Tips for Surviving the 1st Semester of Nursing School

[ArrowRN]

I can't believe I made it through finals week and my first semester of nursing school is done. I was totally exhausted with several days of 3 hours of sleep and 5 straight exams. Anyways I'm like a straight B student, that's not bad considering I have a family and lots of distractions at home...for me that not where I usually am, so I wanted to offer up some tips on how to survive the first semester of nursing school.

1. READ your books.

This is probably the most annoying thing especially for those like me who learn visually or auditory, so I ended up having to rewrite my notes ( because highlighting does not work for me), and reading out loud.

2. Buy an NCLEX book and start using it now!

Some might not like this idea, but nursing questions suck because all the answers are viable and getting an NCLEX book in your first semester will help you get past the shock phase of those crazy critical thinking questions for those who are more fact-based learners like myself.

3. Be outspoken.

I think it's no secret by now that almost all nursing instructors highly favor students who are extroverts and who talk a lot. Being an introvert did not help me out much. My clinical instructors said I'm too shy to be a nurse when I really have no problem talking in front crowds, I'm just quiet and that's how God made me. If you are quiet like me, make it a point to be extra loud and outspoken especially to your clinical instructor and always volunteer to be the first to try new skills...just trust me on this.

4. Get a good calendar.

Be it an online calendar or old fashioned one, it is needed cause you won't be able to remember all the dates and commitment you have for assignment deadlines.

5. Start projects early.

Go into each class schedule on the first day of class and find all your big papers and start drafting them. Do a little each week so you won't be overwhelmed especially with the time-consuming task of finding evidence-based research.

6. Nursing students Don't get sick.

Ok apparently nursing students are not allowed to get sick, I had a long sick weekend and missed a few assignment deadlines one week and missed 1 day of class for being sick...next thing I'm being called into the nursing office as they question my motives for being a nurse. Anyways...as long as you not in a casket...drag yourself to school, it's better for them to send you home than to call in sick.

7. Say goodbye to life as you know it.

The boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, dog, cat and pet rats will need to understand that you are in nursing school. This means you basically don't have a life and won't be seeing much of them...ok they won't understand but they will try to. Just be patient with the transition of the school life, it is not easy and many relationships do not survive this test.

Finally good luck to those who will be entering their first semester in summer and Fall. I know it's an exciting time. Got some tips of your own? Please add them to this post, I need all the help I can get as I move into semester 2.

Get youtextbookok early and start reading

[Rexjackiec]

Hey student nurses if you still reading this I'm just excited today to announce I passed my NCLEX-RN and i'm now a RN, BSN. If I can so can you. Try to be consistent during nursing school and don't fall behind. These tips still stands up today and it is how you started really sets you going in the right direction. I post to the NCLEX forum on study tips some time soon. And as my initial post said, I was just an average student. You got this! Be Blessed!

Awesome!! Congrats.

[polysuazo]

Hey student nurses if you still reading this I'm just excited today to announce I passed my NCLEX-RN and i'm now a RN, BSN. If I can so can you. Try to be consistent during nursing school and don't fall behind. These tips still stands up today and it is how you started really sets you going in the right direction. I post to the NCLEX forum on study tips some time soon. And as my initial post said, I was just an average student. You got this! Be Blessed!

Yayyyy congrats! Your post is so encouraging! I'm on week 7 of my first semester, still a long way to go for me.

[gracehope26, ASN, BSN, RN]

Your post is quite encouraging. So far, I'm in week 7 of my first semester also. So far, I'm doing pretty good. But fundamentals. OMG, that's just a mountain of its own. So, far, I've failed my first two exams. I have no idea what to do. My whole class is failing. Any suggestions?

[bsnursingstudent]

Congrats on finishing school & passing the Nclex:up:

Thanks for all the advice. I'm getting ready to start my BSN program so I am reading all the tips I can on AN. I will be juggling being a wife, mother & student. Everyones advice is VERY much appreciated.

[kelseyg0127]

Hey student nurses if you still reading this I'm just excited today to announce I passed my NCLEX-RN and i'm now a RN, BSN. If I can so can you. Try to be consistent during nursing school and don't fall behind. These tips still stands up today and it is how you started really sets you going in the right direction. I post to the NCLEX forum on study tips some time soon. And as my initial post said, I was just an average student. You got this! Be Blessed!

Congratulations! And thank you for starting this thread. Crazy to see how far back it goes, this is my first time seeing it. I start school in January. I'm very excited and will definitely use the tips everyone posted here!

[Rexjackiec]

Congrats! I'm starting the program in Jan. And need all the help I can get! Love this post, although I have seen some conflicting info, I will take it all in stride.. good luck to everyone

[sasasa25]

Congratulations! so proud of u, also thank you for your tips. I will be start my first semester on coming this spring. I need to study fundamental of nursing and microbiology class on same time, is it bad idea to do that? What I can do? Any suggestion?

[ArrowRN, BSN, RN]

Microbiology is a very involved class and can be daunting to pass. Fundamental is not difficult but its just a lot of information to absorb in a short time. I'd suggest completing all prereqs prior to nursing school because once you start it very little time for anything else. If you already got acepted without micro, thats good just try to get the mivro text now and start working on chapters in advance. If you know who the micro instructor will be email them and request a syllabus so you know what to read. Ive done that before and the instructor provided it to me.

[sasasa25]

Thank you for your advice. Yes, I got accepted in the program without microbiology. Now I start to reading microbiology textbook to prepare my class but I still feel nervous.

[laurenbianca10]

I could go on forever but I just finished my first semester and this is what worked for me and maybe some of these things will for you :)

- be open to new kinds of learning. I stuck with just "reading and writing" cause that's how I learned in my previous courses; however I kept an open mind and began watching more videos, making charts, etc this activates different a part of your brain engaging in the learning process.

-go to office hours! Before and after tests. Even if you do well, see where your weak areas are.

-get sleep! Sounds obvious but it makes all the more of a difference when you have long days ahead of you!

-seek help from students further in the program and see what made them successful and their study habits!

-make time for yourself! Workout, friends, beach, whatever floats your boat but give yourself some "me" time.

- do not compare yourself to others! I caught myself doing this so much, there are always going to be students who don't study and do better. Do not compare yourself, you are great!

-study weekends! Even if it's just a few hours...it goes a long way!

-read before class and take notes.

- do practice questions along the way of studying! This helps you learn how "nursing questions" are formatting cause they are a different world!

[laurenbianca10]

In clinical, volunteer for everything && anything! Don't be scared. You are there to learn and take advantage of your time there! It's a great experience!

Study with people who study just as hard and no more than 3 people if you can help it :)

Good luck to you!

[namira_spots]

Hey! This might be too late but yes you can upload pretty much anything on Dropbox. I have some movies and music on mine as well as a backup of my laptop files. It's free :-)