OMG, is it only the second day of nursing school????

[SeattleJess]

I feel like I've been going for a year, with the reading a mountain of material online and off for the week before the first class, the horrendous commute, the additional exercises and materials in class and just the general overwhelm and disorientation.

Then again, every tribe has its rites of passage.

How were YOUR first days of nursing school? What did you do to thrive?

[SeattleJess]

No, no, no! I need to tell myself that second semester won't be as hard because I'll be a bit acculturated and know how to organize. I'm sure there will still be more than I can absorb but at least I'll have a method for approaching the workload of more than I can do.

Back to studying now.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

For me, I think the second semester and third semesters were easiest.. that last one was TOUGH!

[native_texan]

....My three-weeks-in advice to you would be to get your fundamentals text as soon as you know what it is and then practice reading it with the SQ3R method. I wish I'd done that instead of learning more effective study techniques now. (Kind of like starting to build your rowboat on Day Two of Katrina.) Don't let yourself have all the time in the world to read and understand everything. Spend your time before school starts really working on your study techniques.

And even if you flub it, everyone says that you just need to pass. Some comfort in that.

So....the last 2 semesters I have been working on my study technique....trying to find what is EFFICIENT.

That's what I'm doing right now...trying to find methods are EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT. I've rewritten my notes (effective but NOT efficient), etc., but I know that passive highlighting of texts is not going to be enough either. My work right now is probably different from NS (multiple choice/fill-in-the-blank tests), etc. I'm also working for high As in each class.

I know I'll adapt. It's more of a question of how much stress and sleep depravation I'll encounter along the way.

(For the record, I took A&P 1 & 2 and Stats over the summer, and I'm currently taking Chem, Nutrition, and Micro. It's been a good warmup for what awaits.)

[SeattleJess]

For me, I think the second semester and third semesters were easiest.. that last one was TOUGH!

HOPE! Thanks for giving me hope! All I know right now is that this way of life is not sustainable for another five quarters. Yesterday I bought running shoes. When I studied for the bar, I worked on the books in the morning, then I went for a run and ran through everything in my head. I practiced what I knew and uncovered gaps in my learning. Then I went home, plugged in the gaps in my knowledge and practiced again. Now if only I can make time to use those shoes, maybe I can do something like this in nursing school...

[glencoco]

I think it's really important to balance your life when you're in nursing school. Don't overbook yourself with work or other activities because you will feel overwhelmed. Also, when I started 7 weeks ago, I wanted to read every single page assigned for every class, but soon started feeling stressed out and really overwhelmed. What I suggest is talking to previous semesters about what class I need to read for and which ones I don't; I felt guilty at first for not reading for some classes, but you really need to find that balance and make it work. I think talking to previous semesters will help you get through the program since you will be getting the tips of what you should know or what you should do to succeed. Also, I agree when people say make sure to do things that you enjoy! You need to enjoy life and relax and destress. I used to feel guilty going out and feeling like I should be at home studying. Don't guilt trip yourself-- focus in the moment. If you're out to hang out, enjoy it. If you're studying, focus on that. I think that really helps you make the most of your time!

[auchiepie]

Welcome to nursing school ???

[ali.nystrom]

My first week of school was absolutely insane. We had so much reading to do... the class lectures were SUPER condensed and they pretty much said "study everything because everything is testable." I just learned to take it one day at a time.

I would also record the lecture in class on my phone and listen to them on my commute home. It gets easier... the first class is all the fundamentals (at least in my program...). Take it one day at a time and try not to get too overwhelmed.

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

One thing I learned from nursing school and kickboxing is that it never gets easier, you just get stronger.

[SeattleJess]

Welcome to nursing school 

Ha! You are so right. Bend over, this may sting a bit!

[2GNsoon]

First semester of nursing school was hard for me. The shock factor will go away, not saying nursing school gets any easier because it doesn't. But it's not as surprising and scary as each semester goes on...I'm finally in my last semester of classes and it has gotten harder and harder but I've gotten more adjusted to the tougher material and more clinicals

[keynursing]

How much writing does the nursing program require? I really struggle with writing.

[SeattleJess]

How much writing does the nursing program require? I really struggle with writing.

My program requires quite a bit. We write logs for each day in clinical and this quarter we wrote three nursing process papers. (Next quarter we'll write seven of them.) We had a project with older adults that required five logs, some assessments and a summary. We must write a mid-quarter clinical self assessment and a final clinical self-assessment. There were a couple of papers for communications, a midterm paper and a final paper. There was probably something else we had to write that I'm forgetting about.

The good news is that it's not the kind of paper writing we do in English 101. It's phrases giving assessments, short sentences identifying problems and strengths and doing some critical thinking based on these. The logs use a format called the Gibbs reflective cycle.

Speaking of writing, I need to go do about ten pages tonight.