Can Nursing School Be Easy: 5 Tips for Succeeding in Nursing School!
Nursing school isn’t easy, and if it was, then everyone would be pursuing it. Although the healthcare industry is the top employer in the U.S., hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities are always looking for qualified nurses.
Between attending classes, clinical rotations, writing care plans, and preparing for the NCLEX, nursing students are always busy. Fortunately, if you have been accepted into nursing school then you’re probably successful enough to make it all the way through the program.
Tips to Make Nursing School Easier
The first thing you should do is to breathe in deeply and tell yourself you can do it. A little bit of planning, time management, and simple study tips can help improve your information retention. You can make nursing school easier by:
1. Studying every day
It’s impossible to cram a month’s worth of study in just a few hours over the weekend. Dedicate a little of your time every day for your nursing studies. This will make it less overwhelming and help your brain to absorb more information.
2. Write down some questions
Reading through all the chapters in the nursing textbooks required in class can be overwhelming, and it can be difficult to retain all the information in the textbooks. However, it’s not impossible. As you read through the chapters identify the most important information (80 percent of what you should know will only come from 20 percent of what you read). The questions you write down will help you understand the material better.
3. Use the NCLEX study guide
The NCLEX study guide will point out the subject areas that the nursing exam focuses on. Although the nursing exam doesn’t contain everything that you should know as a nurse, studying along the exam will boost your confidence.
4. Have a study group
A recent research revealed that students who study with their peers are able to retain approximately 90 percent of what they read, as opposed to 60 percent of only what they hear in class and 10 percent of what they read on their own. What’s more, studying as a group encourages you and gives you the moral support you need.
5. Take breaks
All work with no play will make you a dull student. You will easily get overwhelmed if you spend all your time studying and your brain won’t retain as much information as you would want. Ensure that you take regular breaks to help retain your interest in the subject area. A change in scenery can help recharge your batteries.
Tips for Setting Yourself up for Success
Use your professors’ feedback to improve: The stakes are high in the nursing environment and your instructors’ constructive criticism can be blunt. However, this criticism could help you save a patient’s life in the future.
Be responsible and accountable: Nursing students who don’t perform well in class often have problems approaching or talking with a professor. Moreover, these nursing students don’t take accountability for their poor performance. As a nursing student, you must show initiative and approach your professor – just like professional nurses do when a patient’s life is at stake.
Learn more than what is expected of you: To become a successful student, you should master the basic nursing skills and push yourself to learn more. This means going beyond the course requirement, raising questions, and applying what they have learned in their clinical experience.
Importance of Nursing School
Nurses are charged with numerous tasks ranging from providing basic healthcare to assisting doctors and surgeons with critical and more advanced procedures. Therefore, formal nursing education is essential for you to become a nurse. Other benefits of nursing school include:
To be eligible for nursing jobs: Nursing school certification is one of the main requirements for nursing jobs. This is not the kind of job where you receive training while working. You are expected to have a formal education before working as a nurse.
Nursing school equips you with more than clinical skills: Apart from basic clinical care, nursing school should equip you with communication, leadership, and critical thinking skills.
Helps you advance your nursing career: Formal nursing education also allows you to move up the academic ladder, for instance, after acquiring your Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), you can pursue a BSN through an accelerated RN-BSN program.
A requirement for the NCLEX exam: Although there are different programs available that you can become a registered nurse. The minimum education level that you can become a registered nurse is through an Associate degree.
Are you interested in a career in nursing? You'll need an Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) to get started! If you want to learn more about this exciting opportunity at ECPI University, connect with a friendly admissions counselor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
DISCLAIMER – ECPI University makes no claim, warranty, or guarantee as to actual employability or earning potential to current, past or future students or graduates of any educational program we offer. The ECPI University website is published for informational purposes only. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained on the ECPI.edu domain; however, no warranty of accuracy is made. No contractual rights, either expressed or implied, are created by its content.
Gainful Employment Information – Nursing - Associate’s
For more information about ECPI University or any of our programs click here: http://www.ecpi.edu/ or http://ow.ly/Ca1ya.