A faculty blog by Dr. Kristen Richmond
Most nursing students realize that nursing school will be hard. And the truth is, you want it to be hard.
Why? Because a rigorous program is essential for preparing future nurses for the NCLEX, licensing, and, most importantly, real-world patient care. Nurses who complete a hard nursing program are trained and equipped to take excellent care of their patients, including our loved ones, like children and grandparents.
A challenging nursing school pushes you to grow, learn, and build habits that will serve you throughout your journey in healthcare. Completing a hard nursing program can be daunting, but you aren’t the first to take this path. Let’s take a closer look at how you can thrive in a demanding nursing program and step into your calling with a BSN degree.
Steps for Success
Whether you’re just beginning your journey or are already deep into clinicals, setting yourself up with the right habits early in nursing school makes all the difference. Nursing school can be demanding, especially with outside commitments like a job or playing a sport. But, with intentional strategies, you can thrive both academically and personally. In my experience as a professor at Grace, and as a nursing student myself, here are some of the top tips that helped me succeed in nursing school.
Discover How You Study
When you start nursing school, find methods that help you study well. Start this process early on in your anatomy and physiology courses to establish beneficial habits during your nursing education. Some students prefer using Quizlets or note cards, while others benefit from drawing diagrams on a whiteboard or rewriting and highlighting their notes. Revisiting lecture recordings can also reinforce key concepts. Whichever approach creates lasting memories of information is how you should study. As a procrastinator myself, I would say the main goal when studying is to avoid waiting until the last minute to look at class material. Most of us have experienced 3 a.m. cramming sessions for a test, but to succeed in nursing school, you must take in information bit by bit, digest it, and then review it. Regularly setting aside time to study is crucial to succeeding. By studying effectively so that the information stays in your brain, you’ll retain important knowledge for tests and your future job as a nurse.
Manage Your Time
Closely tied to learning your personal study techniques, nursing school requires you to manage your time and your priorities well. This major demands dedication, and studying must be prioritized over other commitments. Be careful to balance studying with maintaining your own health and relationships with your friends and family. By scheduling study times, you’ll get a clearer picture of your available free time and can create a more consistent routine.
Prioritize Academics as an Athlete
For aspiring nurses who are also athletes, it can be difficult to balance your education, your sport, and your social life. It is certainly doable, but nursing school and your sports team should take precedence over activities like a late-night outing with friends. I’ve watched students choose a hard nursing program and compete in collegiate-level sports simultaneously, and this often requires some sacrifices.
