Are you nervous about starting nursing school? It’s understandable. Nursing school is grueling, and as a new student you may not know how to get through college in a way that will keep your sanity intact.
As with anything, the first year of college is always the hardest, but try not to let this put you off.
Think of all the things you’ll learn during nursing school and how you’ll be able to apply those skills in the future. Here are a few tips on how to get through college as a nursing student.
The Importance of Making Less Work for Yourself
During your first year in nursing school, you will be responsible for a lot. You may have more homework, papers to write, and projects to complete than you ever have before.
Don’t stress and work too much. When you are working, you are not enjoying life as it is meant to be enjoyed. When working a lot of the time, you start to become stressed out, and the more stress you have during school, the more memory loss there is when it comes time to write term papers and do work.
Try making less work for yourself by doing simple tasks at a time that you can relax afterward. This could include printing homework assignments or copying things from one browser tab to another.
Here are a few ways you can help yourself cope:
Take care of yourself
Nursing school is hard and you should do everything in your power to stay sane.
This means eating right, getting enough sleep, and regularly sticking to your regimented study schedule (or even better putting it into an app on your phone!).
The first thing that will wear you down is the stress of nursing school itself, so take care of yourself by taking the necessary breaks throughout each day and making sure you’re eating properly (and not just all carbs).
Keep your career goals in mind
If you have a specific career goal in mind, keep it in mind while you’re studying.
You may know that you want to become a nurse-midwife for example, which will mean taking extra classes in that area and getting as much experience as possible.
On the other hand, you may decide that moving through the ranks to become a nurse practitioner is what you want, which means you’ll need to study extra hard and make connections within the healthcare industry to allow your career to progress.
If you don’t have any goals, think about what you want to do in the future. Nursing is a career that will last forever and will make a huge difference in your life.
Get involved!
Find group projects to work on and keep yourself involved with or take on leadership roles so that you feel like you’re making a difference as well as getting credit for what you’re good at.
A lot of people study nursing because they want to help others and get involved in the community.
If that’s you, take every opportunity you can to find out what is going on in your community and get involved with organizations that will help you learn more and make a difference.
