New male nursing student

seanynjboy, BSN · Jun 18, 2012

First of all congratulations on being accepted to a nursing program! :)

I am in an RN program right now and my program is over in April 2013. I have been in a little over a year. Basically, the best advice I can give is to read EVERYTHING assigned. Do not skimp in chapters. If your instructors use powerpoints. Print them out and read that chapter and annotate those PPT slides before you go to class. If you try to just swing by on PPTs alone, it will be reallllllly hard.

Do your best not to stress. Make friends with the "smart people" in the class. They are a really valuable resource. Do not get involved in any school drama, it just makes for a bad school environment. TRUST ME. I am drama-free in my school. I am considered Switzerland. I am friends with just about everyone in my program, and people just vent to me about whoever and I just shrug it off...

Same cliche things too. Get enough sleep before class/clinical rotations. Eat a good breakfast. If you are studying for a test. DO NOT cram the night before. Go over a few things before class. Try reading flash cards before you go to bed. Our dean told us to do that, and it reallllly helps.

FLASHCARDS = AMAZING!!

Make as many flashcards as you can, bring them to the grocery store. Purposely stand in the LONGEST line for check out and pull your cards out. Bring them or like 20-30 wherever you go and just read them in your spare time. If you are a passenger in a car, bring them a long...IT REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY HELPS!!

Good luck in your studies!!!

Sean

Ldial1 · Jun 22, 2012

First of all congratulations on being accepted to a nursing program! :)
I am in an RN program right now and my program is over in April 2013. I have been in a little over a year. Basically, the best advice I can give is to read EVERYTHING assigned. Do not skimp in chapters. If your instructors use powerpoints. Print them out and read that chapter and annotate those PPT slides before you go to class. If you try to just swing by on PPTs alone, it will be reallllllly hard.
Do your best not to stress. Make friends with the "smart people" in the class. They are a really valuable resource. Do not get involved in any school drama, it just makes for a bad school environment. TRUST ME. I am drama-free in my school. I am considered Switzerland. I am friends with just about everyone in my program, and people just vent to me about whoever and I just shrug it off...
Same cliche things too. Get enough sleep before class/clinical rotations. Eat a good breakfast. If you are studying for a test. DO NOT cram the night before. Go over a few things before class. Try reading flash cards before you go to bed. Our dean told us to do that, and it reallllly helps.
FLASHCARDS = AMAZING!!
Make as many flashcards as you can, bring them to the grocery store. Purposely stand in the LONGEST line for check out and pull your cards out. Bring them or like 20-30 wherever you go and just read them in your spare time. If you are a passenger in a car, bring them a long...IT REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY HELPS!!
Good luck in your studies!!!
Sean

Sounds like some good advice to me. I too am a huge fan of flash cards.

phrozenone · Jul 25, 2012

WOW....great advice!!! I start my RN program this fall. I will definitely take your advice bro!!! Thanks!!!

Pick01 · Jul 26, 2012

One thing I will throw in.... buy a pocket recorder, to record lectures. That way you can listen again to the lecture, it clears up questions you may come across in your readings, at least it worked for me, and you can listen to them when your driving.

seanynjboy, BSN · Aug 18, 2012

One thing I will throw in.... buy a pocket recorder, to record lectures. That way you can listen again to the lecture, it clears up questions you may come across in your readings, at least it worked for me, and you can listen to them when your driving.

I have to get one. My instructors next 2 semesters do not allow laptops in class...that makes me rather upset. I have to buy a recorder now.

Kiwiguy · Nov 2, 2012

welcome buddy :)

sixty3dayswithSarah, BSN, CNA, RN · Nov 2, 2012

I was an LPN before I was an RN. In NH, we have something called NCLEX challenge where RN students are eligible to sit for the LPN exam depending on your program/ for me, it was at the end of my second years second semester. I agree with Sean, he and I sound very much alike. One thing in particular I noticed was once I completed my Med/Surg rotation, it seemed like the program was a bit easier- only a bit- because MS is the foundation, once you understand how the body works, for some reason even if I was not sure of an answer on a test in pedi, using my MS knowledge helped me break down questions.... LPN school is intense, so, like me, work you but off in MS, it will pay off. In regards to taking a recorder to class, I never found that helpful..... Its strange laptops are not allowed, especially now? I am adjunct faculty now and when I teach, I ALWAYS use an NCLEX review book as a guide to teaching to ensure I touch on points that will be relevant for my students. One thing that I did was I purchased a NCLEX review book and when I studied, I also reviewed/quizzed myself using the review book, which helped.... And, if you can help it, make friends with students you get some good vibes from, ones that will be their to help you and vice versa. I think I got through my BSN because on the first day, I connects with two other students, so we always had each other to fall back on, study together etc... It's vital, bc missing a class could mean missing the renal system for example. Lastly, my school, gave us notes to follow in class so we did not have to write them all out and we could participate easier, I have severe ADD and assignments like "read chaperts 1-7, pages 6 through 192" was NOT helpful, I was lost after ten minutes. Many instructors cover the main points via their lecture, and for me, I studied my notes and read all chapter summaries.

Im no genius, I barelly graduated HS, but nursing has been my niche... I was Salutatorian of my class, so my methods seemed to pay off, but you must find what works for you too... OH, and the LPN exam compared to RN, was 100 times easier.... Take things day by day, time managment- with ADD- I cannot sit and read for three hours or study for two hours. I used to study for 25-30 minutes take a break, then go back, and I absorbed info much easier... Hope this helps? good luck!

sixty3dayswithSarah, BSN, CNA, RN · Nov 2, 2012

see my post- good luck!

