What if you could enter nursing school armed with insider secrets to help guide you to success from the start of your journey? In this post, I’m pulling back the curtain and sharing my top 10 insider secrets that I wish I had known before my first day of nursing school. I share these in hopes that they will make nursing school easier for you from the start! Let’s do this.
#1 Don’t Read the “Required Reading”
Now hear me out. It’s not that there is no good information in the “required reading” that is often assigned before nursing school lectures. The problem is that there is frankly too much information to read, comprehend, and thoroughly retain because you are reading without a clear focus on exactly what you need to know. Of course, if you have time to read every page assigned before class and it truly helps you to do so because that’s your learning style, then certainly do it. However, for many students it is almost impossible to keep up with required reading before class, especially as the semester progresses. But here’s the good news: nursing school success rarely depends on reading every word in your textbook. Here’s even more good news: in most cases, you can do extremely well on exams if you do not read every page of the required reading, especially before class.
Solution: Go to class first, and let the lecture and the PowerPoints guide you to what you need to know to do well on your exam. Only seek to learn THIS information, but also seek to study this information very deeply. When you study the specifics given in class after class, feel free to reference parts of the required reading if that helps you, but if there is a better way for you to learn such as YouTube videos, internet searches, quick lookups in textbooks, or a hybrid approach, know you have the freedom to study smarter not harder.* [*The only reason this wouldn’t be true for you is if your particular nursing school truly intends for you to read every “required reading” page and you need to attest that you did so. In most cases, though, that is probably not the case. If in doubt, ask one of your professors to gain clarity so you can keep your integrity!
#2 Don’t Try to Memorize Everything
If you try to memorize everything in nursing school — every symptom, every medication, every side effect — you will go crazy, be unsuccessful, and fail to retain the most important pieces of information that you need to know to pass the NCLEX and be well-prepared as a nurse after graduation. You often hear that “nursing school is so hard”, and I want to clarify this statement. When I think back through my nursing school journey, much of nursing school isn’t so much that the information is “difficult”, meaning complicated, but that you are inundated with so much information in such a short amount of time. Of course, there are difficult pieces of content to learn in nursing school, but primarily, the complexity in nursing school is being flooded with a crazy amount of material that you are left to figure out what to do with – you can learn all of it (but can you learn all of it?), you can learn some of it (but what parts?), or you can learn none of it because you are so paralyzingly overwhelmed by it (this is very common, but not helpful or productive).
Solution: You need a strategy for what to do with all the information constantly coming your way – what information you should learn, where you will store it, how you will study it, and how you will retain it. Since you are a person who is limited in brain space, as we all are, you need to focus on memorizing only the information you need to do well on your exams – and that is primarily determined by what your professor teaches in class. If you want a tried-and-true strategy to tackle nursing school from start to finish, check out my Study Smart & Thrive Nursing School Guide!
#3 Don’t Skip Class
Since what you need to know to do well on your nursing school exams is overwhelmingly sourced from what is said by your professor in class and what is in the PowerPoint slides that are addressed in class, if at all possible, don’t skip class. Class is what makes studying outside of lectures much more productive because you know exactly what to focus on. Determine not to use class time to scroll social media or finish an assignment for clinical. Go to class to gather as much as you can knowing that time spent well in class is a priceless gift that eliminates unnecessary study outside of class.
Solution: Be at class ahead of time, choose a seat up front so you aren’t distracted, and be prepared with your note-taking system to get the most out of lecture!
#4 Don’t Be a Negligent Notetaker
Your presence at lectures can be extremely productive or wasted time based on your ability to take notes in class. Your ability to take good notes in class is largely dependent on preparing for notetaking before class. If you do not prepare for good notetaking before class, you are left scrambling to write down everything that the professor is saying and your notes will likely be incomplete and hard to interpret later.
Solution: Determine your plan for how to go about preparing for and taking notes in class. The sooner you start such a plan and the more consistent you are with the plan, the better. Decide if you will use paper or electronic notes in class – either can work well, but there are some advantages and disadvantages to each to consider. If you want thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of each type of notetaking as well as guidance for preparing and taking good notes in nursing school, check out my study system here!
#5 Don’t Overstudy
In other words, you have to know when to stop studying because there will always be more you can study, learn, read, and memorize. You will drive yourself crazy, fail to retain the most necessary information, and get burned out if you are a non-stop study machine. Now, that doesn’t mean to stop studying after just a short bit – no, nursing school success requires a ton of hard work, focus, and hours of study. But you must develop the ability both to work extremely hard when it is time to work and also know when it is time to stop studying so that you can keep a reasonable school-life balance while in your nursing program.
Solution: Build a personalized schedule for how your time is allotted. Include not just school tasks but also life tasks. Everything must have a place on your schedule that needs to be accomplished each week so nothing is overlooked. Also, have a system for how you will go about learning and review in nursing school. Need help? It’s all in my study system here.
