Wednesday, October 28, 2015

How to be Successful in Nursing School


Whether you're new to nursing school or have been through it, you know the deal. It's hard to juggle everything in your life while you're basically trying to learn everything about the human body and caring for it. I have a few tips that may help.

Be ready to sacrifice
There's no doubt you'll have to sacrifice some things. I'd be lying if I said I didn't lose a lot of my friends during college. I didn't have time to hangout with them. I was constantly studying. During nursing school, you'll gain new friends-- the people you study with. You will have an inseparable bond with these people. These will be the people you'll spend the next 4 years going through hell with. You'll experience new adventures each clinical that "normal" people would never believe. They will become like a second family to you. Lean on them.

Take time for yourself
Although there's a lot of sacrificing, remember to still have fun! I would plan out my weeks so that I would have 1-2 days to do whatever I wanted. I would hangout with friends (if they were available), go on a date with my boyfriend, or just chill at home and binge on some Netflix. I think the last option was my favorite. It's definitely important to take some time to relax each week.

Plan
Buy a planner! My planner was my best friend in nursing school. I used the Erin Condren Life Planner. Click here! It literally has everything you'd ever need. It's expensive, but very worth it if you're as in to planning as I am. It helped me to be able to visualize my weeks and make time for myself. I still use it and just purchased my 2016 planner :)

Work/ Finances
Working while in nursing school was very hard. Try to work as little as possible, even if this means you can't move into that amazing apartment. I lived at home all 4 years, which saved me a ton of money. This isn't possible for everyone, but if your college is close to your parents' home, I would really consider it. Hold off on any big shopping sprees while you're in school until you get that first nurse's check :) Try to get a job at a hospital as a PCA. I gained so much experience and learned so much from working with other nurses. Most hospitals will let you earn paid time off. I would save mine up and then use it when I really needed a break. You won't get this luxury at a lot of other part time jobs. Definitely more blog posts about my experience as a PCA are to come. I have to give it up to some of my classmates that had kids, worked full time, and still did great in school. I honestly don't know how they did it, but they did. My work and finance tips probably wouldn't be realistic for them, because I did not have a family to raise. Try finding someone who was in a similar situation that you are in while they were in school.

Study
I could write a million blog posts about how to study, but the main tip I have is to figure out what works for you. Some people do great studying in groups. I found out very quickly that I would get too distracted when I studied in a group, and I would just end up wasting time. I liked studying by myself in the library or another quiet space. After I felt like I mastered the content, I would meet with friends before the test, and we would quiz each other. It helped me just as much to ask the questions as it did to answer them when I was asked. This method worked great for me and a lot of my friends.

I hope you found these tips to be helpful.
Until next time,
Jennie

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Nursing School is NOT For Sissies

But really though...

About 6 months ago, I had the pleasure of graduating from nursing school. I went ahead and did a traditional 4 year program so I could go ahead and get my BSN over with. I wasn't sure if I would have the motivation to go back after school. For me, it was the right choice.

Before I started nursing school, I gave it a lot of thought. I knew a lot of nurses and figured "If they could do it, so can I." They all told me nursing school was hard. Little did I know, they really meant it.

Nursing isn't your typical major. As a RN, you are the eyes and ears of the doctor when they're not around (about 23 hours and 55 minutes, give or take, per day). Basically, this means you need A LOT of education crammed into those four years. You have to learn the entire nursing process, step by step: Assess, document, outcomes/goals, planning, interventions, and evaluation. Along with the classes listed below, you have to take a lot of electives. If you choose to do an ADN program, you won't have to take as many electives, but keep in mind you'll have to take a lot of these "boring" electives during your BSN program. I would take all of this into consideration when choosing a nursing school/program. Choose what's right for you!

Freshman year
This glorious year is just the beginning. It consists of a lot of your general education classes and science classes. One of the most important classes you'll take this year is Anatomy and Physiology.

Sophomore year
This was the year I took my first nursing courses, i.e. assessment and fundamentals of nursing. Some colleges wait until junior year to start any nursing classes, but I was thankful to get a head start. I also took pathophysiology and pharmacology this year.

Junior year
This was the year I started getting into more specialized nursing classes, i.e. OB, psych, and med-surg.

Senior year
The fun year (only because I was looking forward to graduation)! I took acute (ICU), gerontology, pediatrics, and leadership. I was thankful to have my leadership course last. We got to pick our top two specialty choices. I chose ICU and was lucky enough to get it! I was able to spend my last 8 weeks in the Medical ICU with my own personal preceptor. It was my most favorite clinical. By the end, I was taking a team of critical patients on my own. It was a great experience, even during the terrifying moments that come along with being in the ICU.

Even after all of the sleepless nights that I stayed up studying, I wouldn't trade my nursing school experience for the world. I met some great people and had the best mentors/professors/clinical instructors. The one piece of advice I can give to someone thinking about a nursing major is to make sure you're passionate about it. Spend a day shadowing a RN. If you don't like one area of nursing, don't sweat it. The beautiful thing about nursing is that you can change your job without fully changing your career. You can work in a hospital, office, clinic, nursing school... the list goes on. The possibilities are endless.

When you walk across the stage and grab that hard earned diploma, it's all worth it.


Not the best quality picture, but I sure was happy!

Until next time,
Jennie

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An Introduction

Hello.
My name is Jennie, and I am a Registered Nurse from Columbus, Ohio. I graduated from college with my BSN in May, 2015. I figured it'd be interesting to take a peak into my daily life-- on and off the job. This blog won't be strictly nursing. I plan on writing about my other interests too. I have my own business "Jennie's Jars." Check it out on facebook! I love to DIY and crochet. Let's face it. If the only thing nurses did was "nurse" (yes, that's totally a verb in my book), we would go crazy! So leave your requests below :)

Until next time,
Jennie