It’s such an exciting time when you realize that nursing is the right choice for you and your career, and you start to look into all the different possibilities ahead of you. However, before you can get too carried away, you need to get your nursing degree, and this will take a lot of hard work and dedication. To make the most of this time and to ensure that you do well during your studies – which will lead you to do well at work – you must put some things in place that will allow you to be as successful as possible. These ideas and tactics will help you not just through your studies, but through your life as well.
Nursing studies are challenging, and they are meant to be. If you find things hard that doesn’t mean you have to give up; it just shows that you need to push on and learn more. Nursing is certainly not an easy career, but it is an incredibly rewarding one, and one that will help you make a difference. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways to be successful when studying to be a nurse.
Learn How to Study Efficiently
When you were at school, you would have learned in one way. When you moved on and went to college, you would have learned in a new way. Nursing school is an entirely different method of studying again. Whether you go there straight from high school, after college, or after taking a break to do something different, you’ll need to learn how to study efficiently to make the most of the time you have and the work you’ll need to do.
Not only do you need to see how your new information will be taught and provided to you (including the fact that there will be a mixture of practical and theoretical learning), but you’ll also need to take charge of your studies and work out what the best way to learn is for you. You might do well in a face-to-face classroom environment with structured lectures at specific times, for example. Some people prefer online learning, as it is so flexible and allows you to learn at times that suit you, and over as long a period as you need. This can be ideal once you have qualified as a nurse and you want to take a post-masters certificate to become a family nurse practitioner, for example, as you can work and study at the same time.
When you know how you can learn most efficiently, you’ll know how you can learn throughout your nursing career and make the most of it.
Establish A Routine
Even if the reason that you want to become a nurse is so that you don’t have to work to any particular routine because nurses work shifts and have flexible hours (within reason, of course), establishing a routine when it comes to your studies can be one of the best things you can do. It means that you won’t miss anything important and that you always meet your deadlines. It won’t matter how good you are at nursing and studying, if you fail to meet your deadlines, your grades will suffer, and you may even fail the course entirely.
What do we mean when we talk about a routine? Here are some examples that will help you, although you’ll need to think about your own situation and circumstances and how to make a routine that works for you:
- Have a bedtime and wake-up time for every day, no matter whether you have anything planned or not.
- Have a set study time each day (this can be flexible). This is often better than trying to do everything in just one day.
- Take breaks.
- Think about your strengths and make your routine relate to them. For example, some people are much better at working in the evening, whereas others take in more information in the morning. What works best for you?
- Schedule anything other than work or study around these things so that you can make sure you get everything done.
Be Organized
There is a huge amount of learning involved when you decide to become a nurse. There will be multiple modules to take and lots of deadlines to think about. That’s why it’s so important to be organized. The more organized you are, the easier it will be to get everything done. The work might still be challenging, but when you are more organized, you’ll be less stressed and anxious and much more able to focus on what you should be doing, that is, learning how to be a nurse and understand more about what it means.
One of the biggest problems that nursing students often come across is that they will have lots of different things to do and learn, but they also need to strike a good balance in their lives. The issue here is that by trying to strike this balance, you can become distracted. The more organized you are, the less distracted you will become, and that balance will be easier to achieve.
Ask Questions
It is possible to get through your entire time studying to be a nurse without asking questions. You’ll learn plenty through your studies, and there are additional resources you can find online that will help you. However, if you also ask questions, and make it a habit to do so, whether you need to clarify something, get more information, or for any other reason, then your studies will become even better.
When you ask questions, several positive things will come about. To start with, you’ll gain the information you are missing. Next, it will give those studying with you the confidence to ask their own questions, meaning that you’re already helping others even before you graduate as a nurse. Asking questions is also a great way to show those around you that you are truly passionate and interested in what you are learning and that you do want to be the best nurse you can be.