What would you suggest???

[lascofield]

Hi there... So I'm a BRAND NEW nursing student. I'm very excited to be back in school and working towards my dream of becoming an RN. At the age of thirty four, it's a little intimidating coming back to school. I have my personal challenges (as we ALL do), single mom with two kids. For those of you who are ahead of me in this process, what advice could you give me to get through all this without going crazy?!?! I keep hearing how hard Nursing School is...What were some of your biggest challenges and how did you over come them? I'm currently in an Academic Strategies class and this last week we had to record how we were spending our time. Boy, do I need to work on time management...I'm guessing that's one of the keys to success! Thanks for taking the time to read this and GOOD LUCK to you!

[shoegalRN, RN]

I was 33 when I attended nursing school and 35 when I finished. I am also a single mother of a 13 year old (who was 11 when I started). The biggest challenge for me was time management. I couldnt manage my time for the life of me, but it got better as time went on.

I would suggest getting a schedule and STICKING TO IT! Include everything in it, housework, time with the kids, time to study, time for yourself, time for friends and family, time to workout, time to eat, etc. You get the picture. This is the only way I got through nursing school.

Now, some of the material was a DIFFERENT story!

[PanchoVilla]

Congratulations on getting into the program. It is definitely a challenge, but a manageable one that you will no doubt be able to succeed in. I myself just got into a nursing program, and I find one of the best ways to succeed is to surround yourself with hardworking intelligent people (of which I'm sure there are plenty of), but that will no doubt come in handy when you are feeling tired or want to procrastinate. The support and camaraderie of our peers can no doubt be a big motivator, and building unity and rapport with fellow nursing students can give a person that much more incentive to succeed.

I took a Medical Assistant course prior to this, and that particular class was not only very successful due to our close-knit friendships, but our teachers said that they had enjoyed teaching us more than any other student classes in recent memory. We always reached out to others before a test or big project to help each other study because we truly wanted to all graduate together. Building that teamwork is vital in any group endeavor, and makes the long lectures and dry material go by that much faster

Good luck, I hope everything works out.