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10 Ways to Achieve Success in Nursing School
Beth Anderson | RN, BSN
1. Be Prepared
In your first semester of nursing school, the only way to be successful is to hit the ground running. The only way to hit the ground running is to be prepared. Make sure you’ve bought all the required books ahead of time. Make sure you have a plans in place to manage your time. Have kids? You better have a baby sitter you can count on. Have a spouse? Forewarn him or her that nursing school is a very time consuming process and you might not be as available to them as you were previously.
Make sure you have the school supplies that you need – A good backpack or suitcase (yes, I said a suitcase – those books can be heavy!) will be necessary. Load up on pens, highlighters, notepads. A good computer at home is also a necessity. You will also need a good calendar or date book to stay on track, which leads to number 2…
2. Stay Organized
Familiarize yourself with your course schedule and make plans for how you will fit time in for studying. Always maintain a “To do” list so you can keep your tasks prioritized. It’s good to find a place in your home where you will keep all of your nursing related gear, so you are less likely to lose or forget anything.
Stay organized in other parts of your life as well. When you go food shopping, make sure you buy foods that you can use to pack a lunch. Cluster your household chores like laundry and cleaning so they don’t distract you from your studying.
3. Start or Join a Study Group
One of the best parts of nursing school is bonding with other nursing students. No one, except for other nursing students, knows quite what you are going through. A great way to connect with others is to start a study group. There is power in numbers. Study groups force you to be disciplined, as everyone should be keeping one another in check. It’s also great when there are concepts that you are not quite getting. Your fellow students can help spell them out for you.
Study groups are also a great venue for brainstorming and creating mnemonics (a mnemonic is a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assist you in remembering something). You will spend lots of time memorizing things so the more help you have with that, the better.
