Preparing for nursing school

[Sammiegurl87]

Hi,

I’m going to be starting nursing school in the fall at southern Maine Community College. I just was wondering if there’s anything i can do to prepare? I just got my CNA license and getting all my life responsibilities in order but is there anything else I can do or study? I even look over recent health news to stay informed.

Thank you so much for any advice!

[Serhilda, ADN, RN]

I'm assuming you've already taken pharmacology, correct? If so, I'd start off by making flashcards of the top 50 most common meds. That'll help you early on and throughout your nursing career. Don't forget to relax and enjoy time with your loved ones. It'll be a while before you have as much free time again.

Oh and if you don't have a planner yet, I'd buy one. Once you get a syllabus and schedule, write down all your exam times and dates on there as well as project due dates.

Best of luck.

[mindofmidwifery, ADN]

I would get a job utilizing your CNA license, make sure you get all your vaccinations, make sure you know basic anatomy and physiology, and make sure you know how you're going to pay for school.

[BookishBelle]

You can start watching some nursing YouTube videos like registered rn and maybe reading up on some health issues either online (i like medical news today) or get a year old nursing textbook. The CNA thing should be very helpful seeing how hospitals actually work. I wish I had done that.

And then clean up your garage and did some fun things with friends and start working out. Much less free time in nursing school.

[EmDash]

Personally, the main things I think would have helped me going into the program were reviewing A&P again and learning some medical prefixes, suffixes, and root words (which is helpful in figuring out medical terms that you may run into for the first time on, say, a test). Maybe making up quick little study sheets for each system, going over the basic functions and such, so I had something to constantly refer back to.

If you really want to be even more prepared, you could also always try to find something that discusses strategies for answering NCLEX-style questions.

Otherwise, I wouldn't sit there and try to learn too much beforehand, especially actual nursing topics since it can change or your program could teach it differently than what you read.

[BarrelOfMonkeys, BSN, RN]

I think all the above posts are brilliant. I’d only add two things:

1. getting familiar with your college campus and what’s offered and study spaces, where departments are, etc if you’re not already familiar.

2. What I had done before each semester is retrieve my books as soon as available and start looking up extra free resources (apps, question banks, etc) on their websites for those books. It helped me a lot as it provided more information to help me better prepare and retain information.

Good luck!

[JKL33]

Your time would be best spent by working and earning what money you can while you have no other major responsibilities like nursing school. Put away/save as much as you can.

Making wise financial moves will affect so many of your life choices including those you make about future employment.

Best wishes ~

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

Get a job as a CNA, and save money to invest in a nice computer, and maybe a vacation during the summer. The more positive your mind is when you start, the easier it'll be.