Strategies for Success in Nursing School

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Strategies for Success in Nursing School

• Time Management
• Stress Management
• Study Skills

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What About These Issues?

• These 3 things are critical to students success
  in Nursing School
• They are all interrelated
• You need to
• Understand them
• Work on them
• Master them

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Closer Look

• Time Management
• How you manage your time?
• Most think they know how to manage their time,
  but they DO NOT
• Nursing school must be the priority
• Stress Management
• Having Nursing school be the priority WILL cause
  you stress
• You must be able to balance it with the rest of
  your life
• You must be able to manage it or it will do you
  in
• Must do it everyday. It is a lifestyle, not a
  quick fix

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Closer Look

• Study Skills
• Most students do NOT know how to study
• Particularly
• Prepare for class
• Actively listen in class
• Take notes
• Review after class
• Read their text book for comprehension
• Study for learning not memorization
• Apply recent material to really learn it

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Time Management

• Lets take a test (It is nursing school after
  all)
• Where does your time go? test

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Time Nursing School

• If you are taking an 8 credit hour nursing class,
  then your only in school 8 hours a week. Right?
• Wrong Your 8 credit course gives you
• 4 hours for class
• 4 hours for lab preparation
• For every hour of class the NLN requires 3 hours
  of clinical
• 4 hours of class 12 hours of clinical

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How Much Time Does One Nursing Class Take?

• So lets figure out the hours for your 8 credit
  class
• It wouldnt be nursing school without math

8 credit hours 12 clinical hours 20
hours 20 hours of direct time on your nursing
course
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What About Study Time?

• There is a general rule in college that every
  credit hour, will require 2 hours of study time.
• Nursing school is probably 31

8 credit hours X 2 hours 16 hours
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So what do we have so far?
20 hours of time in class or clinical 16
hours of study time 36 hours of time each
week
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Time Nursing School

• So you will spend a minimum of 36 hours on
  your nursing class
• 36 hours is a full time job
• This doesnt even take into account time spent
  completing clinical paperwork

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How Do You Swallow an Elephant?

• One bite at a time
• The elephant here is NURSING SCHOOL
• 1 day at a time
• 1 hour at a time
• You can do it

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Time Management

• You need to know how to manage time using a
  calendar
• Steps in making a weekly calendar

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Stress Management

• What is YOUR stress level?
• What are your biggest stressors?
• How are you going to manage them?
• Hints
• YOU must manage them
• You probably CAN manage them
• If YOU cant, you will not succeed
• It may not be the time for you to be here

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Myth About Stress Management

• This is impossible to manage. Probably not true
  unless you have personal stressors that are not
  under control. Millions of students do it every
  day. We have all done it.
• What do I mean by IT?
• Go to school
• Study
• Work
• Family
• Life

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What Are the Personal Stressors That Will Do You
in?

• Problems with your spouse or partner
• Problems with your children
• Non-supportive family
• Non-supportive friends
• Financial issues
• Health problems
• Work problems

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• Un-addressed personal psychological issues
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Grief
• Anger
• Psychiatric problems
• You MUST have a handle on these types of issues

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Did I Forget a Big One?

• YES TOO MUCH WORK!
• One of the most common things students say I
  have to work!
• One of the most common things professors say
  They shouldnt be working full time!
• Whats the obvious problem here?
• It CANT be both ways

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Do You HAVE to Work?

• If you do, it can NOT be the priority
• You must work around it, school can not work
  around your job
• Ask for a break (help) from employer, you just
  might get it
• Can it be part time? (Insurance)
• Remember time management
• Sounds harsh? To bad!
• You will not succeed unless you have this mind set

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How Stressed Does Nursing School Make You?

• Very stressed and its not just the amount of
  time that must be devoted to it. Other sources
  of stress in Nursing School
• Inadequate knowledge. You cant know everything
  all the time, but you have to know a lot most of
  the time
• In class
• In clinical
• For exams

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• Inadequate support from family and/or peers
• Real or imagined pressure from instructors
• Fear of making a mistake or hurting someone
• Actually making mistakes or doing poorly
• Dealing with pain, death and dying

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Symptoms of Stress?

