New to nursing school and feeling overwhelmed? Any advice?

[wannabeanRN90]

So today it was day 3 of my BSN program and already, I feel so swamped with my classes. I am taking 15 hours and it seems like I just have so much to read and not enough time! I feel like if I spend a lot of time on one subject that I'm neglecting the rest and falling behind. Does it take some time to get used to the flow of things and how do you all who have been in nursing school suggest I keep up with all my classes? I am currently working only 2 days out of the week and have no kids and am living at home.

Thanks.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Give it time. At the start of my program I was an anxious mess and a lot of that was simply not knowing what to expect.

As far as reading goes....what I did and what many of my classmates did was read selectively. Does your school use powerpoints and if so to what extent? Can you use the powerpoints to guide your reading (focus on what is focused on in the ppts, skim or skip what isn't unless you have trouble understanding a concept)?

My school used HESI very extensively, so I learned early on to use the HESI NCLEX book to guide my studying. First semester might be too early for an NCLEX book, but it could help you zero in on what information is more important than the other information.

[HShearerRN2011, BSN, RN]

I congratulate you for making it into the program! I can't tell you it gets easier with the content load, but if you have a couple good coping mechanisms that can help. Find a couple students that you feel are good to study with first of all. I was never a group study person, but it really helps when you have two or three other people that bring different perspectives on an issue. Try to breathe!!! You can do this! It is hard, but worth it...good luck!

[jellybeany]

Our school pretty much treats the text books like a reference, and they test at least 95% from the power points. This really helps cut down reading time! Learning how they test is often half the battle.

[CrazierThanYou]

My first week of nursing school was a total nightmare. I was so stressed out and overwhelmed with the work load. I actually called my school to see how much money I could get back if I dropped out. I discovered I wasn't alone, several other students also dropped out. I decided to give it the rest of the semester to see how it worked out.

I ended up chilling out and getting the hang of everything. All last semester, I only studied on weekends, I didn't do anything during the week when I got home from school. I don't know if that approach will work this time but we'll see!

Good luck and hang in there!