To help you survive and get through nursing school here are that could help you along the way.
- Be ready to spend a lot of time studying. There is a trend out there saying that nursing school is easy. This rumor has probably been spread by people who actually never set a foot in a registered nursing program. In fact you will need to spend a great deal of your awaken time looking at books, studying for tests, writing papers, care plans or at clinical rotations. You will have to cut down drastically your social time if you want to successful in nursing school.
- Know when to refresh your mind. You will be very busy that is a given. But you will also need to balance it out with some fun time. You don't have to be miserable to succeed you just need to learn how to optimize your time between studying and some extra activities. It will only make you a better student.
- Get enough sleep. Staying up late one night will ruin your next day of class or clinicals. You might be able to make it up drinking loads of coffee or some energy drink but just so you know fatigue adds up and soon enough you will turn into a zombie in scrubs.
- Stay away from the drama. Nursing school is already stressful enough academically that there is really no need to add some more stress because of classmates. A lot of women together makes for a very "dramagenic"environment. I have seen people dropping out of nursing school because they could not handle some fellow students. This being said don't necessarily isolate yourself. Oftentimes relationships made in nursing school last 5 minutes past the pinning ceremony. However you might also meet lifelong friends so be open to friendship because your class mates are the only ones who know what you are going through. Now just remember that a social life is by no means the main purpose of you coming to class every day. Just keep in mind that nursing school is place to learn.
- Last minute cramming won't work. Would you eat in a day as much as you usually eat in a week? None in their right mind would do that and if they would they would be in trouble. The same principle applies to retaining knowledge. Learning on a regular basis will prove much easier and more effective on the long row. You might be able to get away with it a few times but be sure it will hurt you as the material piles up.