What separates sucessful nursing students from the rest

[Valcorie34]

This is the time of year when many nursing programs start, students are gearing up, gossip about how many dont pass abound. It seems like the perfect time to start a thread about what makes some students sucessful while others dont make it.

What habits can new nursing students develop, or what charactoristics set them apart?

Is is soley organization and study skills, or the ability to roll with it. Perhaps in some progeams is it just keeping your head down and saying, "yes mam?"

What helped those already in or finished with school the most? Or what mistakes did you watch others make?

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

Having the ability to connect the dots is what will make you successful. A nursing program is unlike other undergraduate programs. You must be able to APPLY the information. For example, you receive a phone call from lab that your patient in room 4615 has a potassium level of 2.1…what do you do? What are some complications of low potassium? What will you anticipate the MD ordering and what will you do to make sure your patient safe? Memorizing the information is not enough. You have to be able to connect the patho with the low K level and utilize the nursing process to safe guard the patient. For what will you be assessing? What nursing intervention(s) will you incorporate?

I have had students who spent countless hours studying who did not pass. I have also had students who did not invest a great deal of time studying, but who perform very well on tests and were outstanding during clinicals.

[quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN]

Put things due on a calendar and then schedule your study time. Roll with the punches. Do not expect 100% on your grades. As was said before, passing the class becomes the objective. No one will ask what your grades in school were, just that you passed NCLEX and have a license. Also, form study groups. Others can give perspective that you may not have and help you to understand a difficult concept. Try different ways of studying to see what works best. Not all profs teaching styles are the same so what may work in one class my not work in the next one. Keep focused.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I think it's a mixture of tenacity, creativity, time management skills, and study skills that are appropriate to your personal learning style.

And finally, I'd hate to sound like a Negative Nancy...but a nursing student needs to have an average intelligence level. No matter how badly Auntie Lurleen wants to be a nurse, she will not achieve much academically with an IQ of 70.

[veggieLPN]

I think, as the original poster put, the ability to keep your head down and say "yes mam" is a big one. At the risk of sounding sterotypical, I want to say that I've seen a lot of promising young men kicked out of some programs due to their inability to do just this. That being said, a lot of nursing schools have rules that feel like they came from the 1950s and they expect everyone to act like a proper young lady despite the fact that their classrooms are filled with fiercely independent women and even (gasp) men.

I also agree with the poster who said "don't take it personally" and I'd like to take it one step further by saying "don't let it eat you up inside." Someone forced you to take the wedding ring you haven't taken off in 10 years, you got kicked out of class for smelling like cigarette smoke, kicked out of a clinical for wearing the wrong socks, you have a quiz coming up where all the "right" answers go against every moral fibre of your being. The good students not only say "yes, mam." They find a way to get over the anger, the blow to your self esteen, etc and come back the next day with the same attitude they did in the first week of class.

Successful nurses also go to the right nursing school for them. Atheist at a Catholic College? At a school where minorities are treated "different"? Social anxiety in a school where study groups and group projects are mandatory? Have a mood disorder, or are emotional/more sensitive than most and going to a scool where nursing students are known to be seen crying in the halls and lounges on a regular basis? Find out about your prospective school and if something big doesn't match with you, find another one. If you're already at one with a similar problem, transfer out to one that makes it easier for you to be successful.

Keep yourself mentally healthy, follow the rules, keep your head down and say "yes mam," don't take things personally, go to the right school for you and you will be successful.

(All the examples in this post come from my own experiences and those that I've witnessed with my classmates. I did not make them up.)

[JJ1994]

I think it's important to take responsibility for yourself. You have to accept your faults and work on them. Some of my classmates blame the professor for things they mess up because they didn't read the syllabus or didn't read the assignment. We're in college and we don't need everything spoon fed to us.

Also, put yourself first. It's nice to help your classmates when you can and everyone should be supportive of each other. But we have to take nclex alone and we're going to be competing against each other for jobs. Don't feel obligated to join study groups that don't help you just because others ask you to and don't get involved with the people who are known for being disrespectful.

