What do you wish you were told on the first day?

[AOx1]

What do you wish you were told on the first day? My students have already been through orientation, but I would love to find some great ways to break the ice and to encourage them. I want them to know that if they work hard, they can succeed. What have you been told that was helpful/encouraging? What do you wish you had been told?

[criticalRN10]

it ended up long again anyway. lol ahh nursing school I have so much to say about it!

[CBsMommy]

This shouldn't have to be said but I wish it was said on my first day of class. We are all adults. The learning that you do, or don't do, will impact YOU and ONLY YOU. It is up to each individual to pass this class and the work that YOU put into it, is what YOU will get out of it.

I wish my instructors would also go into their background a little more, like they were an OB nurse for 20 years and not just a nurse for 20 years. Then I could've picked out the people to actually answer the questions regarding their area of expertise, if that makes sense.

[ShannonRN2010, BSN, RN]

It's easier to study for the NCLEX all along, than it is to do it at the end. Same with the HESI, if you incorperate HESI and NCLEX into your study plan, it will be so much easier on you.

[cpkRN]

We are all adults. The learning that you do, or don't do, will impact YOU and ONLY YOU. It is up to each individual to pass this class and the work that YOU put into it, is what YOU will get out of it.

This is what I try to live by. We mentor our incoming classes and I use the same line: This is YOUR educational experience and NOBODY else's. It's up to you to make it what it is.

Something I have to continually tell myself because I'm guilty of letting it affect me is: Don't let your classmates get to you in ANY way. Don't allow them to talk down to you, talk over you when it's your turn, or boss you around. When people are being competitive, they have no concept of teamwork. Take a deep breath and keep swimming through it for YOU. Some competition is healthy. The level seen in nursing school can be downright scary and some people just don't understand that it's not a competition. On that note, some of the best advice given to me while I was sobbing over this in an instructor's office was, "your GPA isn't on your nursing license."

Along the same topic: learn relaxation for the times when people get to you. There are going to be countless times where you don't agree that a classmate decided to take up an extra hour of class time by talking about their experiences with whatever illness is on today's syllabus. There will, undoubtedly, be someone who thinks they know more than the instructor and will argue incessantly with them over a test. That's when you close your eyes and just breathe.

Don't be afraid to speak up. If a test question is wrong, hopefully you have the freedom to prove it! We're able to argue test questions as long as we can back it up with solid, written proof (book or lecture notes). Again, don't argue just because you don't like your grade.

You have to find a release somewhere: exercise, an occasional drink, staring at the TV, etc. I value my grades but I value my sanity more. Taking a night away once a week is not impossible, and I'm in an ABSN program.

Scare tactics only go so far. I heard them at the CC I was going to attend but haven't heard them used at the University I ulimately decided upon. What I have heard is that we're smart and it was noted that we all had high GPAs but nursing school is different - a high GPA isn't impossible, but don't beat yourself up if those numbers don't "add up" like you're used to after your nursing exams. I don't think anyone believes this until they experience it though. I used to think, "yeah right, I'm keeping my 4.0." The laugh is on me now . I don't think there's really any way for instructors to make students understand that one.

Ah, this was therapeutic!

[MPKH, BSN, RN]

Be prepared to work your butts off for the next few years.

[pednursedeb]

I wish I'd been told organization comes with time and don't be afraid to ask questions.

The other thing is nurses are going to vent at work. So you get there and you here how bad their day was yesterday and you are asking yourself if you want to do this.

I do complain about my bad days, but I also love what I do.

Don't be a scared little mouse in the corner like I was or so over confident the nurses are talking behind your back.

Always want to learn, even if you've done it before. I can't tell you how many student nurses I've asked if they want to go with me to put in a foley or start an IV or something and they say "I've already done that".

If you are all caught up offer to do something even if it is something like change a bed. You will be remembered and will be the one who gets asked to do new things or someone will take you under their wing and save your hide if needed.

We have to work together or we don't survive. Thats why our unit works so well together. If I'm running behind someone saves me and hopefully I save someone when they are running behind to help them get caught up reguardless to what small task it might be.

I'm getting off topic here, but to an above topic about the CNA I've had fellow nurses who knew I was behind in charting to tell me to keep charting and they would go clean a pt up for me so I could catch up.

If you are not willing to work like that then you don't need to be a nurse.

[KeithT66]

Many of the above are true. Remember this is NOT high school. You are paying for your education now. My best advice would be make sure you do the reading. I just graduated but BARELY. I worked full time on top of it so I can cut my self some slack. Bottom line is I passed. My biggest mistake was not reading the chapters.

