til after graduation. Any tips for staying motivated til the end?
doublehelix
165 Posts
In Discipline of Nursing, our instructor had us write a paper on "Why we decided to become a nurse." She said when we're feeling stressed/down/overwhelmed/thinking twice about completeing the program, to go back to that paper and remember why we entered nursing school...
Just keep thinking of all the opportunities you'll have once you've completed the program... your hard work isn't for nothing.
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to have to write a note-to-self with some encouragement to get me through. Do you have any good stress-relieving tips?
I sure do :) But it really all depends on what works for you...
Exercise is a GREAT stress reliever. Our teachers told us to expect to lose muscle and bone mass over our duration of time of being a student, because we will be sitting in desks all day rather than up and normally working. An hour a day is recommended. I split mine up into about 30 min of yoga (very relaxing, once you get the hang of it and make it part of your routine) and cardio, mostly running, and taking the dog for walks. Even taking a short walk around your street can help clear your mind.
I'm a very visual learner, so I organize a lot of my information with pictures, i.e. for psych I am studying the brain, I will draw the brain and then include all the lecture notes under different parts of the brain. Drawing has always been a stress reliever for me... so even though i'm studying i'm not as stressed as I normally would be.
I tend to listen to music after or before I study, helps me unwind. watching a movie, having a cup of tea... I also took up knitting and crocheting last year, which I now find to be *very* stress relieving since I got the hang of it. You need to find something that works for you though.. my mom knits, but she finds knitting to be very stressful because she often does not pay attention and makes errors in her work
Hope that gave you a few ideas!