Five Tips to Ensure Nursing School Success

Considering a career in nursing? Browse your options

Guest article by Lara Alspaugh

As an educator, I have seen hundreds of men and women of all ages and backgrounds make a bid for licensure as a Registered Nurse. Some I have watched struggle, others I have watched fly through school with an ease that is envious. While they certainly all had the desire, I believe some of them conducted themselves in a way that was more likely to ensure success. Here are some tips to ensure your success in nursing school.

1. Be Professional ~ Where other courses of study may tolerate more flexibility in dress, behavior and professionalism, nursing will not. Nursing has struggled to be regarded as a profession and we take the level of professionalism you bring to the student table very seriously. Abide by the dress code your school subscribes to at all times. Treat your patients, fellow students, professors, and nursing staff at clinical sites with respect. Be on time; both physically and with assigned work. While this may seem an easy tip to follow, many students falter here putting their success in jeopardy.
2. Develop a core study group ~ People tend to only remember 10% of what they read, 50% of what they hear and see, 70% of what they say and 90% of what they say and do. By developing a study group that meets regularly and works thru information in a myriad of ways, you will be better prepared. Try taking turns teaching the information to each other, act out the skills you’re being tested on as you talk thru them with your group and support each other. You will be more successful.
3. Limit outside obligations ~ I certainly understand, as do most nursing professors, that there simply is no way to avoid all distractions. While many nursing programs suggest you do not work while enrolled, for most students that is simply not a possibility. We all like to eat, have heat and pay our tuition! Balancing work, school and family can be rigorous. Scheduling your time can only be done by you. Do it wisely.
4. Be open to new ideas and concepts ~ A lot of what you learn as a student nurse is expected: how to take a blood pressure, change a dressing, dispense medications or place an NG tube. A lot more of what you learn as a student nurse is not expected. So much of what a nurse does is hidden from public view; it’s often those pieces that hang up a student. Embrace both the expected and the unexpected.
5. The Extra Mile ~ Know where you professors offices are and visit them often. Make sure you understand mistakes, not just adjust your answers. Go to open labs and additional study groups. Become involved in your local chapter of your National Student Nurses’ Association. Immerse yourself in the study of nursing and all its facets, you will be rewarded!

Success in school largely depends on you, the student. These tips in and of themselves won’t secure success; they will however, make it easier! Nursing is a challenging, noble profession; the work you put in now will reward you in the future.