WANTED: Nursing student tidbits of advice

[KellRrn2b]

hey guys,

I start this fall in my nursing program and Im extremely anxious!!! Im looking for any advice that will help me in school. Whats the thing you can NOT live w/o during nursing school? What was the best study method for you? Index cards, recorders, palm pilots? What should I take to clinicals? I know you all were anxious when u started!!!

thanks guys

p.s. ....im hoping this will end up being a HUGE thread that other anxious students can read

[ShantheRN, BSN, RN]

wow. Im soooo happy this thread has helped so many people. A year ago I started this thread right before I started nursing school. This thread meant the world to me. Nursing school has been hard. Even though everyone will state that it is difficult and will take over your life i was STILL surprised at how true that statement was. But i made it...and so will you all.

:yeah::yeah:CONGRATS to everyone just accepted into nursing school. Buckle up for the ride of your life. There will be ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments. But its all so worth it :-)

Can you believe it's been a whole year?? I remember you starting this. I was so skeered of it all and now I'm ready to graduate Time flies when you're stressed and cramming your brain full of info!

[twois]

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread... there has been a lot of great advice and words of wisdom in here! You guys are all amazing. I can't wait to start my ABSN program next month.

I wanted to add one small thing especially for my fellow iPhone and iTouch addicts - there are a lot of great flashcard apps out there which let you take your flash cards with you electronically, saving a lot of paper, a lot of hand cramps writing them all out, and a lot of time (if you type faster than you write, which I definitely do).

I'm absolutely devoted to a Mac program called Mental Case that lets you create/organize/study flash cards, and has an iPhone app for $5 or so that works with it... but even if you don't wanna shell out for the Mac-side program, or are using another operating system, you can always create flashcard sets at flashcardexchange.com and import them into the iPhone app. When you study with it, you can tell it whether or not you knew the information on the card, and it uses an intelligent algorithm to bring your 'missed' cards up more frequently until you're consistently reporting that you know them.

Also, you don't have to worry about taking your flash cards with you... you ALWAYS have them right there on your phone/iPod to review for a few minutes while you wait for something when you're out. And you can study hands-free that way if you just do a "slideshow" instead of the interactive way, which is good for the gym.

Long story short, I started using it for my pre-reqs, and it absolutely revolutionized the way I study... in a really, really good way. I'd really recommend giving it a try or investigating similar flashcard apps.

[sch1109]

Bump :)

[XtinaS]

@tvccrn2009 your post was just what I needed to hear! I know I am a little behind on the times, but Congratulations on graduating! I am always a little apprehensive on what to expect in nursing school, but your post really gave me some advice on how to keep the path straight in the program. I definitely want to print your post out and hang it on my bulletin board for day to day reminding.

:) XtinaS

[microtutor]

Thank you so much to all who posted here. I benefitted enormously from reading it, and it definitely eases my anxiety about entering school in the Fall.

My "to get" list just got a lot longer though! LOL

[beth66335, BSN, RN]

wow. Im soooo happy this thread has helped so many people. A year ago I started this thread right before I started nursing school. This thread meant the world to me. Nursing school has been hard. Even though everyone will state that it is difficult and will take over your life i was STILL surprised at how true that statement was. But i made it...and so will you all.

:yeah::yeah:CONGRATS to everyone just accepted into nursing school. Buckle up for the ride of your life. There will be ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments. But its all so worth it :-)

I see by the date on this you are just about to graduate, has last semester been fun for you? I loved my last semester, beginning to feel like a real nurse and doing a lot more hands on stuff so I hope it's been that way for you too! I am about to celebrate the end of my 1st year in nursing and it has also had ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments as well as very treasured moments! Good luck to all of you still waiting to begin, just ending the first year, or about to join the ranks of the graduated!:heartbeat:nurse::heartbeat

[Southern Magnolia]

I'm not in NS yet. Have nothing to add but am half way done reading this thread and want to make sure I can find it again.

[Southern Magnolia]

When I start clinicals, I'm going to try an idea I came up with recently. I tend to run hot/cold at random times, and I never quite know what to wear. So instead of wearing a longsleeved shirt under my scrub top (if you're too hot you have to leave, find a room to change in, take it off, store it, put your scrubs back on, blah blah blah), I got a pair of knee-high socks. I'm going to chop the feet off, hem the cut end, and just wear them as sleeves. Then if I get too hot, I can whip them off and just stash them in a pocket. We're supposed to wear our jackets, but if I find I'm too cold even with that, I can pop my sleeves back on and be on my merry way.

Oh, and I registered for a hooping class because unless there's a grade attached to it, I wouldn't spend any time exercising. I figure an hour a week isn't enough but it's more than I'd get otherwise.

I know this is old but if anyone else comes across this and decides to try it there is a much easier way. Look on the web for arm warmers. Cyclists and runners wear them.