• Feel overwhelmed, fatigued or angry
• Frequent minor physical complaints or illnesses
• Feelings of fear or anxiety
• Starting, returning or an increase in smoking
• Dependence on caffeine usage
• Substance abuses

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Coping With Stress in Nursing School

• Basics
• Maintain balance in life (make time for school,
  family, yourself)
• Plan daily relaxation or quiet time
• Get outside each day for sunlight
• Plan physical activity (at least 3X week)
• Eat well
• Sleep well
• Avoid cramming or staying up all night

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Coping With Stress in Nursing School

• Put yourself first
• Learn how to say NO
• Learn how to ask for help
• Help with errands, children, studying, etc
• Help with feelings
• Share feelings (not complaints) with your peers
• Create support groups
• Find a mentor

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Coping With Stress in Nursing School

• Grow UP
• Always be prepared ahead of time (class, exams
  and clinical)
• Take on a professional demeanor
• Do not miss class
• Learn to accept mistakes grow from them
• Accept responsibility for your status
• Learn to handle problems constructively instead
  of defensively
• Accept what cannot be changed

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You must constantly evaluate your level of stress

• If youre not aware of your level of stress then
  you cant manage it
• You have to do a lot of self evaluation
• If youre not good at it, you better get good or
  find tools to help you
• Here are some examples

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Study Skills for Nursing School

• You need to understand the process of learning
• Most information in nursing school cannot be
  memorized it must be applied
• How do you go from sitting and listening in class
  and reading your textbook to applying what youve
  been taught

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The First Step in Improving Your Studying Skills

• Understanding and improving your foundation
• Poor basic foundation skills brought into nursing
  school. 3 most common
• Poor reading skills
• Poor math skills
• Poor computer skills
• There are resources available to address these,
  but only YOU can do it

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Next Step in Improving Studying Skills

• Analyzing your overall strengths and weaknesses
  as they related to studying

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Preparing for class
• Complete assigned readings
• To prepare for the large amount of material in
  each class
• Can scan, no need to read in depth
• Do not highlight
• Focus on pathophysiology
• Right before class spend 5 10 minutes reviewing
  notes from previous class

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Actively listen in class
• If you have trouble paying attention sit in front
• Make eye contact with instructor
• Listen when others ask questions and/or ask
  yourself
• Things you should be thinking about
• What will this client look like?
• How will I assess them?
• How will I take care of them?
• What are the priorities?
• How will I know when something is wrong?

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Take notes
• If you have difficulty studying, do not rely on
  power point handouts take additional notes
• Use a proven method for taking notes (see
  web-sites and on-line videos)
• Write legibly in an outline form
• If using PP then write in focus notes
• Leave space in your notes to later fill in
  answers to previously asked questions

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Review after class
• Spend 5 minutes right after class reviewing notes
  or power points
• If you have questions ask for clarification
  immediately after class
• Do not change gears to quickly
• A few minutes now will save study time later
• This is part of the rehearsal process for
  learning
• Re-read your notes fully within 24 hours of class

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Read your text book for comprehension
• Read the assigned chapters for topics covered in
  class within 48 72 hours
• Use a proven method for reading text books (see
  web-sites and on-line videos)
• Use your notes for outline of what to focus on
  and make comparisons between book and notes
• Get it into long term memory by writing summary
  of each section in your own words

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Improving Your Study Skills

• In order to really learn, remember
• That nursing is all about the process and
  applying what youve learned
• Exams primarily test your ability to apply this
  process
• The NURSING PROCESS!
• Assessment
• Planning
• Intervention
• Evaluation

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Study for learning, not memorization
• Reviewing your notes is important, but
• Just reading you power points 5, 10, 50 times
  will not help you in nursing exams, its all
  about application
• Go back to readings and read questions at end of
  chapter and complete any learning activities
  suggested by book
• Pay close attention to things that are bolded,
  italicized, underlined or tabled as well as
  medication management and nursing interventions

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Study actively with partner or group
• Take turns asking questions that focus on
  application
• What will this patient look like?
• How will I assess and take care of them?
• What are the priorities based upon the problems?
• What will I teach them and how will I know they
  have learned it?

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Pay attention to medication management
• What is the class of drug? How does it work?
• How will I know it is working or not working?
• What are the side effects?
• What teaching does it require?
• Quiz yourself

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Improving Your Study Skills

• Apply recent material to really learn it
• Alone or in your group
• Develop a concept map for each disorder
• Identify pathophysiology, clinical
  manifestations, assessments and interventions
• Use nursing process by developing a care plan for
  each topic to be covered on exam

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Web List

• A multitude of sites to assist you
• No one can do it for you, you have to put in the
  time
• View the videos for more in depth information
  about these topics, especially reading and note
  taking