Preparing for the First Semester of NP School

I started my program in Aug 2017. The entire first year was mostly writing papers and was extremely manageable with full-time work. Now that I'm in the last year of my program I will be mostly doing clinicals (I'm in my first rotation now), and it has become much much busier. I'm finding that balancing work/homework/clinicals is difficult and I'm trying to figure out a way to go part time or even quit my full time job completely for my last semester. The first year was a breeze compared to now lol.

Thanks for the response. I am sure it only gets busier. I remember undergrad being busy when clinical hours started picking up. I hope you crush this last portion of the program! Good luck and let me know if you have any tips for me.

My advice is to get familiar with good study habits you will need them for pharm, advanced patho etc. I don't mean cramming and reading tons of pages only to pass the test. I mean really paying attention to the syllabus, making a study schedule and sticking to it, and studying and reviewing a bit every day so that the information sticks! Not sure if you are married with kids, but I am and I had to learn to balance it all and I had to learn that I will miss some stuff and the kids will be ok. I worked full time until my last 2 semesters when clinicals and the school work was becoming unbearable. What I did to prepare for my first semester? I took care of myself, and I still do I work out, eat well and take some time for a mental break...even if its a 20min walk by myself. Just know that MSN is a lot of self study the professors or all the books won't teach you everything, you will have to seek out additional knowledge on your own. You will be fine for the first semester it's very manageable as long as you don't procrastinate. So enjoy your free time, good luck and all the best. Coco

Thank you for taking time out of your day to share with me. I will definitely be trying to take care of myself and keep a healthy balance. Your advice is super helpful and I appreciate it!

I spent the summer doing every activity possible with my kids, drank a lot of wine, and slept in Then I went casual at work (best idea ever), and figured out ahead of time when would be the best time to study. For me, it was to wake up at 5am and get a solid 2 hours in every day before my kids woke up. To have that plan in place worked out well. Enjoy the summer!!

10 hours ago, ICU2NP said:

I spent the summer doing every activity possible with my kids, drank a lot of wine, and slept in Then I went casual at work (best idea ever), and figured out ahead of time when would be the best time to study. For me, it was to wake up at 5am and get a solid 2 hours in every day before my kids woke up. To have that plan in place worked out well. Enjoy the summer!!

Thanks so much for the advice! I’m very excited to get started, but will for sure enjoy my summer off! I’m glad you’re happy. It seems like the general consensus is to have a study plan in place. I appreciate the comment!

I set up a home office in an extra bedroom. Even though everything is on the computer, I am still a paper person. While in school (2005-2007) I printed everything!! I know, I killed a lot of trees (I plant several trees every Arbor Day!!!!). I color coded my notes / index cards / printer paper / folder etc. according to body systems! I also bought a small fountain and a sound machine for my "office". I also bought a large wall calendar so that I could see at a glance when papers, etc were due. Best of luck to you.

As I recall, the fluff courses are at the beginning. The main thing is that papers are written in APA format, that is all they seem to care about.

I took my time going through the program. I worked full time throughout most of it. There were semesters I only took one class.

Lower your cooking and cleaning standards, haha

13 hours ago, AnnieNP said:

I set up a home office in an extra bedroom. Even though everything is on the computer, I am still a paper person. While in school (2005-2007) I printed everything!! I know, I killed a lot of trees (I plant several trees every Arbor Day!!!!). I color coded my notes / index cards / printer paper / folder etc. according to body systems! I also bought a small fountain and a sound machine for my "office". I also bought a large wall calendar so that I could see at a glance when papers, etc were due. Best of luck to you.

I did this as well and I too planted trees in my own yard...lol Another thing I purchased was a dry erase board. I would pretend I am teaching about a specific topic like HTN and write down the cause, risk factors, meds and the guidelines. I am sure I looked crazy talking to my plants...lol But it has helped me tremendously. I study as if I am going to explain the topic to someone who has no idea about the subject.

7 hours ago, Oldmahubbard said:

As I recall, the fluff courses are at the beginning. The main thing is that papers are written in APA format, that is all they seem to care about.

I took my time going through the program. I worked full time throughout most of it. There were semesters I only took one class.

Lower your cooking and cleaning standards, haha

I appreciate your honesty! I definitely am used to writing in APA from my BSN courses, so hopefully that helps me. Thanks so much for commenting!

7 hours ago, Cococure said:

I did this as well and I too planted trees in my own yard...lol Another thing I purchased was a dry erase board. I would pretend I am teaching about a specific topic like HTN and write down the cause, risk factors, meds and the guidelines. I am sure I looked crazy talking to my plants...lol But it has helped me tremendously. I study as if I am going to explain the topic to someone who has no idea about the subject.

If it works, who cares! I love this idea because I’m an extremely hands on type of learner. Thank you for this wonderful idea, even if it makes me look a little crazy! ?