First of all congratulations on being accepted to a nursing program! :)
I am in an RN program right now and my program is over in April 2013. I have been in a little over a year. Basically, the best advice I can give is to read EVERYTHING assigned. Do not skimp in chapters. If your instructors use powerpoints. Print them out and read that chapter and annotate those PPT slides before you go to class. If you try to just swing by on PPTs alone, it will be reallllllly hard.
Do your best not to stress. Make friends with the "smart people" in the class. They are a really valuable resource. Do not get involved in any school drama, it just makes for a bad school environment. TRUST ME. I am drama-free in my school. I am considered Switzerland. I am friends with just about everyone in my program, and people just vent to me about whoever and I just shrug it off...
Same cliche things too. Get enough sleep before class/clinical rotations. Eat a good breakfast. If you are studying for a test. DO NOT cram the night before. Go over a few things before class. Try reading flash cards before you go to bed. Our dean told us to do that, and it reallllly helps.
FLASHCARDS = AMAZING!!
Make as many flashcards as you can, bring them to the grocery store. Purposely stand in the LONGEST line for check out and pull your cards out. Bring them or like 20-30 wherever you go and just read them in your spare time. If you are a passenger in a car, bring them a long...IT REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY HELPS!!
Good luck in your studies!!!
Sean

PatMac10,RN, RN · Nov 2, 2012

Congrats on starting nursing school dude! I can honestly say that I have had a great experience as a male student nurse. No one has ever made me feel as anything other than a valuable member of a team. I started at 18 years old and have learned so much. I am 20 now and will graduate in May of 2013, and I have found that nursing requires flexibility on the students part. Know your learning style. For example, I am multi-modal learner, but learn best from auditory input and writing. So I record lectures (if allowed by institution) and listen to them in the car, while waiting in the doctors office and I write out outlines and concepts maps on the material i found difficulty to understand. I also learn well by discussing the information reviewed in class in study-groups that are small (3-4 people). If i go to a study group I make sure I don't go to it as a empty vessel, I try to study and bring something to the group, as all study group members should try to do.

If you have a smart-phone, put it to good use and download apps like micromedex, epocrates, and various other nclex and nursing apps. Also, the Nursing Made Incredibly East series is great for brief summaries of difficult concepts, they have a fundamentals, med-surg, pharm, critical care, and various other versions of the book.

Finally, I suggest getting a Tarascon pharmacopeia classic for Nurses book. It gives good nursing specific information regarding medication administration.

sixty3dayswithSarah, BSN, CNA, RN · Nov 2, 2012

(PAT)

I personally thought the Incredibly Easy books would make harder to understand topics easier, but found they left out a lot of info, just my experience. I used one of there books to study for NCLEX and ended up buying another bc it skipped stuff I felt.... Something I found really usful as a new grad (since you will be graduating in a few months- congrats, its a long road, but you did it! I dont know where you live but we have ONE Barnes and Noble in the whole state, but one day when I went in, I saw these little "pocket" books that where quick referance guides to common s/s, p/a, pharm, disease, how to write notes (which came in handy, I have been subpenoed twice for past patients- not my misdoings, but on the MD part.... I look back and thank God I used the note guide bc when you have to recall a patient from 5-6 years prior, they start to blur!

I agree with what you said about what kind of learner... I have severe ADD, and as you probably know, people with ADD cannot get out of their own way sometimes But identifying this as an issue, I bought a book that outlined how to attend college with ADD, and the tips where all excellent. One big one for me is sitting through lectures over 45 minutes-1 hr or longer, my mind just started to spin... So I take back what I said about not taping lectures, bc I remember that I did for a few classes (Micro, Patho 1 and 2, M/S) and I would relisten to the lecture slowlly, like break it up into 4 fifteen minute blocks, and review my notes, look up terms I was unsure of etc.... and I swear I went from being someone who misplaces their own to-do book, planner, organizer etc... to having a really easier time understanding and retaining info... I know we are different learners, and not everyone has ADD, but this method of reviewing and studying would really work for anyone, we all have a shut off point, so the breif stints worked really well.

OMG, I do sorta disagree but not really with one thing... I certainly got to know everyone, one male student out of a class of 120, something tells me that every other student knew there was something different about me But, on the advice of another nursing student, I made fast friends with two other students who I identified as having some stuff in common, and the three of of stuck together through the entire 4 years like glue, not letting the other fail, forget, you know what I mean... It paid off, bc we ranked 1, 2 and 4 in the class at graduation, at pinning they called us onto stage to point this out (me an ADD student was Salutorian) I would have been happy passing!

Lastly, have you been offered any scholarship or grant money for being a male in nursing, HRSA is handing out all of this money, but I have yet to hear of someone actually benefiting from it, schools are getting like 700k, 900k, 2 mil to increase diversity.... I am working on DNP now and when I was not singled out, I was shocked (tri-racial, gay, single father, RN, work in rural, Ashkenazi Jewish decent, entering a high need speciatly--- If you read the criteria, it reads like what I just wrote.... just curious)

PatMac10,RN, RN · Nov 3, 2012

I agree that the incredibly easy books leave out something's. I bought them with the intention that they could give me the "meat and potatoes" of hard concepts. As far as that's concerned the book has more than served it's purpose. The incredibly easy books work well, I think, if you use them to get a general overview of an issue and then use your text book and lecture to fill in the gaps. I purchased the Mosby's PDQ for the RN (a pocket size reference book) I agree that it is helpful, especially during my first semester with lab and assessment pieces. @Kacsper: As of now, I have not received and "diversity" money or scholarships. Lolz! I wish I did!