Nursing school is hard. Nursing as a profession is harder.
Here are some tips for success in nursing school . . . and beyond.
1. Get Enough Sleep. I know you’ve heard plenty of times, but if you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t be able to do your best. Studies show there have been NO positive effects noted from sleep restriction.
This should be enough said, but you’re a nurse, or you’re going to be a nurse, so you need a kick in the bottom to go with your cold, hard facts. Nearly one-fifth of night shift nurses report struggling to stay awake while taking care of their patients. Rotating shifts increases this number.
Even though insufficient sleep affects each person differently, the fact remains that it does affect everyone.
2. Invest in quality footwear. Nurses don’t have to be convinced of this one. It only takes one 12-hour shift in crappy shoes and your barking, throbbing feet, ankles, and calves have you opening your Amazon app.
But which quality shoe should you invest in? Just google best shoes for nurses; there are a million reviews out there. I just want you to do it before you develop fat pad atrophy (yes, it’s a thing!).
3. Ask for help. During this struggle of becoming a nurse, you’ll need to depend on your nursing instructors, your schoolmates, and the clinical staff where you’re training. There may be times you’ll have to ask for help. There may be days you’ll be wondering where the heck your preceptor is and if this is really the right path for you.
That’s normal.
It’s okay to reach out. It’s okay to search the hallways. It’s okay to ask for help!
Tips on asking for help:
- Be sure you’ve already tried to find the answer yourself first. Don’t be that nurse who asks what the new drug does, when you can easily look it up yourself. Your preceptors and supervisors are more inclined to help those who have already proven they can help themselves first. Say something like “I’ve already looked up XYZ drug, but . . .” to show that you’re requesting help because you’ve already tried.
- When you do ask a question, be sure to get to the point . . . fast! Give them the bullet point version of the question. Leave out your opinion, your struggle to find the answer previously, and your rambling. Ask the question—one at a time—and be grateful for the help.
- Be the person who follows through. You will most likely be seeking assistance from your preceptors or unit supervisors more than once, that’s okay as long as you make sure they know that you’ve acted on their advice before. Say something along these lines: “Thanks for recommending that book on antibiotic use, it helped answer a lot of questions. Can you recommend an app for vaccines?”
- Timing is everything. There’s a right time and a not-so-right time to ask for help. If you want someone to help you, don’t just launch right into your request. There may be times when you have to ask, “Hey, I’d like to discuss your help with something. When would be a good time to talk?”
- Don’t make them guess. Be sure your support system—your helping team—knows exactly what you want and what you need. Don’t expect people to come up to you and offer their services. If you need help turning a patient, go find someone and ask. If you need help exploring research topics for your next paper, find a fellow student and ask. If you have to, practice asking for help . . . it will get easier.
- Be the person who is always willing to help. If you become the person everyone can count on for help—whether it be lifting a patient, documenting in a code, or staying over one hour on your shift—it makes people more receptive to your requests. Don’t be shy about offering and giving help to others on the job. Even if they don’t spontaneously offer help back, they are usually very happy to jump in when you need them.
4. Expect to be overwhelmed. No one told you that, if you’re doing it right, nursing school will be exciting and humbling, stressful and overwhelming. And I bet no one told you . . . that’s normal!
Nursing school is like on-the-job training. Do not expect it to be easy. There will be stops and starts, epiphanies and black holes. Yup, very similar to a roller coaster ride.
Remember that your only real job is to show up and then leave it all behind at the end of your day.
Anticipate challenges. Expect ups and downs. It will all even out eventually.
5. Learn how to study. Before you even start nursing school, make sure you set up a plan to study.
The bottom line is — YOU CANNOT MEMORIZE EVERYTHING. There will be loads of information coming at you in every class and you won’t be able to read everything or remember everything.
Making a plan ahead of time that you can implement from day one is the key to successful studying.
Sure you know things like take study breaks, know your learning style, and form study groups, but how will you actually study the material?
Do you know how to read a textbook? Create a memory palace? Test yourself using active recall?
Now’s the time to put together your study plan.
6. Stop the negative self-talk. Now’s a great time to change the tune in your head. If you’re about the negativity, here are some ideas to replace the defeating lines of “I can’t believe I’m so stupid” and “Why I am struggling to learn this? Everyone else is getting it.”
- Curiosity. “I wonder why I struggled through giving report just now. I want to do better next time so I’ll use my ‘brain sheet’ next time as a consistent way to give report.”
- Compassion. “Today was rough, but it’s okay because I’m figuring this out. I’m going to be okay. Tomorrow I’ll learn more.”
- Support. “I realize now that I should have asked for help before trying to position my patient. Next time I intend to listen to my gut instinct and ask for help.”
- Progress. “I messed up that medication calculation on my test. But I care about being a better nurse, so I’m willing to learn what steps I missed.”
7. Know your worth as a nurse. The healthcare system would be totally screwed without nurses. Nurses are the nation’s largest segment of healthcare professionals.
With three times as many nurses as physicians, could you imagine a healthcare world with only doctors and no nurses? Of course not. The whole healthcare industry would collapse without us.
Nursing does not exist to assist medicine or other disciplines but instead to work independently, yet collaboratively, within a range of roles to ensure quality patient care. This is what makes nursing a profession in and of itself. Nursing school is the place to learn about your profession and your role as a nursing professional.
Success to you, dear nurse!! You got this!
XOX
