Nursing school doesn't have to be hard...

I think its really important to know how your teachers like to test. I just finished my first semester and it was tough. But I got the hang of it and it became a little easier. Our class was shared between two teachers who made the test. One teacher liked to try and trick students and the other liked that you used your brain. From that I learned what to study from the notes and the book.

Which reminds me. I have a bachelors in another field and I never read the books during that journey! In nursing school I was forced to but realized I didnt know how to properly read books without forgetting all the info.

I learned not to read chapters all at once because I would forget most of the info afterwards. Instead I read the chapter in sections, took notes on it and applied the information until I got it. I did that then moved on to the next section and then I did the same thing. THEN I would go back to the first section and tested myself all over again, then did the same for the second section. Then moved on to the third section and...you got the point.

I did that for every chapter and spent about 1-3 days, depending on the difficulty, and tried to remember and understand it all. I wouldn't move on to the next chapter until I felt confident.

With all the being said, you cant be in nursing school without being disciplined unless you're a genius. In which case you should be cautious because there will be people like me trying to eat your brain.

Get an NCLEX prep book like Saunders or Pearson at the beginning of nursing school! I read sections of the book that corresponded with the lecture instead of reading my textbooks. Because of this, I always did way above average on tests and studied less than the majority of my classmates but I still really understood the material. The NCLEX prep books lay out the topics in a way that's easier to understand than most textbooks. I still bought textbooks in later semesters, but I usually got the older editions. Saved myself $100s of dollars this way and still aced nearly all my classes. And no, my program is not an easy program at all!

Hahah one of the perks of nursing school...the running around like a crazy person diet.

all I can add to this is make time to exercise.

Even its its just running around with the kids or going for a bicycle ride or walk with that significant other. I started that into my schedule 2 weeks and life is going lots better, plus it eases stress levels associated with such a high demand program.

Haha, nursing school isn't exactly very hard, all you need is good time management!

Haha nursing school isn't exactly very hard, all you need is good time management![/quote']

Yes! I agree! I still party and hang out with friends a few days a week and I'm one of the top two in my class. It's definitely possible to have fun and excel. ^_^

I am almost afraid that this will happen to me..... here's hopping that it won't lol.