I think it definitely helps to stay ahead..I'll admit this semester I haven't been as much as I should, because the amount of materiel to learn gets so overwhelming/stressful at times..I feel like as soon as I'm just *beginning* to almost master something - we're already onto learning something else! A lot of it begins to "click" (I guess) during clinical when I can actually SEE and assess for myself..but even that is hard to do at this point because we're only there for a few hrs per week..but I know we're still students..lots of the nurses have told me during clinical that you don't ever REALLY get it till your actually working as a nurse, your 1st year..so I'm hoping that will happen for me when I'm finally on my first job!! n that someday I'll be confident enough, knowledgeable and not second guess myself so often.. Thanx for replying/n your advice :)..I was hoping that I wasn't alone in feeling this way!!! Good luck to you :)