#6 Don’t Study Extraneous Things
Since we now are aware that there is a ton of information coming at you in nursing school, it probably makes sense why you must be so selective about what you choose to learn. And yet, many people feel the need to study excess facts and do random practice questions every day with the good intention of being prepared for the NCLEX down the way. However, I would suggest a different approach. If there is information you are tempted to learn that isn’t related to the information you need to know in your current semester of nursing school, do not prioritize seeking out or learning such information. Of course, if you have extra time and brainpower, all the more to you, but for most people, there is no “extra time or brain room” in nursing school. Take heart, those who can’t do anymore: each class in nursing school IS preparing you for the NCLEX. Far better to learn that material well by focusing on it rather than multi-tasking and retaining a lot less of everything.
Solution: Focus on only studying the information in the class(es) you are in and what your professor(s) is teaching you. Go deep into truly understanding the concepts your professor is guiding you to learn, for this is how you develop critical thinking and is far more important than merely gathering facts that without critical thinking and a deep understanding you will likely forget anyway. If you need help knowing how to study concepts deeply or how to think critically, that’s in the study system too.
#7 Don’t Deprive Yourself of Sleep
Sleep will make you a better student. Your ability to learn and retain information is largely dependent upon getting adequate sleep so your brain is in its best state to function optimally. You will retain more from lectures if you sleep. Your study times will be much more productive if you sleep. You will have more energy and focus at clinicals if you sleep. You will be able to recall more information on exams if you sleep. And on and on the benefits go…if you sleep. However, sleep is the easiest to cut when you need extra time for other things. Therefore, be zealous and protect your nights so you can get plenty of sleep consistently, including the night before exams!
Solution: Believe in what sleep does for your brain. Such a conviction will help you make good “sleep hygiene” a priority and habit from the first day until the last while you are in nursing school. If possible, don’t have a job in nursing school or work as little as you possibly can so you are not spread as thin. Mark off 8 hours on your schedule for sleep each night and set your phone to remind you to get ready for bed 30 minutes before the lights should be out so your brain can rejuvenate for another day of hard work.
#8 Don’t Be Disorganized
There are many moving parts in nursing school, from lectures and simulations to care plans, group projects, and clinicals. You may have been a person who could easily “wing it” before nursing school, but now things are taken to a new level in terms of having many things to remember, places to be, and projects coming due. Unless you are organized and systematic, you will find yourself drowning in (or forgetful of) assignments, tasks, and events that are mandatory for your success.
Solution: Take the start of every semester to get organized. Getting organized is not wasted time and can make you so much more productive! Make sure every assignment, class, clinical, simulation, and exam for the semester is on your calendar, and look at this calendar daily to know what needs to be done next to stay ahead of things.
#9 Don’t Procrastinate
Putting off tasks until tomorrow that you can and should do today is an oh-so-common human practice. But it is downright deadly in nursing school. If you refuse to do today’s work today, you not only jeopardize your ability to do your best on an upcoming exam, but you also jeopardize your ability to do well on future exams, including your finals and the NCLEX. Why is this? Because much critical thinking and long-term retention comes from repeated exposure over time to information. Cramming completely bypasses the “repeated exposure over time” process and instead opts for a short-term view — pass this exam tomorrow — over long-term retention. Instead of procrastinating, be a person who consistently works hard, because nursing school requires hard work that starts early and is done regularly.
Solution: Commit to working harder than you ever have while in nursing school. Then plan your daily schedule to match this commitment and keep yourself accountable. You can’t treat nursing school like a PRN job. It is a full-time job, and you need to go into each day committed to working incredibly hard, being totally focused, and having a detailed plan for what needs to be accomplished.
#10 Don’t Ever Stop Asking Questions
Asking questions is key to success in nursing school whether you are in your room studying, at class lectures, at clinical at the nursing station, or at the bedside in simulation. Ask questions of the information you are learning, of your classmates who are knowledgeable about topics that are harder for you, of your instructors who have been skilled nurses for many years, and of your professors who write your exams! Asking questions acknowledges where there are gaps in your knowledge base and seeks to close those gaps by getting needed information. But it is more than just information. Asking questions, particularly “why”, builds your critical thinking so you can put more and more pieces of the puzzle together. If you want to develop a life-long learning mindset, asking questions and being knowledgeable about where to find those answers or who to ask for those answers prevents you from ever staying static.
Solution: Refuse fear and remain committed to asking questions no matter how long you have been on the scene and no matter where you are – whether in classes, clinicals, labs, or simulations. Yes, make sure you are asking your questions at the right time so as not to dominate class time, side-track your preceptor, or irritate your classmates, but do get answers to your questions. You can write your questions down if it is not the time to ask them in the moment. You can look up answers for your questions on the internet. But refuse to wonder about something and just let it go. Also, refuse to be okay with just knowing facts. Rather, ask “why” until you truly get why things work the way they do. That’s when you will be thinking like a nurse and truly prepared not just for exams but for life as a next-level nurse.
Well, there are my top insider secrets for you that I wish I had known before nursing school. I hope they help you on your nursing school journey as well. If you would like more help and practical tips on how to study smart in nursing school, check out my study system!
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