How to Get Through Nursing School Successfully
If you’re thinking about enrolling in nursing school, good! The American Nurses Association has projected an increase of 1.13 million nursing jobs between 2012 and 2022, so the workforce needs plenty of potential nurses like you.
Nursing school has a reputation of being very rough on a person, though, and it’s not entirely undeserved. Doubting whether you’ll get through the whole thing if you do sign up? No need – doing these three things during your studies can give you better chances of toughing it out and getting into this thriving field after graduation. Let’s get started.
Understand What You’re Taking On
One reason people quit nursing school early is that they realize they’ve gotten in over their head. Nursing involves a unique combination of mental, physical, and emotional stressors that most people will never face. Imagine helping an elderly person use the bathroom at the start of your shift, assisting a doctor with a life-saving emergency intervention after lunch, and comforting the family of a patient who has just passed away right before your shift ends. All these kinds of tasks are typical in a nursing role, so if your first reaction to that prospect is to feel horrified or overwhelmed, nursing may not be for you.
On top of that, the shortage mentioned above also has its downsides in terms of workplace pressure. As many as three-quarters of nurses reported that they were concerned about the impact of job-related stress and overwork on their health, and the American Nurses Association believes this may be due to the lack of adequate staff to handle regular influxes of patients. When it comes down to it, healthcare facilities can’t turn needy people away, so whatever staff are on hand when a person comes in sick or injured are going to have to do their best to help regardless.
This often means moving very quickly, doing a lot of mental juggling, and keeping calm through the whole ordeal. Some people thrive on this kind of work, but if you don’t think you can handle it, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It is, however, a very useful thing to figure out before you invest time and money into a nursing program, rather than halfway through.
Make It Your Priority
Any higher education deserves some dedication from its students, but nursing school demands a little more than most. Unlike many programs, nursing school involves a significant hands-on component too – one that many would say is even more important than any classroom component could ever be. These lessons and assignments are carried out at specific, largely inflexible times, and if you miss one, you can’t just make it up later.
This means that a nursing degree might not be a good fit for someone who cannot or will not give their schooling first claims on their time. If you know that this will be necessary from the start, though, you can head into nursing school with the understanding that the other parts of your life will be limited for a while. It’s a sacrifice, but at least it won’t come as a shock.
Practice Self-Care
Once you’ve decided you’re up to the challenge of nursing school and are willing to put your studies first, you need to follow up this good start with pro-active habits that keep you fit, focused, and ready to tackle anything the job throws at you. Even the most dedicated nurses will suffer ill effects if they don’t take care to guard their physical and mental health.
That process starts in nursing school when you first begin to be exposed to the rigor of this work. That new kind of strain, combined with the usual demands of studying a lot of very technical information in a short amount of time, creates a lot of potential for dysfunction and breakdowns if you aren’t careful about how you proceed. You’ll be more likely to make it to graduation by doing things like:
- Keeping in touch with friends and family
- Taking time to relax and indulge in your hobbies
- Practicing mindfulness to avoid panic or dwelling on past mistakes
- Keeping as regular a sleep routine as possible
- Making time for regular exercise
- Stretching often, both in clinical rotations and in class
- Not holding off on getting a checkup or seeing a counselor if you start to feel unwell
Are you interested in going to nursing school? Do you feel you have what it takes? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing, consider ECPI University for your educational needs. For more information on this exciting nursing program, connect with a helpful admissions advisor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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