Some advice for a new Student Nurse!!!!

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Hey Guys!!!! I just wanted to let the allnurses community know that I, at 18 years old, got into Nursing School at a local community college!!!!!!! I am so psyched I do not know what to do. I would appreciate any helpful advice/ tips for study during school and being able to manage being in nursing school with the other things we are responsible for in life. Thanks!!!! Again I am very excited!!!!!!:D:D:D:up::specs::specs::specs::up::yelclap::yelclap::yelclap:

Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

All of your comments are very helpful. I hope I do well, I am confident I can. I have been practicing not having a life for a while bcase I've been working fulltime as a CNA at my local hospital and going to school fulltime, while aiding my grandmother in whatever she needs help with as she works fulltime and cares for her siblings as well. I am sure that not having a life while in nursing school is much different than not having one outside of it though. And I know it's much harder too. I really hope to get a grip on organization and time management skills while in nursing school. Also I want to be sure not to procrastinate as I sometimes do that now. I, again, truly appreciate all of your comments, please keep them coming.

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Possible, yes... the 'norm'? No.

The majority of high school programs these days are NOTHING like college, and do not adequately prepare students with the appropriate study skills.

And for what it's worth, I work an average of 30 hours a week and tend a family in addition to my nursing school experience. I consider my younger classmates at a distinct advantage when they talk about living with Mom and Dad and having no kids. However, the majority of the 18-20 year old students (in my small program) try to maintain a highly social life and then struggle with exams because they're used to the way it worked in high school.

Yes, everyone is different...

seriously? this has nothing to do with you working 30 hours a week and taking care of your family. this has nothing to do about how it was in high school. this is about a young poster being excited about nursing school, and I'm just trying to give the young poster hope and tell her that it's possible to still enjoy things in life while and nursing school... instead of telling her to "kiss her social life goodbye" this is me trying to be a positive poster and instill hope.

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Specializes in cardiac.

congrats!

here is what i did to get through it....

make some friends and form a study group. that group will pretty much be your social life for a few years. we would go out to eat and talk nursing, then hit the bookstore and talk nursing, then sit in the libarary and talk nursing... you get the point...

yes nursing will be your life! get used to it now. also understand that you may not get an a on everything. in my program you needed 800 points out of 1000 to pass the semester. sometimes you might just get by with 800 or 801. but guess what, no one cares what your grades are when you get hired. they just want a competent nurse who can get the job done!

get to know your professors and have your clinical instructors write you a letter of recommendation/reference after each rotation. hang on to these, they will come in handy when its time to apply for jobs.

pick up some nclex books, i really like the ones that have questions divided up into different topics. use those to help you study for each test, its a good way to check your understanding of the content and also helps prepare for nclex.

get a good recorder, one where you can get your lectures on your computer so u can put them on your ipod. that way you can listen to lectures in the car or while working out. and yes try to make time to get some exercise, it is good stress relief, plus most people tend to gain weight during nursing school.

most importantly, don't forget to spend at least 30 mins each day having me time. i know nursing school gets overwheleming and it is your life, but to keep some sanity spend a little time each day to do something fun that you like. for me it was reading a book for fun or watching a tv show. just something to unwind a little.

good luck, you can get through it just like all the rest of us have!

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Specializes in Cardiology and ER Nursing.

The best advice I can give is to show up and do what you are told.

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Specializes in MedSurg, Clinic, ER.
seriously? this has nothing to do with you working 30 hours a week and taking care of your family. this has nothing to do about how it was in high school. this is about a young poster being excited about nursing school, and I'm just trying to give the young poster hope and tell her that it's possible to still enjoy things in life while and nursing school... instead of telling her to "kiss her social life goodbye" this is me trying to be a positive poster and instill hope.

Sounds as though you took my post personally.

This poster is fresh out of high school. Sugar coat it and call it hope, but I'm sure you can find plenty of anecdotal evidence supporting the fact that very few people come out of high school prepared for the nursing school experience. I offered my experience the same way you did. Just because mine is different does not make it any less reality than your exceptional experience (outside of the norm based on my observations and posts on this thread)...

I did not tell him to kiss his social life goodbye... I said commit to having none and then there is less disappointment and more enjoyment when the opportunity rolls around.

Hope is good... realistic outlook is also good.