Test taking skills are also very important. The material in nursing school isn't hard but the tests can be. Reading questions thoroughly and comprehending them is vital. If you understand the pathophysiology behind things, you can often figure out the answer.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

First, you have to be able to do the work. You don't have to be in mensa or anything, but you have to be able to grasp concepts. Being a nurse requires you to be on it and if takes you 20 minutes to do a dosage calculation, you are screwed. Or the patient may be screwed to better put it. Second, have a good work ethic. That comes to assignments and clinical. You need to be able to get your work done and study, but also show up to clinical on time, work hard while there, and be professional.

Today, I had a clinical orientation at my school. Brand new semester, new instructor. My head starting pounding last night and I got pretty much no sleep. I felt like crap this morning. I finally caved and took an excedrin but it upset my stomach. I sucked it up, got ready, made myself presentable and showed up my required 15 minutes early. We were told if your not 15 minutes early, you are late. I could have probably sent my instructor a text said I was ill and it only being orientation, being ok. And if I had a fever, I would have stayed home not wanting to get everyone sick. Seeing as how there were 31 of us in a cramped little conference room today. I made it through but I will tell you all of us in that room made it extremely hot and it did not help my situation at all. I came home, slept a couple of hours and am now cooking dinner. Moms don't get sick days and this darn kid wants food of all things today. I also didn't look like a wuss to the instructor this semester. Plus I got several questions answered. So it all worked out.

Being organized is also important. You are going in so many different directions each semester, it's hard to keep up with where you need to be on what day and what time. Plus, I'm a single mom who has to very carefully plan everything so my kid doesn't get left somewhere. A lesson I learned first semester.

Prioritizing. The house cleaning and laundry can wait until tomorrow. Having my school work done and turned in on time cannot. My child and his needs cannot. You have to decide what has to be done that day and what can wait until tomorrow. I've learned a little dust and dirt hasn't killed anyone and to have plenty of socks and underwear on hand in case I don't always get the laundry done on time. Hey, it happens.

I'm almost there. They are already starting to schedule some of the things we have to get done for graduation next May. We got an email today for pictures coming up soon. I realized it's not going to be very long until May gets here. I have not gotten below a B in any of my classes and I'm proud of that. I like to think the way I am doing things speaks for itself. But it's what works for me. What works for me is not the same as my 22 year old classmate who has no kids and still lives with their parents. And what works for me is not going to work for the married classmate with 5 kids. I only have to worry about me and my son. Occasionally my boyfriend, but we don't live together so I don't count that into the equation. It really all depends on what all you have to juggle.

[Julius Seizure]

Here is my advice, take it or leave it

Nursing school is not about what is fair or what anyone might owe you in your learning experience. Yes, hopefully things will generally work out well or at least break even for you but right now the goal is to get that degree so that hopefully you can find a career that allows you some freedom in your personal and professional life. But you aren't there yet.

Listen, learn, study and pass your classes, and just get through it one semester/one test/one paper at a time. You can always change the world later :)

[feelix, RN]

Your behaviors in nursing school are as important as your ability to cram. Believe me, they will throw you out on your behind with a 4.0 GPA for the following reasons: 1. Caught lying, 2. Caught cheating, 3. Embarrassing the school on clinical site, 4. Arriving under the influence of legal or illegal drugs, 5. Not following any directions given by your clinical instructor, 6. Becoming a safety hazard to anyone on the clinical site, 7. Getting into a verbal or physical fight, 8. Dressing inappropriately at clinical site 8. Expired CPR, or non compliance with medical testing or shots.

And it goes on and on.

[Gigi130901]

I just finish nursing school this last July 2015 and I'll say being organize is a big deal, also priotitazing what is important and what is not, disconecting facebook, whatapp is a big part because nursing program would consume most of your time. Getting a friend who is at your level or that want this as much as you do. Always setting up time to study by yourself and also time to study in a group, there is a bunch of resources for nursing students out there that you would not hear if it wasn't for friends and being positive all the time.

Always study for 150% and maybe you would get a 92% in your grade, study ahead of time (before the semester begins). ohh and something very important, build mental endurance doing questions, try to do 150 questions at least per day on your own on the subject you are studying, that way when you are doing a 80 question test you don't feel like your brain is on fire towards the end. Finally, pray to your higher power because it won't be easy but it is worth it. And that's the it, if you follow this steps you would graduate....