Nervous....

somedaypeds · Aug 1, 2012

My advice: Get through first semester!

Setting up good study skills will go a long way to helping you get through. Figure out what works for you. Make some friends and study with them.

Finding a balance between school and home life is tricky. I wasn't able to get together with my friends and family as much I would have liked during school, so I would send them emails about what we were studying or interesting that happened. This helped them feel connected, but gave me the time I needed to study.

Have strategies for dealing with stress, because stress will happen. Some of mine were making healthy eating choices, drinking water, getting adequate rest, and taking a bubble bath.

In my opinion, it isn't the school that loses the students in second semester. It is the students who have not learned how to manage the large amount of study time, the lack of family time and the stress.

AMRC6713 · Aug 1, 2012

Most programs lose a lot of students right off the bat. We are going into our senior year and probably have half of the original class with us. Yikes!

Don't panic. My best advice is if you think you're going to work, be mom/dad, and go to full time NS, you need to get that out of your head. Recruit help NOW--you will more or less be putting the rest of your life on the back burner. Unfortunately I had many classmates who thought they'd be able to do that and they're no longer in the program. NS is not easy, it's not like an accounting program or something. It demands your full attention and dedication.

If you've got that out of the way, you have help at home and have secured yourself a nice per-diem job, great! It's going to be a big help.

You'll now need to be super focused. You won't be seeing your friends much, your family won't see much if you, you'll be too busy reading.

Keep up with the reading! Don't let any concepts go by without you understanding them. Get help in your schools mentor program if they have one. We have one and as freshman were able to get a senior nursing student mentor.

Take advantage of the opportunities to learn provided to you. If they hold any open labs for you to practice skills, go to them. The lab is the place to screw up, not at clinicals.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to look stupid (get used to it, you'll be doing a lot of that) and don't underestimate the program...it will take over your life for the most part but if you keep up with your studies you'll do fine!

Sounds scary! It IS scary in the first semester! Lol you'll be eating, sleeping a lot from exhaustion, and going to NS and that is very close to IT.

It's a hell of a ride but if you love it, it will be worth it!

Good luck!! Get plenty of sleep and the first week will be the most nerve wracking. Once you get into the swing of things you won't even realize you're doing it. :)

BlueChocolateCat · Aug 1, 2012

Nursing programs are notorious for loosing lots of students, especially at the beginning. It happens all over the place because nursing school is difficult.

There is nothing you can do except study hard, come to class prepared, actually go to class, and make sure that the rest of your life is not going to completely bog down your overall goal: being a nurse!

Mrsladysoul83 · Aug 1, 2012

I started my lpn prog the end of may & we started out w/22 ppl & as of 2day the last day of class we have 11! Yes 11 students & we r in the easy classes nutrition & dosage calculations! The teacher was shocked she sd we looked more like the senior class than freshmen & she hasnt ever had that happen before. Class was suppose to be mon-thurs but the teacher was nice & we only met mon & wed so we wouldnt have to do 2much rearranging b/c they dropped those on us so quick! Some just either didnt come or did show up 4 class & left early or come 1 wk & nt show the nxt, making 40's & 50's on exams. 1 lady dropped last week b/c she was preggo & we tried 2 tlk her out of it so that way when she does come bk nxt yr she wont hv 2 tk those classes but she felt she was 2 old 2 b preggo(38) & 1 girl offended her w/a comment abt ppl being preggo & going thru nursing skool. When class starts bk on the 16th hopefully it will still b 11 but idk. If u study hard, read, read, & read, go 2 class & ask ?s when u dont understand i think u will be fine! Congrats, & U CAN & WILL MAKE IT!

Elladora · Aug 1, 2012

1 - Don't skip class. Nursing school can be pretty fast paced and most instructors cover a lot of information in a short period of time. If you miss a day, you miss a lot.

2 - Study! This seems like a no-brainer but you WILL be tempted to flake off at some point. Push on!

3 - Find what works for you. For me, flashcards were my friend. I punched a hole in the corner and put them on a ring and carried them EVERYWHERE. Whenever I had a free moment, I was flipping through flashcards. This helped me commit things to memory. A friend of mine retyped her notes when she got home every night. Each person has a unique learning style. Find what works for you.

4 - If possible, network. Having peers to study with, bounce questions off of and in general lean on is priceless.

5 - Take care of yourself. Get your rest, eat your breakfast, etc.

6 - Take good notes. Write down key facts. Anything an instructor says more than once is typically important. Related to this, put your cell phone, etc away during class. Every person that I saw fail a nursing class was a during class cell phone user. As I said, nursing school is pretty fast paced. If you are caught up in what's going on with your phone, you ARE missing out.

I think you have a lot of the battle won. You are going into this prepared. Not being prepared is the downfall of many students. Study hard, work hard - you will do just fine!

s_lopez1223 · Aug 2, 2012

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help