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Specializes in MedSurg, Clinic, ER.
All of your comments are very helpful. I hope I do well, I am confident I can. I have been practicing not having a life for a while bcase I've been working fulltime as a CNA at my local hospital and going to school fulltime, while aiding my grandmother in whatever she needs help with as she works fulltime and cares for her siblings as well. I am sure that not having a life while in nursing school is much different than not having one outside of it though. And I know it's much harder too. I really hope to get a grip on organization and time management skills while in nursing school. Also I want to be sure not to procrastinate as I sometimes do that now. I, again, truly appreciate all of your comments, please keep them coming.

This is a good thing... you're already at an advantage over a good deal of young people your age entering college programs! Just keep your focus and you will reap the rewards in 2 years. Sounds like a long time, but it goes by really fast! Congrats again!You can do this!

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Hey congrats on your acceptance! I'm a junior (about to be a senior!) in a BSN program, and I have a few tips for you!

- Make sure you have a planner to write everything down in!!

- Read ahead of time for class

- Practice your skills a lot! Don't be like some people and go in the day before you're testing out and it doesn't work well. Know the skills inside and out.

- Always take opportunities in clinical to practice skills, even if you are scared. I regret missing out on chances because of my nerves. Once you do a skill on a real live patient once, it'll stick with you. And once you see a medical condition in a patient, you will know that condition a lot better.

- Trust me, you will have time for a social life, but it just changes a little bit. I'll do my homework at the dining room table so I can talk with my roommates, or study for a test when I'm watching Jersey Shore with my friends. I always have time to hang out on the weekend nights and I work ten hours a week and I manage. It's just realizing that you may not be able to go get ice cream with your friends at ten o'clock at night when you have clinical the next day. It's about turning some invites down but remembering to not ditch your friends too. If you can sit on Facebook and bum around for an hour, you have time to see a friend for an hour and that's better than an hour of being on the Internet wasting your time! :)

- Learn meds, they will always come back and haunt you

- Don't ever be afraid to ask questions because you have lives in your hands!

- Eat healthy and make time for exercise (you shouldn't feel guilty about taking the time but if you do bring a notebook and study for class)

- Make friends in class (but don't ditch your other friends outside of class - you'll have times where you don't want to talk about nursing at all)

- Have fun! Nursing is a blast!

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My best advice is to search on AN and look for old posts by Daytonite. Though she is no longer with us, a small part of her amazing wisdom is archived here. Also, don't be afraid to reach out for help when you need it.

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Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.

Congrats on your acceptance. Nursing school is great but you are smart to plan for it now. A few suggestions:

  • It is important before starting nursing school to really understand how you learn best. If you are one of those people who never had to study much before, you may not really know how to study things that do not come as easily. You could look for information about learning styles online, from your high school or nursing school advisor, or from a book. (Taping lectures did not work for me - I do not learn well auditorily but some do. My study partner liked to study at coffeeshops. She would remember things by what was going on around us when we discussed something -"Remember, the guy in that ugly green shirt walked by when we were talking about acid/base balance." To each his own- just know what yours is.)

  • Finding the right study partner/group can be invaluble. I never liked doing that before nursing school but had a great study partner I studied with regularly and a group that met to study for tests. We did not just read through the power points; we discussed things in detail - ie how do the kidneys help regulate blood pressure. We would have a lot of books out - A&P, pathophysiology, nursing texts, etc and refer to them. We would use a white board to draw diagrams, etc. It is important that everyone in the group have the same level of dedication to studying, otherwise everyone gets frustrated (either because people are way too serious or because they are goofing around).

  • Get help early if you are struggling. Ask your instructors, other students, get tutoring - whatever it takes.

  • As others have said, go to class every day. Be on time, be prepared.

Again, congrats on getting into the program. You have a lot to look forward to.

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Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

Just wanted let you guys know I made it through the notorious first semester and Am finishing my second. It is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but I love NS!

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Aww...so proud of you!

I remember reading some of your posts from a couple of years ago, I believe you used to be an EKG tech or something along those lines.

I'm glad to hear you have successfully completed your first semester! So, have you gotten to clinicals yet?

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Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

We have gotten to clnicals. We started clinicals after 4 weeks of class during our first semester and started them this semester after one week if returning. I am actually caring for two patients now and am doing well. I start my third semester (there is a total of 5 in my ADN program) May 22nd! I can't wait!

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