1st Year Mentor Needed: Apply Here

Thank you so much! That's wonderful to hear!

I look forward to collaborating, as well, with others that may need help. It's a wonderful site.

I was pretty active in the TEAS V Exam threads over the summer, helping to answer questions those taking it after me had. I love the nurturing, mentoring environment you have created!

Make it a great day!

Second semester ADN nursing student here. I've lurked on this site for years but never created an account.

I would love to provide tips and suggestions to you, I wish I had someone to guide me through my first semester. Here are some brief tips for right now:

1. Begin right now getting everything organized and prepared. You are going to want a separate folder for each class and lab component, as well as one for your portfolio of clinical work. Buy a day book or make use of your smarthphone to extensively detail when assignments are due.

2. Create a class Facebook group for your cohort. Make it private, invite only. This has been by far the most helpful method of collaborating. You will find that people will give each other reminders, answer questions, and generally provide each other support. It has helped me immensely.

3. Create a group Dropbox. This is an online folder which can allow your cohort to share any documents related to the program. The folder is big enough to store plenty of files and each person in your group can have a subfolder. It is also free.

4. Forget creating old-school flash cards. You can create cards online at flashcardmachine.com, not only are they able to be shared between your group, you can also access them via smartphone.

5. Review physiology which you feel unfamiliar with. If you understand the basis of body functions it will help you so much to be able to make an educated guess. I feel that my physiology class is the one class which really prepared me for nursing school.

There are so many other things I can list but I feel like these are a good start. If you would like to talk more PM me, I'd love to share more info regarding my experience in first semester.

This thread is very helpful to me as well. I will be starting a BSN program in August and I'm anxious to get started but nervous too. Alobar, your advice is going to help me too. Right now I'm trying to decide if I should take on the program part time or full time. My hubby and I have 3 kids so I want to make sure I'm able to balance family and school.

It is a hard decision to make. If you can do part-time I would suggest that. All of my classmates are stressing themselves to the bone, especially those who have kids and/or work. It is a difficult decision to make, but most people don't have the option of part-time. I would advise to do part-time, the stories are true, nursing school is very hard. You'll find that it will be quite an adjustment from your previous college courses. I had a 4.0 GPA coming in to nursing school (having completed 90+ units), and last semester I was very happy to get a B.

Hi all!

I am very excited yet, pretty anxious about starting nursing school. I start Jan. 9, 2013. I'm not exactly sure what to expect because my school has changed its curriculum to a 5 semester program from a 4 semester program.

Just wondering if there are any 1st or 2nd year students out there that would like to be a mentor/sounding board/counselor, etc. to a brand new nursing student. It will be rewarding to know that you are helping another fellow nursing student along their journey (and many others that will read these posts).

Feel free to start off by stating your class standing, nursing semester and 1,2 or 3 pitfalls and tips (great ideas, effective time management, etc.) a student should know about nursing school.

Thanks so much, I really do appreciate. I also believe that you will be rewarded for your good deeds!

Best wishes to you all and looking forward to getting to know you all!

Does your school have a mentor program? If not, I'd suggest one. Those are the best mentors people who have been through exactly what you're going through with the same teachers, same hospital sites, same books etc etc. good luck. You're in for a wild ride!

Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate them! I am now 1.5 months into my first semester in nursing. @Lolita34 I too am a non traditional with 3 kids and it is crazy!! This semester I only have 8 nursing credits and I study, read, prep for class/lab about 6-8+ hours 7 days a week. I am just taking a break right now, as it is Sunday at 9:43 and have been doing school work since 7:15 am.

I appreciate all the items @Alobar listed. We have one classmate who has taken the lead and has pretty much done everything you suggested (FB page, Quizlet e-index cards, etc.) except for Dropbox. I will bring that up to my classmate. I always have been and still am very organized, planner, day planned out with what needs to be done, so that's something you definitely need in nursing school.

I came into the program with a 3.97, and I've already had my 2 first exams...no longer getting straight As, the Bs have started to creep in but we were warned by our caring instructors that A students would probably become B students..so I will have to get over the need for As, pretty quickly (I think I've done that now!)

Although it is a lot of work and stress...I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to do this, especially at this stage of my life.

Best wishes to all!!