When you are on the floor do what ever you can. Even if you are in your 2nd year tell the nurses and the UAPs you will help with what ever they want you to. I did and it seemed to earn their respect - then when there was something like a foley or other procedure - they would come get me to either observe or participate. They are also quicker to help you with questions or things like that. Lastly - there is always one person in the class who thinks they know it all or want to tell their personal stories. If the professor doesnt squash it early - it will continue. If you have to interupt so that you can get your question answered. DONT be afraid to ask. These classes are nothing like the college pre-reqs you took - NOTHING - They are brutal. Start studying your lab values now and memorize them. If you dont its going to come back to haunt you. There are soooo many questions on exams that you can only answer if you know your labs. Do math questions through out the semester not just at the beginnng and never touch them again. If you dont practice - you will forget or find them difficult when they come up. And good luck - not all of you new folks will make it. We lost half of our class by the end of the 2 years. YOU CAN DO IT - but you have to sacrifice a lot of your personal life.

[hiphopRN]

1. Go to a bookstore and look through the NCLEX books they have. Find one that works for you with its format and layout. Preferably one that has rationales for right and wrong answers so you can understand why something is right or wrong. Don't just buy an NCLEX book because someone else says its the best. Buy one (or two) that work for you and the way you learn.

2. DO PRACTICE QUESTIONS. ALL THE TIME. EVERYDAY. Doing NCLEX style questions is the only way you will learn how to answer them. Some teachers even use practice books to help them write their exam questions. Not copying from the book but the format or idea of the question.

3. The only person that will get you through the program is yourself. You can work with study groups and things but in the end it all comes down to how well you understand and process the information thats been given to you. If you don't understand something, ASK. Don't be afraid to meet with instructors or other students if it will help YOU learn it better.

4. The instructors are there to help you. But if you get one instructor mad at you, you often end up with many of them mad at you. Be nice to the instructors and they will be nice to you.

5. If you need scholarships or are going for a super competitive internship then maybe you might need a higher GPA, but usually just make sure you get that 75 or whatever the benchmark is you need and be happy about it. The GPA won't matter once you pass the NCLEX, just make sure your low GPA doesn't mean you don't know the information well enough to pass.

[birdcage]

Important things for nursing students to know:

- nursing students MUST adapt quickly to new situations not challenge them

- find a study group right away

- listen to the instructor, not the know-it-all students

- accept the fact that nursing courses are designed to be different than other courses

- grades DO matter but they are not the most important thing

There things I wish my instructors knew, also:

- if you have a rule, enforce it strictly. There are too many students who want to push you around to get what they want. And many times, all they want is to make you look like a fool.

- limit off-topic or inappropriate discussion. 2 or 3 minutes is enough. Students pay for education and there is never enough class time anyway.

- be available as a mentor. I know that instructors are even busier than students, but the best instructors I had were the ones that offered me advice and spoke with me 1:1. Those personal conversations helped me overcome or avoid many problems.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

1. To learn about I&O. I had no idea what it was when I had my first patient at our local hospital on my first day in my clinical rotation. I was forced to ask someone there what it meant, and felt like such a dummy, and was completely embarrassed when I was told.

2. That some of the staff puts the students down, but other staff thinks you are one of them. That happened to me with 2 RNs.

3. That the student has to stand for the staff at meetings

4. That the care plans are really research papers to teach us how the patient's care is related to her/ his diagnosis.

5. That some classmates will isolate us.

6. That we will be taking written exams in the clinical area at times.

7. That some classmates will not stick by us but will report us for things we aren't guilty of, and we already know about. The problem was that I was already an EMT, and was experienced in taking NCLEX type exams, and knew about how to do patient assessments, and I think they were looking for me to make a mistake even though I didn't brag about what I knew. I didn't dare.

8. That I was going to have an army nurse as one of my instructors. When she said, "Jump!" we had to ask, "How high?" Maybe it's a good thing I didn't know that ahead of time or I may not have gone to that school even though I did get a full scholarship. The other instructor was much more organized and so much friendlier.

I got discouraged many times. In fact, I was so over stressed, my daughter gave me a funny movie to watch one night and suggested I watch it instead of studying. I took her advice, and was I ever glad I did because it got me through the semester.

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

I care deeply about my students.

Yes you do. I can tell that by your posts, and this thread that you started. Thank you. Like you, my experience was a bad one too. I will mention more about that in the earlier post. I didn't mention it in the earlier post, but I began nursing school as a second career, and was 54 years old. I think that's why I was discriminated against by my classmates, many of whom had just graduated from high school.

[mariposabella]

Great advice everyone!! I'm just a little lost on how tests are in nursing school. If all the answers are right how do you choose the best one?