How to get through nursing school

Savanna Braylin
Apr 25, 2023
4 min read

All of my life, I breezed through grade school without a care in the world. I thought, if this is what school is like, I can go to school to be anything I want to be with ease. I have always loved the medical field and one day decided "Hey, I want to care for people who are experiencing some of the worst days of their life and help make their day at least a little bit better." From that day forward, I decided to go to nursing school to become an RN. As you can see from my previous post, I made it through by the grace of God. However, this was no easy feat and I know for a fact that I am not the only one who feels this way. To be honest, it was an everyday uphill battle trying to maintain my grades as well as attempting to not let myself down when all my effort towards studying would be fruitless. Many times I even wanted to give up all together because I could no longer see a point in trying so hard only to end up with a failing grade popping up on my grade log over and over. It was a lot of trial and error until I was able to finally find what worked best for me and ended up clicking. So, I decided to put out this blog post for anyone who may be going through a similar struggle in an effort to remind you that you can do this and give you some helpful tips along the way.

Probably the most important tip I can provide is to figure out which studying/learning style works for you.

This can be audible, visual, hands-on, teach back, flash cards, rewriting, etc. or a combinationThe reason that this tip is so important is because you can spend hours or even days studying in a style that doesn't work for you and you won't be able to retain ANY OF IT. Trust me, I learned that the hard way. The way that worked best for me was take all of the information I was given from powerpoint and transfer it to a word document and then adding my own bullets under each main point during lecture. After class, I would go back over my notes and add corresponding information from the textbooks or helpful tips I learned online/YouTube. A friend of mine found it most helpful to her to make flash cards of each main point that was discussed and read over them multiple times.

Lower your expectations

It sounds harsh but to put it plainly, don't let your expectations get the best of you. I would get my hopes up and have my heart set on feeling like I finally made a really good grade and each time, I would get disappointed and extremely discouraged when it didn't meet my standards. Your main goal in nursing school is to pass and even this goal can sometimes feel impossible even though it is the bare minimum but that is simply all you need to do. Sometimes you can learn everything you think you will need to know to pass the test and even overstudy in preparation and still end up not knowing answers to questions you didn't even consider being a possibility. Even though we sometimes don't get the grade we think we deserved, you can rest easy knowing that all of the studying that went into exam prep was not just a waste because it is knowledge that will make you a better nurse in the long run. Focus on how this material will make you a better and more knowledgeable nurse when you get out into the field rather than how it can help you pass the exams.

Prioritize your mental health

College let alone nursing school can be extremely mentally taxing. Sometimes you just need a break to rejuvenate and that is OKAY. Allow yourself to take some time to yourself of go out with friends every now and then. It is so easy to get caught up in schoolwork that you forget the outside world. That can become problematic because you can find yourself exerting all of your energy on one very draining thing and not giving yourself time to recharge which can lead to isolation and depression. It's hard to find time to float when you feel like you're constantly sinking. Having an outside support system is going to be your your life boat. Taking time that's not subjecting yourself to schoolwork can allow you time to refocus and prevent burn out. Your mental health is more important than a grade.

Utilize outside help

One of the BEST ways to reinforce information is to use outside teaching or practicing sources and knowing what all is available to you. The internet is full of helpful learning guides and videos that go over common information that is taught in nursing school. Youtube just might be your best friend; Channels like SimpleNursing and RegisteredNurseRN are chock full of informational content that is broken down into bite sized pieces making it easier to understand and absorb. Instagram pages like Beautiful Nursing and CriticallyCaring are two creators that make infographics of different nursing topics that are easy to follow and visually pleasing. There are also a plethora of practice games/sheets/books online and available to help back up what you have already learned in class. Lastly, find a study group. Hearing outside perspectives and aspects the lesson that other students picked up that you may have missed or glossed over can be helpful to determine what content may show up on the exam. Also, keep an eye out for helpful nursing content that I will be producing here on this website in the future.

Sadly, there is nothing anyone can say to make the experience easier other than to dig deep and give it all you got. Always know that there is hope and a bad grade isn't the end of the world. Be prepared to use each bad grade as a way to reflect on how you studied and utilizing that as a tool to make yourself more prepared for each upcoming exam. Once you learn how to master your individual style, learning and studying will come a lot easier. With these tips in mind, go for your goals and never give up. You can do it if you set your mind to it.